The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Stanford
Volleyball falls to Stanford in NCAA Regional, 3-1
12.09.2006 | Volleyball
AUSTIN, Texas -- The eighth-ranked Texas Volleyball team battled back from a 2-0 deficit to win game three, but No. 2 Stanford proved to be too much for the Longhorns, as it topped UT, 3-1 (30-28, 34-32, 31-33, 30-24), Saturday night in the NCAA Regional Final at Gregory Gym. Junior outside hitter Jen Christian came off the bench to lead Texas with 19 kills, while Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker, Jennifer Todd and Lauren Paolini added double figure kill totals.
Texas (29-3) played Stanford (24-7) close in the first three games, dropping the first and second games by two points and winning the third frame by two.
Christian came on strong for the Horns in game three hammering out seven kills on 13 swings to lift UT to a 33-31 victory. Texas trailed early in the game, but a 4-0 rally highlighted by three freshman opposite hitter Engle kills erased a 16-13 Stanford lead and gave the Horns a 17-16 advantage. Christian helped extend the UT edge with three kills as part of a 4-1 Texas run that moved the Horns ahead, 21-18.
The Longhorns widened the lead to three on a Christian solo block at the 26-23 mark, however, the Cardinal fought back to knot the game at 29-29 on a service ace by Jessica Fishburn. Texas traded points with Stanford down the stretch until freshman outside hitter Hooker connected for a kill and junior setter Michelle Moriarty tallied an ace on consecutive points to lift UT to a game three victory.
In the first game Texas fell behind in the early going, as Stanford went on a 6-1 run to push its lead to 10-5. The Horns trailed all the way until a Hooker ace moved the tally to 21-21. Stanford and Texas battled back-and-forth down the stretch before the Horns claimed their first lead of the game at the 27-26 mark on a Christian kill. The Cardinal answered the point with three straight points, two of them on UT miscues to set up game point at 29-27. Senior middle blocker Todd pulled Texas within one at 29-28, but a Texas service error ended the game 30-28.
Texas leapt out to a 5-0 lead to start the second game, using two Paolini blocks and a pair of Engle kills to grab the early advantage. The Horns stretched their lead to six at the 8-2 mark when Todd connected for one of her three game-two kills. UT extended its lead to 15-5 behind a 7-2 run paced by kills from Christian, Hooker and Todd. The Cardinal answered the run with a 5-1 run capped by a Foluke Akinradewo kill.
The Horns pushed their lead back to eight on a Christian kill at the 19-11 mark , but Stanford quickly put together an 8-2 run to narrow the margin to 22-20. Stanford tied the game at 26-26 on an Akinradewo, Cynthia Barboza block assist and claimed its first lead of the game at 31-30. The teams then traded points until back-to-back kills by Barboza and Bryn Kehoe sealed the game 34-32 for the Cardinal.
In the final stanza Texas again claimed an early edge, claiming a 6-2 lead on an Engle kill and holding the lead until two Erin Waller kills and a Barboza block gave the Cardinal an 8-7 lead. Stanford held the lead from that point on, blowing the game open at the 17-16 mark and tallying four straight points to take a 21-16 lead. The Cardinal widened the gap to as many as seven, but Christian closed the margin to four with a kill at the 27-23 mark. Stanford responded with consecutive points and after committing an error on match point, Franci Girard put down her sixth kill of the night to clinch the match and a trip to the NCAA round of four in Omaha, Neb.
Christian came off the bench to lead the Horns with 19 kills on .308 hitting, while Engle tallied 18 kills and 16 digs in the loss. Hooker posted 16 kills and Todd and Paolini joined her in double digits with 13 and 10 kills apiece. Paolini added seven total blocks on the night and Moriarty posted 68 assists and 13 digs. Moriarty, Engle and Hooker were named to the NCAA All-Austin Regional team along with Akiradewo, Barboza, Kristin Richards and Cal's Morgan Beck.
Texas concludes the season with a 24-7 record, marking its first trip to the NCAA Regional finals since 1998.
NCAA All-Austin Regional Team
Morgan Beck, California
Foluke Akinradewo, Stanford
Cynthia Barboza, Stanford (Most Outstanding Player)
Kristin Richards, Stanford
Ashley Engle, Texas
Destinee Hooker, Texas
Michelle Moriarty, Texas
POSTGAME NOTES
- Stanford reaches the NCAA Final Four for the 16th time with its 3-1 victory over seventh-seeded Texas; the Cardinal will make its first NCAA semifinal appearance since 2004, when Stanford captured the NCAA Championship.
- Stanford will meet the winner of Saturday evening's NCAA quarterfinal match between third-seeded Penn State and seventh-seeded Washington in the NCAA semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 14 in Omaha, Neb.
- Stanford now owns a 15-7 advantage in its match history against Texas and a 4-2 record against the Longhorns in NCAA Tournament play.
