The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wisconsin
Volleyball advances to NCAA Regional finals Saturday, defeating Wisconsin 3-0
12.08.2006 | Volleyball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Seventh-seeded Texas collected a match-high 12 kills and nine digs from freshman outside hitter Ashley Engle and 11 kills from junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini, as the Longhorns (24-6), behind an extraordinary .398 team attack percentage, claimed a decisive 3-0 (30-19, 30-22, 30-12) victory over 10th-seeded Wisconsin Friday evening at Gregory Gym. The Longhorns advance to Friday's NCAA quarterfinals where they will meet second-seeded Stanford, a 3-0 winner over California in Friday's first NCAA round-of-16 match. Amy Bladow led the Badgers with eight kills but was unable to get much help elsewhere, as Wisconsin (26-7) totaled a .000 attack percentage for the match
Wisconsin began the match with an aggressive attack, getting kills from Amy Bladow, Maria Carlini and Audra Jeffers to assume a 3-0 led. A Paolini attack error and a Badger block pushed the lead to 5-0, forcing UT coach Jerritt Elliott to burn an early timeout. Paolini put Texas on the board with a kill and Engle later added a kill of her own to cut the deficit to 6-2. Trailing 8-2, the Longhorns commenced a rally, taking six of seven points, capped by an Engle kill, to draw within 9-8.
After a Taylor Reineke kill stretched the Badger lead to 11-9, Texas went on the offensive, reeling off five consecutive points with two Paolini kills, one from freshman outside hitter Destinee Hooker and a pair of attack errors to take a 14-11 lead. After an Engle attack error, Moriarty dunked a kill and Paolini added a block to stretch the UT lead to 16-12 to force a Wisconsin timeout.
Leading 23-19, Hooker pounded another kill, and an ensuing Badger ball-handling error and a Hooker block pushed the Texas lead to 25-19. The Longhorns closed out the game by taking the next five points, capped by a Hooker kill, to take the first game, 30-19.
Texas opened game two with kills from Engle and Paolini before junior setter Michelle Moriarty and Wisconsin's Jocelyn Wack exchanged service errors. The Badgers got a kill from Amy Bladow, but UW's Jackie Simpson served out of bounds to give UT a 4-2 lead. Wisconsin would rally to take a 6-5 lead and force a Texas timeout, but the Longhorn deficit proved to be short-lived, as Texas regained the lead at 10-9 on a Hooker block and would not look back.
Leading 13-10, Texas totaled three consecutive points off of Hooker's serve, beginning with a thunderous service ace, to force another Wisconsin timeout at 16-10. Hooker's next serve sailed long, but Texas added four more points on kills from Paolini, Engle and Acevedo and a team block to assume a 20-11 lead and induce a Badger timeout.
Wisconsin claimed the next four points to climb within 20-15, but the Badger deficit failed to shrink throughout the remainder of game two. A Carlini kill sliced the deficit later in the game to 26-20, but Jennifer Todd's kill finished off game two, 30-22.
Texas trailed early on in game three at 4-3, but an Engle kill and two Badger attack errors eliminated the deficit, as UT took a 6-4 lead. Acevedo added another kill before the Badgers responded with a pair of kills to pull within 7-6. However, the Badgers hindered their rallying efforts with errors on the next three points, forcing UW coach Pete Waite to burn a timeout facing a 10-6 deficit.
Plagued by errant hitting throughout the match - UW hit -.152 in the first game and .000 in the third - the Badgers sandwiched two more attack errors around a Hooker kill, as UT assumed a 13-6 lead. UW's Reineke registered a kill to pull the Badgers within 14-8, but Wisconsin aided the Longhorns with a service error and two Carlini attack errors to extend the Texas lead to 17-8 and force another timeout.
Leading 19-10, Texas dealt Wisconsin the final blow, a seven-point run highlighted by two Engle kills, one from Jen Christian and a Paolini service ace, to extend its lead to a commanding 26-10 margin. Wisconsin managed two more points on a Christian attack error and a Jeffers kill, but the Longhorns closed out the match with consecutive kills from senior Jenny Andrew (Kingwood, Texas), Engle and Christian to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Texas reaches the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 1998 and the first time under sixth-year head coach Jerritt Elliott; Texas dropped a 3-0 decision to Long Beach State in the 1998 NCAA quarterfinals
- Texas has yet to drop a game (9-0) during the 2006 NCAA Tournament, having swept all three games in its matches against Prairie View A&M, Stephen F. Austin and Wisconsin
- By defeating Wisconsin in its final match of the season, Texas completed the rare feat of defeating an opponent in that team's opening match while also ending that opponent's season with a loss. Texas defeated Wisconsin by a 3-0 count on Aug. 25 in the opening round of the AVCA Volleyball Showcase in Madison, Wis.
