The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Colorado
No. 2 Volleyball downs Colorado, 3-0
10.24.2009 | Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas -- The second-ranked Texas Volleyball team out-hit Colorado .443-to-.188 to sweep the Buffaloes, Saturday afternoon at Gregory Gymnasium. The Longhorns' 25-23, 25-12, 25-15 victory improved UT to 16-0 on the year and 11-0 in Big 12 play, while the Buffs fell to 6-14 overall and 1-10 in league action.
Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker paced the Texas attack to start game one, serving an 11-1 run and recording five service aces. The Horns maintained the lead at the 15-5 mark before a 10-3 CU rally shrank the margin to 18-15. Colorado narrowed the lead to 21-20 and fought off two set points before UT closed out the frame, 25-23.
In the second set, Texas took an early 9-4 lead before a 4-0 CU rally shrank the margin to 9-8. The Horns answered with a 7-0 run fueled by three Hooker kills that widened their lead to 16-8. A 6-1 run headlined by three kills from junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette extended Texas' advantage to 23-11 and a CU error and a Hooker kill ended the set 25-12.
Texas grabbed a quick 5-1 edge to begin the third stanza, taking advantage of a kill and a solo block by junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris to forge ahead. Back-to-back kills by Hooker and freshman middle blocker Sha'Dare McNeal pushed the lead to 12-7 and a CU attack error allowed UT to push its lead to 19-13. McNeal added a solo block and a kill as part of a set-closing 6-0 run late in the set to lift UT to a 25-15 win.
Faucette and Doris paced the Longhorns in kills with eight apiece, while Doris hit .727 on 11 errorless swings. Hooker notched seven kills on .353 hitting and tallied a career-high six service aces.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 28 when it travels to Texas A&M for the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Central on ESPNU.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- Texas' win over Colorado improved the Horns to 24-8 all-time against the Buffs and extended its winning streak over CU to 12 matches.
- The Longhorns have now won 25 straight regular-season matches and 16 consecutive home matches.
- Texas' 16-0 start to the 2009 season ties for the second-best season-opening streak in school history.
- Jennifer Doris' eight kills against CU marked a season best, while her .727 hitting percentage on 11 swings (zero errors) set a new career high.
- Destinee Hooker's six service aces against the Buffaloes set a new career high.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On Michelle Kocher's performance: She is obviously very capable. She was the Big 12 Freshman of the year last year and led us to the final four. She's a very accomplished setter and can perform at a very high level for us. She's got great hands and an excellent feel for the game.
On the team's intensity today: It was a challenge. We know that we can win a lot of matches, but for us to be successful we have to have our own standards that we force ourselves to live up to as far as how we execute our wins. College athletics is about competing and having energy at the highest level. And if you can't do that, you can't be a successful team or program over a longer period of time. We even talked about maintaining our position if we gained a lead early, but ultimately, we had to battle back and were fortunate to perform at a higher level in games two and three.
On the upcoming Texas A&M match and the rest of the week: We are we are going to take the rest of the weekend to get healthy and prepare. We will be ready. We've worked very hard to get to this point and we are taking this one match at a time.
Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker
On the ball that hit the Colorado player in the face: I thought the ball was going out so the fact that she touched the ball was great, it was unfortunate that it happened to hit her in the face.
On her serving: I was just trying to be aggressive. I tried not to take anything off of the ball and after the first few, I began to get into a rhythm and everything turned out great from there.
Junior outside hitter Juliann Faucette
On Texas new lineup: It shows the depth of our team and how well we can step up and play. It gives us a different look and feel. We're having some fun doing it.
On the timing of the team's setbacks: We never like to have anyone out, but it is a good time during the season to have it happen. We've just got to keep pushing through.
Sophomore setter Michelle Kocher
On getting more playing time: It's fun to get an opportunity to play with the team and to try to make everyone around you play better. That's why we play the game.
