The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Nebraska
No. 2 Volleyball stays unbeaten with sweep of No. 8 Nebraska
10.30.2009 | Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2009
Box Score | | Post-match video
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 2 Texas Volleyball team completed the season sweep against Nebraska for the first time in Big 12 history, sweeping the Huskers Friday night in front of 4,009 rowdy fans at Gregory Gymnasium. The 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 victory improved the Longhorns to 18-0 on the year and 13-0 in Big 12 play, while the Cornhuskers fell to 16-6 and 9-4 in league action.
Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker headlined the Texas attack with her 19-kill, 10-dig effort. The All-American hit at a .400 clip to pace the Horns to their third straight win over the Huskers. Nebraska's loss marked the first time that it has lost to the same opponent three consecutive matches since it fell to Long Beach State three times between 1989 and 2001.
Texas trailed early in the first set before a 4-1 run fueled by a pair of kills from junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette gave UT a 14-11 edge. The Huskers bounced back to tie the match at 14 and regained the advantage at the 19-18 mark. The Horns answered with a 5-1 run capped by a double-block from sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams and senior All-America setter Ashley Engle to take a 23-20 lead. Hooker closed out the frame, 25-22 with two of her six first-set kills.
In the second, Texas once again played from behind and overcame a 14-12 deficit with a 4-0 run that put UT ahead 16-14. Nebraska responded with four straight points to reclaim the lead, but a solo block and a kill from Hooker moved Texas in front 21-20. The Husker forged ahead at the 24-23 mark, but three straight points capped by a Hooker kill ended the set 26-24.
The Longhorns fell into a hole to start the third stanza, calling their first timeout trailing 4-0 and burning their second timeout at the 9-4 mark. Nebraska pushed the margin to six before a 7-2 UT run evened the tally at 13. The Huskers took the lead again (18-15), but a 10-1 run down the stretch propelled UT to a 25-19 victory. During the set-ending run, Hooker hammered out six kills, including the final three points of the match.
Faucette added to the Texas offense in the win with nine kills and added seven digs to bolster the defense. Hooker's kill/dig double-double was her sixth of the season. Senior libero Heather Kisner highlighted the Texas back row with a match-best 15 digs.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 4 when it travels to No. 9 Iowa State. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- Texas' win improved its record to 15-29 all-time against Nebraska. Texas has won the last three meetings, marking the first time a team has beaten NU three straight times since Long Beach State (1989-2001). Texas is now 10-10 all-time at home versus Nebraska.- The Longhorns have now won 27 straight regular-season matches, marking the longest streak in program history.
- Texas currently owns a 17-match home winning streak dating back to Nov. 1, 2008. The Horns have not lost a set at home in 2009 (21-0).
- The Horns are 18-0 with 10 of their wins coming against ranked opponents. UT is 5-0 against teams ranked in the top 10.
- Texas' .326 hitting percentage against the Huskers marked the highest percentage by a NU opponent this season.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Texas
Head coach Jerritt Elliott
Opening statement: I'm really proud of our team tonight. I think we battled all night long when we weren't playing our best volleyball. Our numbers in terms of our side-out game were lower than they've been, but we made good decisions all night long. Before we started the match, we thought that this might not be our best match, but we always have got to find a way to win. I may have jinxed us in the locker room before the game, but we battled, we fought, and overall we played really well through all three games. We could've given up in game three when we were down 10-4, but we just kept fighting and we had some big plays in the 18-point range that really changed the momentum and got the crowd behind us. I'm just proud of the way that this team fights.
On his coaching methods in the third set: I was trying to interject some energy into them. We were trying and they wanted to win, but they were unable to get a rhythm going. I wanted to help get them going and create a little bit of energy and enthusiasm for them. If I have to be a cheerleader at times, I will do that to help get the girls going.
On the ability to rely on the freshman: It was huge. I told Sha'Dare (McNeal), I don't know how I am keeping her off the floor. She just does so many great things for us and she is so good off the bench. She is realizing how much her numbers have improved off the bench. She came in and injected a lot of energy. She added a different dimension. She is definitely our fastest and makes good plays.