- Texas held an opponent to a .100 or lower attack percentage for the sixth time this season by holding the Badgers to .000 for the match; it also marked the fourth time Texas has it above .350 (.398 vs. Wisconsin) in a match
- The Texas-Wisconsin marked the first meeting between the two schools in postseason play
- Texas' record against top-25 opponents improves to 7-4 with its 3-0 victory over No. 10 Wisconsin.
- Junior setter Michelle Moriarty added to her school-record assist total with 32 assists; her career total now sits at 4,290.
- Saturday's NCAA quarterfinal match featuring Texas and Stanford will be the first meeting between the two schools since the 2004 NCAA Tournament, when the Cardinal dealt the Longhorns a 3-0 defeat in the NCAA round of 16 in Green Bay, Wis.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
Opening Statement: I can't say enough about this team in terms of its personality, work ethic, ability to deserve to win that match. They've worked hard all year, and they executed extremely well tonight in a high-pressure match. But, we still have some business to take care of.
On junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini's performance: We lost both All-American middle blockers (Leticia Armstrong and Brandy Magee), and we're not missing a beat. I know the team feels exactly the way I do in regards to our ability to keep moving forward. Lauren is playing exceptionally well and we've worked on some different sets with her. She's been coming to practice about half an hour early for the last three weeks and working hard. I think that shows her commitment, and it was nice to see that pay off tonight.
On the team's depth: You have to be deep to be successful. We have a lot of girls that are committed, and our team chemistry and commitment to winning is amazing. We've had people who haven't been starters to come off the bench, and they're all in this together. The depth has allowed us to get to this point, and there would be nothing sweeter for a coach than to see that pay off by winning tomorrow night.
On preparing for Stanford: We've been scouting them and we have broken down their rotations, hitting tendencies and defenses. We'll go spend some time to give our players a general feel of it, and the players all have DVD's with the scouting reports on them to reinforce the information we're sharing with them tonight. The most important thing is for them to get rested, re-hydrated and get in the right frame of mind for our match tomorrow.
Michelle Moriarty, Setter
On the upcoming match against Stanford: Obviously they are a really good team and we're really excited to get to play them in such a high-caliber match. The main thing that we're trying to convey to the younger players is that it's not fun to sit in the locker room like we did after the last time we played Stanford. Tomorrow, we hope to take care of business.
On playing Stanford at home: We love playing at home. I could say it a million times and it still wouldn't do it justice. We have the greatest fans, and we love playing in front of them. I think it's good for us that we're home tomorrow because we really love the atmosphere here.
Lauren Paolini, Middle Blocker
On her blocking performance: I thought that our pins did a really good job of setting up the block, so it was a really easy to close them and funnel the ball to our defensive players. I think overall it made it easier on our team.
On how her form has improved over the season: I think that our team was really in rhythm tonight, so it was easy to get me in rhythm too. I've been working on my form for months, and it was really easy to put that into the game today.
Ashley Engle, Opposite Hitter
On her performance in the second and third games after a slow start: I had a pretty good pep talk by Coach Elliott. He helped me to relax and just play. I was getting great sets from Michelle and tried to pass well, so that helped me to step up my game.
WISCONSIN POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Pete Waite
Opening Statement: Texas was a very hot team tonight. Even after our good start, they just kept coming back and never slowed down at all. What is lost sometimes in their size and height is their defense. I thought they played very good defense around the block, which kept them in system and running their offense. Congratulations to them, and I wish we would have competed better, but sometimes that happens.
On the difference between the first match against Texas and this match: Before the match I was going to say we were different and better. One thing they do well is they serve tough and keep you on your heels offensively. When you can't run your offense, it's very hard to attack that big block and that defense. So, I wish we would have received better. Had we done that, it might have kept us in system and it would have been a better match.
Taylor Reineke, Middle Blocker
On what made Texas a tough opponent: In addition to being a tall team, they were very physical and very defensive tonight. They out-dug us and out-blocked us tonight. I think they played really well tonight and we just didn't perform.
Amy Bladow, Middle Blocker
On leaving the program as a senior: Well I just focus on all the great things that went on this year, although losing twice to Texas was not one of them. I'll remember the friendships I've made and all the good times.
