‘Like playing with MJ’: Nya Bunton bided time behind greats. Will it help 2026 Longhorns?

Late in the fourth and final set of Texas volleyball‘s critical nonconference win over Wisconsin Sept. 13 at Moody Center, Longhorns middle blocker Nya Bunton exploded off the court before hammering home a pass from Rella Binney for her 13th and final kill of the match.

The point gave No. 7 Texas an insurmountable 21-13 lead over a talented Wisconsin squad that had knocked the Longhorns out of last year’s NCAA Tournament in a regional final at Gregory Gymnasium. It also capped a career game for Bunton, whose emergence as a go-to attacker has been a bright spot for Texas, which enters SEC play this Friday at Tennessee with a disappointing 4-4 record.

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But don’t get it twisted, said Texas outside hitter Torrey Stafford. Behind the scenes, Bunton has been one of the most valuable Longhorns over the past two seasons. Now, the rest of college volleyball is starting to realize the same thing.

“Nya has always been that girl,” Stafford said.

After middling start to season, here’s how Texas volleyball will adjust before SEC play

Jerritt Elliott: Nya Bunton’s emergence a ‘cool story’ for Texas

Bunton, a 6-foot-3 senior from Louisville, Kentucky, has a habit of deflecting praise like she would an opponent’s shot. That includes during a postgame interview following the win over Wisconsin. Bunton shrugged off her 13 kills on 25 swings – another career-high – with just one hitting error. Instead, she credited her teammates.

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“It’s our defense, especially today,” Bunton said when asked about her big game. “I think we’re really scrappy, and we’re reading balls, so that helps me be able to transition and get a good swing off of it. And I think our passers have been doing an amazing job of that. So, just keep building off of that going into conference play.”

UP NEXT

NO. 7 TEXAS VS. NO. 15 TENNESSEE

When/where:

6 p.m. Friday in Knoxville, Tenn.

TV:

SEC Network.

Texas coach Jerritt Elliott appreciates Bunton’s attitude, but he also entered this season with an appreciation of her offensive potential. That’s one reason he didn’t pursue a middle blocker in the transfer portal even after one of last year’s starting middles, Ayden Ames, transferred to Creighton.

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Sure, Bunton didn’t play while battled nagging injuries and redshirting as a freshman on the Longhorns’ 2023 championship team. And, yes, she only took the court six times as a sophomore in 2024. But last season in her first extended action, Bunton showed Elliott and her teammates plenty while tallying 96 kills and 61 blocks. This year, she’s already fired 56 kills with 35 blocks.

“She’s just done a phenomenal job of learning and developing,” Elliott said. “This is one of the cool stories of Texas volleyball, the road that she’s had, the struggles that she came in with the injuries, and how she stuck with it. How she’s playing now is super rewarding. It’s super cool to see her playing that much, and how excited her teammates are for her.”

Nya Bunton: Family roots help keep her grounded early in career

BJ Bunton, Nya Bunton’s father, can sense that excitement from the stands. He sat with his wife and Nya’s mother, Quita, in Moody Center during the match against Wisconsin and could feel his daughter’s energy emanating from the court.

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“It’s an absolute joy,” he said on a phone interview earlier this week from Louisville, where he serves as the Director of Opportunity and Access for the Jefferson County public school system. “She’s getting fed and getting the opportunity. We know what she’s capable of.”

Bunton and his wife also understand how collegiate athletics work, which helped his daughter stay patient while sitting on the bench her first two seasons. BJ Bunton played collegiate basketball at UC-Santa Barbara while Quita Bunton’s side of the family has basketball roots at Eastern Kentucky University.

Heck, BJ Bunton’s father, Bill Bunton, played on two Final Four men’s basketball squads for the Louisville Cardinals in the 1970s. He even made a recruiting trip to Texas before picking the Cardinals, but Bunton joked that “the plane ride was too bumpy, so he stayed home.”

But a bumpy early road at Texas didn’t discourage his daughter, Bunton said.

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“That’s something that we tried to communicate with her as parents: You’re going to face adversity, and not everything will be easy,” he said. “You have to stay disciplined, stay focused, keep working hard, and when your opportunity comes, take advantage of it. She took that to heart and trusted the process.”