On Destinee Hooker: I thought Destinee was really good. She made some great plays and she just loves being in this kind of situation. She knows how to win and she just loves performing at this kind of level. She wants the ball when it is crunch time.
Senior setter Ashley Engle
On her aggressive plays: I think I always try to play a little bit aggressive. Sometimes I feel that because I am so tall, it gives me a disadvantage, so I try to keep the other team as off balance as possible and try to open up some one-on-ones for the outsides.
On the emotion: It was important for us to stay calm tonight. But as soon as we hit 20, it was like we went into another gear. I think that was key in order to be successful tonight. So instead of becoming tentative, we stayed aggressive.
On Nebraska in the third set: They were relentless. They are a great team and have a great coach. Sydney [Anderson] is an awesome setter and runs a great offense. I think we came out less prepared than we should have been and they never gave up. I think that is what makes a great game. Luckily we hit that second gear and we were able to pull out a win.
Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker
On the end of the second set: I would say that it had a lot to do with composure and not losing focus. We knew that all we needed was the first ball contact, everything else was there. With that time-out we were able to regroup and get back on the court and dominate.
On what she was thinking during her second-to-last kill: Being a senior, all I was thinking was that we are not going to lose this game. We have worked too hard in the practice gym and we are too far into the season to let up now. So I got some eye contact from Ashley [Engle] and a good pass from Heather [Kisner] and I terminated the ball.
On her serves: I just wanted to stay aggressive. I would rather make a long error than error into the net. I felt like if I could keep that rhythm going, maybe they would shank a few balls here or there and maybe I would get an ace serve. Overall, I felt like the outcome was successful.
Nebraska
Head coach John Cook
Opening statement: We had some opportunities to win all three games, but Texas has got some great players and they're a great team. Destinee Hooker is a special player and she took over at the end of those games, and we just couldn't match it.
On tonight's match: One of the things our team has to understand is, our team doesn't have Destinee Hooker on it. You have to play great as a team, especially at the end of games and especially on the road. Destinee just took over. She did it in one game with jump-serving, she did it in another with a couple of kills. We certainly had opportunities. Our team competed hard. We did a really good job of following our game plan we had coming into this match, but Destinee is a once-in-a-lifetime type recruit, and you can do everything right and she will still get kills.
On if he thought they had Texas in the third set: We started off that game and had them on their heels. I was really pleased with how our team came out, still aggressive, in serving especially. But we didn't side out, we couldn't answer back. We started giving up runs and making errors. You just felt the momentum shift about midway through that game, it just felt like Texas had all the momentum, and we just couldn't do anything right.
On the positives from tonight's match: As a coach, I have to keep in perspective where Texas is as a team right now and where we are as a team right now. There are a lot of positive for us to take from this. We are learning what we're going to have to do to be successful at the end of November. I think there are a lot of positives that come out of this, and how our players handle the disappointment, knowing they had some shots at this match. I know there is great disappointment there, which is encouraging that this is important to them and they realized that too. I think this match was great relief for Texas and great motivation for Nebraska.
Freshman outside hitter Hannah Werth
On the match: Like Coach Cook said, Destinee Hooker is a phenomenal athlete and they answered back very strongly. Every time we gave them a free ball, and we didn't take advantage of our opportunities. I think that we learned from that. We just have to convert.
I think tonight we can take away a lot of good things that we did. We had moments of greatness. We just have to be consistent with them. I think this is the hardest we have fought all year. I could feel it.
Junior opposite hitter Lindsey Licht
On what went wrong in tonight's match: We just have to come out and play Nebraska volleyball there were opportunities, like Hannah and coach said. We have to figure out how to play Nebraska volleyball. I know we can do it, I've seen it in practice, we see it in matches and we saw glimpses of it tonight. We just have to find a way to pull together and show everybody.
On the attitude going into tonight's match: I don't think we were thinking about revenge. Maybe for some people, but I think it was more of a "how can we come out and beat Texas?" It was just one match. Texas and Nebraska have always been rivals. Since I got here, it has always been a big deal. There is always that little bit of energy, everybody wants to play. I don't think there was a "since they beat us at home, we've got to beat them tonight" attitude. Two great teams were playing, and we've got to come out and play.
