The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Colorado
No. 11 Volleyball guts out five-game win at No. 25 Colorado
11.09.2005 | Volleyball
BOULDER, Colo. -- Jen Christian's solo block on the Horns' fourth match point in the fifth and decisive game gave 11th-ranked Texas a 30-27, 31-33, 30-23, 25-30, 17-15 victory over No. 25 Colorado on the road, giving Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott his 100th victory at Texas and 150th career win, in front of 1,302 fans at Coors Event Center on Wednesday night. The win gave UT its seventh-straight victory, a season high, while it also snapped Colorado's seven-match winning streak.
Christian's block was Texas' (19-3, 13-2 Big 12) 19th of the night, a season high. Colorado (13-8, 9-8 Big 12) had five players record double figures in kills, but UT's Dariam Acevedo had a match-high 25 and Leticia Armstrong added 21 in the victory to help lift the Longhorns to the win, Texas' third five-game win in four tries this season.
Acevedo had her fifth double-double of the year as she also added 11 digs, to go with her ace and three blocks.
Brandy Magee added 17 kills and also had a career-high nine blocks, while Michelle Moriarty had a season-high 74 assists and a career-high eight blocks.
Christian had her third double-double of the year with 12 kills and a career-high 15 digs, while adding three blocks, including the game-winner on match point.
Amber Sutherland had a team-best 20 kills for Colorado, while Allie Griffin had 19, Nicole Carr had 14, and Lauren Schaeffer and Lara Bossow each added 12 kills apiece in the loss. Griffin also had six of CU's 12 blocks on the night.
Ashley Nu'u was one of three Buffs to record double-doubles with 66 assists and 11 digs, while Carr had 13 digs and Sutherland 13 to complete their double-doubles.
Colorado out-hit Texas, .272 to .242, but it was UT's .412 hitting mark in the fifth game that proved to be the difference. The match marked just the third time in 2005 Texas had been out-hit, but it was the first victory when being out-gunned.
In the final game, UT jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead, but CU tied the score at 4-4. The teams traded side outs and after a Magee kill and Colorado attack error, UT had a two-point lead at 7-5. Three straight Texas hitting errors gave the Buffaloes an 8-7 lead on the changeover, but Christian's kill kicked off a 3-0 run by UT to give the Horns a two-point lead. However, CU again tied the score, at 10-10, the fifth tie of the game. Twice more Texas went ahead by two points and had a pair of match points at 14-12 and 14-13, but a Carr kill and a Griffin kill on an overpass knotted the score, ensuring extra points.
Magee have the Horns another match point at 15-14, but Carr erased it with a kill before Magee came through again, setting up Christian's match-ending kill.
With the win, UT improved its record against ranked teams to 6-1 in 2005. UT has now won the last four matches against Colorado, its longest winning streak against CU since the 1998-99 seasons.
Texas jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first game, but Colorado climbed back to trail by one point at 9-8 behind Bossow's serve. After back-and-forth play, CU tied the score at 12-12 on a Bossow-Sutherland block and then took its first lead on a Sutherland kill. Christian had two straight kills to help Texas regain the lead at 14-13 and then Christian added two more kills and Brandy Magee had two aces in a 4-0 run that have UT its five-point lead back at 18-13, forcing Colorado to call a timeout.
Acevedo's kill on an overpass gave UT its largest lead of the game at 21-15, but the Buffaloes rallied to pull within four points at 22-18. The Longhorns rebuilt their seven-point advantage at 27-20, but CU put together a 7-2 run to pull within two points at 29-27. However, a Buff service error on UT's second game point gave the Horns game one.
Colorado took a two-point lead at 5-3 in the second game, but UT came back with a 4-0 run to move ahead at 8-6. Texas continued to build its lead and held a four-point advantage at 15-11 before a TV timeout halted play. Colorado came out of the break with a 4-0 run to tie the score at 15-15, and from there, the two teams continued to side out until a Magee kill and a Buff attack error gave UT a 20-18 lead.
Back-to-back Griffin kills pulled Colorado even at 20-20 and the teams continued to trade points until 23-23. From there, Acevedo scored Texas' next five points - with four kills and an ace - to give the Longhorns a 28-24 lead. The Buffaloes benefited from a Griffin kill, two UT attack errors and a Bossow block to pull even at 28-28. UT and CU traded the next four points before a Moriarty error gave the Buffs game point at 31-30. A Griffin service error knotted the score, but Nicole Carr and Bossow had successive kills to give CU the game and knot the match at one game apiece.
Game three was a battle for both teams coming out of the break, but after a CU service error put the Horns up 13-12, UT had back-to-back blocks to go up 15-12 entering the TV timeout. Like they did in game two, the Buffs came out of the television break and knotted the score at 18-18. Texas responded with an 8-1 run that included five blocks - with four by Magee - to push its advantage to 26-19, a seven-point lead.
The Longhorns moved eight points ahead, 28-20, on the second of successive Magee kills, but a UT error and a Carr kill brought CU back within six, forcing a UT time out. However, after CU gave Texas game point with an attack error, Armstrong capped the game and put the Horns up 2-1 with a kill on the second game point.
In the second game, UT went ahead by four points at 10-6, but after a Bossow kill knotted the score at 10-10, the Longhorns never saw a lead of more than one point. Bossow scored CU's next three points and her fourth-straight kill gave the Buffs a 13-12 lead they would not relinquish. Colorado pushed its lead to five points - its largest of the match - at 18-13, but Texas rallied to trail by one point at 19-18 behind two Armstrong kills, an Armstrong block and a Magee kill.
UT was once more down by a sole point - at 20-19 - but the Buffaloes ran off a 7-2 run to put the game out of reach at 27-21. UT held off a pair of game points, but a Lauren Schaeffer block ended the game and sent the game to a decisive fifth game.
The Longhorns return to action on Saturday, Nov. 12, when they host Iowa State at 7 p.m. at Gregory Gym. Fans coming from the 2:30 p.m. UT-Kansas football game will receive a free general admission ticket when they present their ticket stub from the football game.