It also helps when Bunton spent her first season tutoring behind some accomplished Texas players like former All-American middle Asjia O’Neal, who’s spent time with the U.S. national program. BJ Bunton leaned on his hoops roots when describing what that meant for his daughter.

“It’s like playing with MJ (Michael Jordan) or Kobe (Bryant) or LeBron (James),” he said. “I said ‘Nya, you are in a unique situation. Take advantage of it. Look at their work habits on and off the court and how you can incorporate what they do into your game. Use them as a measuring stick.'”

Bunton may not have gotten many rotations in her first two seasons, but she picked up plenty of lessons.

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“I would say it is tough being patient, but I think that’s something I’ve also learned,” she said. “I’ve just learned staying patient with myself and also trusting the process, trusting the growth I’ve made. And I think it’s exciting to like see all of that now. Obviously, I’m still continuing to make strides, and there’s things I still want to work on and get better at. But I definitely think I’ve learned a lot of lessons from the past two or three years.”

Louisville volleyball: Bunton made mark in her hometown

Bunton has been a quick learner since she chose to focus on volleyball in middle school, said Richard Weaver, her high school coach at duPont Manuel High School in Louisville.

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Weaver took over the Manuel program, which is at a public magnet school within the Jefferson County public school system, where BJ Bunton works, just weeks before Nya Bunton started high school in 2019. With her size and natural athletic ability, Bunton had already earned plenty of attention from college coaches as well as the numerous private schools that dominate the prep sports landscape in the Louisville area.

But Weaver quickly learned that Bunton’s best attributes couldn’t be measured by the number of stars on her recruiting profile.

“She picked Manuel for the right reasons, not just volleyball,” Weaver said. “She told me she wanted to be in public schools because of so many backgrounds and cultures. She said, ‘I want to go somewhere where I can make an impact.’ She changed the mindset and the narrative around our program. She said she wanted to create her own legacy here at Manuel, and she certainly did.”

Before Bunton arrived, the Manuel Crimsons had a solid program but couldn’t match up with the local powerhouse parochial schools. By the time she left, Bunton had earned the 2022-23 Gatorade Kentucky volleyball player of the year and the 2022 Ms. Kentucky Volleyball awards and led Manuel to a 32-8 record and a berth in the 2022 7th Region championship match.

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More importantly, Weaver said Bunton left a lasting impression on the program’s future players, even if the youngsters only meet the Longhorn when she makes her annual visit to the school during summer break.

“Her name still gets brought up when it comes to our culture and our team success, and it gets brought up by kids who didn’t even play with Nya,” said Weaver, whose team remains one of the top public school volleyball programs in the nation. “She comes back and visits the program every year, and she still has that big ol’ smile on her face that everyone around here knows. I hope she knows how everyone feels about her around here. I hope she feels the spirit of her hometown. She has an army behind her here that supports her.”

Cari Spears: Nya Bunton a valued locker room leader

Bunton’s also got an entire locker room behind her, too. The Longhorns’ attack still centers on All-American candidates Stafford and Cari Spears at the pins, but Bunton’s offensive development gives Texas an added dimension. She easily leads the Longhorns attackers with a .414 hitting percentage – Spears ranks second on the team for any player with at least 50 swings with a .248 percentage – and has 25 kills with just one attacking error on 52 swings over the past three matches.

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That production comes with more chances. Elliott flipped her from the middle 1 position to the middle 2 to avoid double blocks and get more open looks.

“By putting her in that position, we’re actually getting her more sets and more opportunities, and she can score more in those situations,” he said. “And she’s just done a phenomenal job of learning and developing.”

According to everyone, from Elliot and her Texas teammates to Weaver and her family back in Louisville, she’s also listened to the various voices that have supported her development into one of the SEC’s top middles.

“I’ve told her, you’ve put in the work, and you have that confidence when you’re given that opportunity,” BJ Bunton said. “That’s what she’s doing. We’re all so proud of her.”

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But far from shocked, said Spears.

“It’s not a surprise to us that Nya is doing this good,” she said. “We see it all the time, so we’re glad that everyone else is seeing it, too.”

Texas volleyball vs Tennessee: How to watch

What: SEC opener

When: Friday, 6 p.m.

Where: Thompson-Boiling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.

How to watch: SEC Network

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This article originally published at ‘Like playing with MJ’: Nya Bunton bided time behind greats. Will it help 2026 Longhorns?.

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