Texas volleyball team may move out of Gregory Gym in the future

While fielding a question at the Texas Athletics Town Hall on Tuesday evening, Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte let it slip that “one of the things we’re looking at is do we look at building a mini Moody (Center) for volleyball and other things on campus. That’s on the docket that we’re working through right now.” That comment was made as Del Conte explained that the Texas athletic department rents out Gregory Gym for its volleyball matches and doesn’t have the power to make any wholesale changes to the facility.

“We could do so many things differently, but that building is an actual Rec building,” Del Conte said. “We’re looking with partners right now and looking at doing between a five to 6,000-seat arena that we can address volleyball’s needs. The Moody Center has been a huge hit for us (with basketball). As good as Erwin Center was, you see what happened with the new Moody. If we could replicate that in a smaller fashion, that’s the hope.”

With the exception of the 2020-21 pandemic season, Texas has played all of its home matches inside of Gregory Gym since 1998. The intimate nature of the 4,000-seat area has created a homecourt advantage for the Longhorns, who last lost three home contests in a single season in 2006.

Texas averaged an over-capacity crowd of 4,495 this past season. That ranked fifth nationally.