- The Cardinal also ended Texas' tournament run in UT's last NCAA Regional appearance; Stanford won by a 3-0 margin in the 2004 NCAA round of 16 in Green Bay, Wis.
- Stanford increased its NCAA Tournament match victory total to 79 wins, which leads the nation. The Cardinal's all-time NCAA Tournament record now stands at 79-20.
- Texas' season ends in the NCAA Regional final at 24-7, marking head coach Jerritt Elliott's best NCAA Tournament finish at Texas; UT's NCAA Regional final appearance was its first since 1998 and first under Elliott.
- Texas' streak of nine consecutive games won in NCAA Tournament play ended when Stanford captured the first game, 30-28.
- Texas junior setter Michelle Moriarty added a match-high 68 assists to her school-record total, which now stands at 4,358.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jerritt Elliot
Opening statement: I think it's a step for our program to get to this level, but we're obviously not satisfied with the outcome. When you build a program, it takes time, and I think the experience we gained in regards to playing in the crunch time was huge. As a coach, you're responsible for the outcome and the growth of the program, but the thing you ask from your teams is that they give you everything they have. This team did that, and they were so much fun to coach. I'm very sad for the seniors Jenny Andrew, Jennifer Todd and Dariam Acevedo, who were so close to experience the Final Four. On the other side, I'm extremely excited about the talent, dedication and the loyalty that we have as they've faced the adversity of losing two All-Americans. I think it shows a lot about the young women in our program, and where this program is headed. Now it's time to get some rest for them because they've given me everything they had. I'm so proud to be their coach.
On competing against Stanford: They're physical, and they're bigger than we've ever seen in terms of speed. Wisconsin was big but our serve receive was better against them than it was tonight. They made some good blocks, and we've been working on how to challenge high and make some different adjustments. We also have some young players out there who have learned so much while playing against such an experience team like Stanford. I thought overall, Jen Christian did a tremendous job for us on the left side. Destinee Hooker and Ashley Engle both had great night and learned a lot from this.
On the future of the Texas Volleyball program: The seniors came here believing in this program, and I told them that they left this program in the healthiest state it's been in since 1998. We have a wonderful core returning next year that's very dedicated and loyal to one another and the No. 2 recruiting class in the country coming in. That's exciting, and the expectations are at a higher level than ever before.
Michelle Moriarty, Setter
On the close game against Stanford: It's definitely frustrating to be that close and not execute at the right time. We didn't pull out the win when we needed to. It's incredibly frustrating.
Jen Christian, Outside Hitter
On her hitting performance: I wouldn't say it was the best night I've ever had, but I'm pleased that I was able to put up some good numbers. I really just think it was a do or die situation, and someone has to show up and make a change. I'm glad that I got that opportunity.
STANFORD POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach John Dunning
Opening statement: I would like to congratulate Texas on a great year. That was amazing to watch. If I was sitting a little further back and I had to pay for a ticket I'm sure it would be well worth the money. This was a gathering of amazing players and when you get to see people rise to the occasion like both teams did, I think you get to see things that even surprise you. There were definitely plays like that tonight. I think the three that are sitting here played amazingly, especially at the end of game two, which was a ridiculous game for us being way down. Texas had game point, Cynthia went to the corner to dig a ball, it was a great hit, and we some how managed to transition and get a kill to win the game. Who knows how the match goes if we didn't get that play. That's the thing about volleyball. So I would like to congratulate them. That's some amazing stuff, great athletes, and we're just happy to still be playing volleyball next week.
On Texas's returning talent and future: They're amazing. I hadn't ever seen Destinee play in person before. It's pretty fun to watch. I think she might get better too as she's got room to improve. I think the team they have here is a young team as well, and who knows how good they're going to be. With Brandy here and a good recruiting class coming in, they're going to be a great team for a while.
Kristin Richards
On the advantage of experience: I definitely think that the experience that we have had helps in these kinds of situations. Coming in and scouting Texas, they are a very, very good team and playing them in this atmosphere was a very challenging thing to do. I would like place a big emphasis on the people on this team that haven't been to the final four, and that haven't been to the elite eight. They played their hearts out and they worked very, very hard.
Cynthia Barboza
On her serving: When I'm going back to serve, I'm trying to give my team the best opportunity to score. I know if I'm swinging sixty percent and they get a perfect pass, and they run their offense, Texas is too good. One of the things we've talked about as a team going into this match was our serves. I felt like tonight my serve was in a rhythm and I just wanted to give my team the best opportunity to score.
Foluke Akinradewo
On what they did to be able to outplay Texas at the net: Texas is a very big team. We knew going in that they were great blockers. We just tried to move it in and out. I think Erin Waller did an amazing job tonight. She definitely kept us going all those games and I think as a whole our team just stepped up to the challenge.
