During the final moments of Texas’ volleyball dynasty, the struggling giant simply couldn’t react quick enough against Creighton, a program that dropped its slingshot years ago and now throws haymakers, too.

The high-flying Bluejays darted here, there, everywhere, pulverizing balls through the Taraflex and piercing the Longhorns’ defense every chance they could.

Make no mistake, what happened Friday at Penn State’s Recreation Hall was no upset. No. 2 seed Creighton was the better team and rightfully celebrated a 3-1 win over No. 3 seed Texas in the NCAA regional semifinals.

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Still, it was a stunning end for Madisen Skinner, who had a match-high 23 kills but needed more help from others. It was sobering to see Emma Halter handle 16 digs and watch excellent defensive touches go unrewarded. It was halting to see Creighton have 11 blocks while Texas managed only two.

Texas won the first set and kept it close all day — 26-24, 19-25, 21-25, 20-25. But overall, it was a jarring finish as the Longhorns’ season end at 20-7 knowing the last two years ended in pools of national championship confetti.

Just as the Horns have done in other matches, they fell behind early. The Bluejays jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set. And just as they’ve done previously, the Horns came roaring back as Marianna Singletary, Skinner and Reagan Rutherford all took turns slamming it down.

Creighton went up by two, and Elliott swerved to insert Ella Swindle. The setter who led UT to last season’s national title lost her position this year to Averi Carlson. Swindle came off the bench and threw a beautiful blind backset to Ayden Ames, who smashed it home. Creighton’s Ava Martin then hit one out, and Swindle set up Skinner for a huge kill on set point.

The second set, Creighton decided it would stop going right at Halter. Serve it hard and hit it harder at anyone but Texas’ libero. That put more pressure on UT’s Jenna Wenaas, who was already struggling offensively. The Jays won the second set and could sense the tide had turned.

The third set, the Horns were back on their heels. Creighton hit .344 in that set alone as the plan became clear. Let Skinner get hers; just don’t get beat by anyone else.

Skinner finished with 23 kills with 11 errors on 62 attempts (.194). Wenaas hit minus-.043 on 23 attempts. Rutherford hit .250 but the Horns needed more than five kills from her. Singletary and Ayden Ames combined for 19 kills.

Creighton had a balanced attack with four players getting at least nine kills each. Norah Sis and Martin had 15 each.

Based on its historical standards, this was a lumpy season for Texas. Elliott went to a 6-2 offensive lineup to utilize Carlton and Swindle — or at least try to keep both happy. But three straight losses to Texas A&M, Missouri and Oklahoma forced him to scrap that for a traditional 5-1 lineup with only Carlton.

The shift back to the 5-1 allowed Skinner to go back to hitting from the back row, “what makes me me,” she said before the NCAAs. Texas found its groove again and rattled off eight straight victories. Associate head coach Erik Sullivan refused to shave again until UT lost, and his new look screamed “mountain man” and/or “eccentric billionaire.”

This isn’t the end of Texas’ volleyball story, merely the closing of its recent chapter. The Horns have the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class for 2025 and 2026 on deck. This locomotive will roll on.

But Skinner won’t, at least not at Texas. The future pro walks away as a three-time college national champion and cemented herself among the greatest in UT volleyball history.