OMAHA, Neb. — The decade-long quest for a third NCAA title ended in celebration Saturday as Texas beat Louisville 3-0 to win the women’s national volleyball championship.

The hard-hitting Longhorns overwhelmed the Cardinals, winning 25-22, 25-14, and 26-24. Texas was powered by AVCA National Player of the Year Logan Eggleston, who had 19 kills and seven digs and was named the tournament’s Outstanding Player.

Texas, the No. 1 overall in the NCAA tournament, was ranked No. 2 in the August preseason poll but spent all but one week of the season in first place. The Longhorns fell to No. 2 after their only loss of the season, 3-2 at Iowa State on Oct. 19, but were back on top the next week.

This was indeed the Longhorns’ season, almost wire to wire. The program previously won NCAA titles in 1988 and 2012. Both were also swept over Hawaii and then Oregon.

“I’m just so grateful that I got the opportunity to have a fifth year and come back,” said Eggleston, whose total kills was the second-best in her career for a three-set match. “We can actually say we won our last game and it feels great.”

The Longhorns won Saturday at CHI Health Center where they previously faced deep disappointment. They lost the national championship game here to Nebraska in 2015 and to Kentucky in 2021 (that was officially the 2020 title, although it was held in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

That win in Kentucky gave the SEC their first volleyball title, and Louisville tried to do the same for the ACC on Saturday. The Cardinals made the Final Four for the second straight season, defeating ACC Team Pittsburgh 3-2 in Thursday’s national semifinals.

For coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who won volleyball titles in that arena with Nebraska as a player (2006) and assistant coach (2015), it was a rapid rise to national prominence in six seasons in Louisville. She attempted to become the first woman to win the NCAA Division I volleyball title as head coach and also bring Louisville its first national championship in a sport other than men’s basketball.

After Texas dominated the second set, Louisville had a chance to extend the match with two set points in the third set, leading 24-22. But Texas won the final four points to clinch the title through kills from Asjia O’Neal and Eggleston, a Louisville attacking error and an ace of serve from Keonilei Acana.

“It felt like we were going to make it [the fourth set] We had a great chance to win,” said Busboom Kelly, whose Cardinals finished the season 31-3. “It’s very disappointing when you have a momentum to win the set. But it’s also quite amazing to be in this position and something we’ll learn from.

“These opportunities are incredibly difficult to come by. But we will look back on this season and be thankful for so many things. We changed the program, the city, the fans.”

The Longhorns competed in their 14th NCAA Finals and eighth NCAA Finals. They did not compete in the first NCAA tournament in 1981, as Texas decided to compete in the final AIAW tournaments that school year and win the final AIAW title in volleyball.

The Longhorns’ 1988 NCAA title trailed behind coach Mick Haley, who led Texas from 1980 to 1996 before managing the US women’s national team. Jim Moore coached the Longhorns from 1997 through 2000. But after Texas had its first — and still only — losing season in 2000, Moore was replaced by Jerritt Elliott, then interim head coach for USC.

The Longhorns have made the NCAA tournament every year but one under Elliott, winning at least 23 games in 20 of his 22 seasons. This year, Texas finished 28-1, the best record in school history. Elliott’s 2012 championship team went 29-4 and the program has since had several chances to add another NCAA trophy through Saturday.

Elliott has been through his share of heartbreaks — including Texas, who led 2-0 against Penn State in the 2009 NCAA Finals but fell 3-2 behind — but he said Saturday’s game was the one he wins the most wanted to.

“Because of the two women sitting next to me,” he said, referring to Eggleston and O’Neal. “And also the other 16 women who fought every day in our gym. As a coach there are sometimes many problems when managing teams. I didn’t have this team all season. Everyone gave, they were committed to the procedure.

“Why it was so important to me was because this was a life lesson. They will be leaders in the church one day and will remember the giving they gave to each other…they did.”

Eggleston said the Longhorns’ only loss this season — a 3-2 loss at Iowa State in October — actually helped.

“It taught us a lot about ourselves as a player and as a team,” said Eggleston. “We’re committed to getting better. If we hadn’t lost that game, I don’t know if some of the conversations we had and areas where we improved would have happened.”

Texas continues to be a powerhouse. But the growth of the sport, showcased through programs like Louisville, has made it harder to get to the Regionals, let alone the last four. That year, Texas defeated Fairleigh Dickinson and Georgia in the first two rounds and then won its regionals 3-1 over Marquette and Ohio State. The Longhorns also defeated San Diego 3-1 in Thursday’s national semifinals.

In terms of physicality and jumping ability alone, the sport has come a long way. Elliott pointed out that in 2000, while at USC, he coached his first Final Four on the women’s side.

“My two outside hitters touched 9 feet, 10 inches and 9-11. If you’re not 10-3, 10-4 now, you’re pretty small,” he said. “So the game is changing and the coaching has evolved. There’s so much science behind that. There’s so much numbers behind that, analysis. People can study the game and manage the game. There’s a lot more information out there than 10, before 15 years.”

And from Eggleston joining former longhorn Bailey Webster (2012) to win the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament award, Elliott gave the underdog the ultimate compliment.

“To become one of the greats in a sport, you have to win a championship,” he said. “And Logan has done that now. So it puts itself on an extremely elitist level. What she’s done for this university, to use every resource possible, what she’s given in every way…I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a statue to her on campus at some point.”