The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Kansas
Hooker paces No. 2 Volleyball to sweep of Kansas
10.14.2009 | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The No. 2 Texas Volleyball team hit .356 for the match to sweep past Kansas on Wednesday night at the Horesji Family Athletics Center. The 25-16, 25-22, 25-12 victory improved the Longhorns to 13-0 on the season and 8-0 in Big 12 play, while the Jayhawks fell to 9-8 and 2-6 in league action.
Kansas answered every Texas rally early in the first set and claimed a 10-9 lead midway through the frame, but the lead proved to be short-lived. Texas bounced back behind an 11-3 run paced by a pair of kills from freshman middle blocker Sha'Dare McNeal to take a 20-13 lead. McNeal added an ace down the stretch and junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette added two kills to lift the Horns to a 25-16 victory.
Texas trailed to start the second stanza before three quick kills by senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker put the Horns in front, 9-7. The Jayhawks fought back to reclaim the advantage at the 13-12 mark, but the Longhorns answered with a 5-1 run fueled by a kill and an ace from Faucette that put UT ahead, 17-14. Hooker connected for an ace to widen the margin to 20-16 and added three late kills to propel Texas to a 25-22 win.
Hooker kept it rolling in the third set, hammering out three kills to start the stanza to help UT grab a 7-1 edge. Kansas narrowed the lead to 11-8 before Texas went on a 12-1 run headlined by three kills and two blocks from sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams to take a 23-9 lead. The Horns went on to close out the frame 25-12 on a kill by sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Doris and a service ace by senior libero Heather Kisner.
Hooker highlighted the Longhorns' offense on the night, recording 18 kills on .429 hitting and chipping six digs and two service aces. Faucette added nine kills and seven digs, while Adams notched seven kills, five blocks and hit .667.
Texas returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 17 when it travels to Texas Tech. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- Texas' win over Kansas improved its all-time record against the Jayhawks to 26-4.
- The victory improved the Longhorns' regular-season winning streak to 22 matches, marking the third longest streak in program history.
- Destinee Hooker recorded nine kills on .389 hitting in the second set.
- Texas out-hit Kansas .356-to-.103 on the night and out-blocked the Jayhawks 9.0-to-2.0.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Head coach Jerritt Elliott
General statement: This was a good win on the road. I thought as the match got going we got better, especially in game three. Our blocking assignments were better in the third and our side-out game was a lot smoother. We made some good adjustments against a good road opponent in the Big 12 and that is what we need to do.
On Destinee Hooker's performance: She keeps growing as a player. We challenged her a little bit after game one to vary her shot selection. Leadership-wise she came out and led the team and ignited their fire. She is a special player. We need to get a little bit more balance, but it is nice to know that we have someone that can take over a match.
On Rachael Adams' continued improvement: I thought Michelle (Kocher) did a nice job tonight of distributing the offense and Rachael continues to get better. We are trying to get her the ball more and for us to be successful we really need to have that balance.
