The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
Engle leads Volleyball past Baylor
11.04.2006 | Volleyball
WACO, Texas -- Texas freshman outside hitter Ashley Engle registered a career-high 27 kills, as the No. 8 Longhorns rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Baylor, 3-1 (20-30, 30-24, 30-20, 30-21) Saturday night at the Ferrell Center. Engle hit at a .396 clip on the night, while notching 17 digs and leading the Horns to a season-high fifth straight victory.
Baylor (15-11, 4-10 Big 12) used a 9-1 run sparked by a pair of Nicole LeBlanc kills to quickly gain control of game one . The Horns narrowed the gap to three on an Engle kill at the 10-7 mark, but that would be as close as Texas would get. Baylor pushed its lead back to eight on three straight Anna Breyfogle kills that moved the Bears edge to 18-10. Breyfogle hammered out six kills in the game and proved to be too much down the stretch, closing out the game 30-20. The Bears out-hit the Longhorns .439-to-.098 in the game, while Baylor registered 20 kills to Texas' 13.
The Longhorns stormed back in game two after a bit of sluggish start, claiming their first lead of the game on a Baylor error at the 17-16 mark. Engle took over from that point forward pushing the lead to two with a kill at the 20-18 mark and then combining with Destinee Hooker on a 7-1 run to end the game. During the run Hooker tallied two of her six game two kills, while Engle put the exclamation point on the game with two consecutive kills that moved the UT lead to 29-24. Senior outside hitter Dariam Acevedo closed out the game, 30-24 with her first kill of the match. Engle recorded eight kills during the second stanza, while the Horns hit .244 as a team.
Texas grabbed the lead early in game three, using a 5-1 run to take an 8-4 advantage. Jennifer Todd highlighted the run with a pair of kills, while sophomore middle blocker Lauren Paolini notched a back-to-back block assists. The Horns widened the margin to six at the 12-6 mark on two Paolini kills and a Baylor ball handling error. After the Bears narrowed the margin Engle connected for two kills and an ace as part of a 3-1 run to push the lead back to six.
The Horns blew the game open late in the game taking advantage of two of Baylor's 11 game three attack errors and moving the score to 22-13. Texas increased its advantage to its widest at 27-16 on a Jen Christian kill, but the Bears fought back, narrowing the Horns lead to 27-20. The Longhorns answered the Bears rally with three consecutive points and Todd finished off the game with a solo block that moved the final tally to 30-20. Texas held Baylor to .018 hitting in the third game and Engle once again highlighted the Horns attack with five kills in the game.
Todd and Engle controlled game four for Texas, helping the Horns grab a 6-1 lead out of the gate. Engle recorded two of her nine game three kills in the early going and continued her hot streak throughout the fourth frame. The freshman led Texas on a pair of 4-0 rallies, first pushing the lead to 10-3 and then hammering out two kills as part of a second run that put UT ahead, 17-10. Todd followed suit, connecting for three of Texas' next four points, and moving the Horns' advantage to 22-14. Texas closed out the final game on a 7-1 run that included three kills and a block assist by Engle. Engle's career-high 27th kill concluded the match with the Horns winning game four, 30-21.
Engle headlined the Horns on the night with 27 kills on .396 hitting and posted a match-high 17 digs. Hooker and Todd joined her in double figures with 14 and 12 kills respectively. Junior setter Michelle Moriarty added her 14th assist/dig double-double of the season with 62 assists and 11 digs, while junior libero Alyson Jennings steadied the defense with 14 digs.
No. 8 Texas returns to action Wednesday, Nov. 8 when they take on Texas A&M in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown at Gregory Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be televised live on CSTV.
