The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
No. 2 Volleyball downs Texas Tech, 3-1
11.11.2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas -- The second-ranked Texas Volleyball team used a career-high 12 kills and a .500 attack mark from sophomore outside hitter Amber Roberson to down Texas Tech, 3-1 on Wednesday night at Gregory Gymnasium. The 19-25, 25-13, 25-10, 25-14 victory improved the Longhorns to 20-1 on the year and 15-1 in Big 12 play, while the Red Raiders dropped to 2-22 and 0-15 in conference action.
The Longhorns punched back in the second stanza after dropping the first, using a 4-1 rally and a pair of kills from sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams to take a 9-6 lead. UT pieced together a second 4-1 run to push the edge to 14-9 and it was all Horns from that point on. Freshman middle blocker Sha'Dare McNeal sparked a 13-2 Texas run by serving six straight points and notching three aces to help UT take a 24-11 lead. Roberson's sixth kill of the set closed out the frame for Texas, 25-13.
In the third, Texas opened on a 5-0 run headlined by three Hooker kills and added to its lead with a pair of kills from junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette that moved the tally to 9-3. A 12-2 UT run paced by three kills and a block from Hooker allowed the Horns to widen their lead to 22-7. Tech answered with three quick points, but a pair of TTU miscues and a kill by junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris closed out the set 25-10.
The Horns were sharp again in the fourth, taking advantage of three kills and a block by senior All-America setter/opposite hitter Ashley Engle to take an 11-8 lead. Engle keyed a 3-0 UT rally to push the margin to 17-10 and a kill by Hooker moved the Texas lead to 23-14. The Longhorns closed the set 25-14 with back-to-back triple blocks from Engle, Hooker and sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams.
Texas trailed early in the first before rallying to trim the Tech lead to 9-8. A 6-1 Red Raider run widened the margin back to 15-9, but Texas battled back to shrink the lead to 15-12. Texas Tech ballooned the advantage to 22-15 late in the set and went on to close out the frame 25-19.
Hooker headlined the Texas offense on the night with a match-best 17 kills, while Roberson posted new career bests with her 12-kill, .500-hitting effort. Doris set a new season high with nine kills and Faucette, Adams and Engle each chipped in seven kills.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 18 when it plays host to Kansas State. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- Texas' win over Texas Tech improved its all-time record against the Red Raiders to 68-9-2 and extended UT's winning streak over TTU to 18 matches.
- The Longhorns victory extended their home winning streak to 18 matches. UT's loss in the first set marked the first set it has lost at home in 2009.
- Amber Roberson recorded a career-high 12 kills and hit a career-best .500 against Tech.
- Jennifer Doris' nine kills set a new season high for the junior middle blocker.
- The Longhorns' hit .441 as a team in the win, setting a new UT record for highest team hitting percentage in a four-set match.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On his confidence throughout the match: I was just trying to get this team back again and get the engine rolling. I think it is tough sometimes to manage the personalities of the team. Sometimes they just need a good stern talking to, rattle them a little bit, and try to get them to focus on some of the areas of error.
On the new lineup: It is something that we've known we wanted to run. We've just been trying to get healthy. We know that we need balance, and we know that we need to be successful from both ends and this lineup gives us two first-team All Americans on the right, and it is very difficult to stop the right side attack. It allows us to minimize our errors, Juliann (Faucette) and Amber (Roberson) are pretty low on errors. There is a lot of balance. For us to be successful we have to be able to put the ball in the center a little bit more and I think with this team we have the ability to do that.
On Amber Roberson: She is very steady. She is a very fluid athlete who makes really good decisions, and she was really low error for us. Tonight you could see that she is starting to get a little bit more confident in the few matches she has been playing. So it is nice for her to continue being in that lineup and grow in her confidence. And as she continues to do that, this team will continue to improve.
Senior setter/opposite Ashley Engle
On the mindset before and after the first set: Composure, we were making some unforced errors. When we would start getting a run we would end it with an error, serving, hitting or even a reception error. So our goal was just to try and stay composed. Like coach said, we could have unraveled after the first set and been done, because Tech was giving it to us pretty bad in the first set, but I think we were able to turn it around.
On the next match: I think we have some things to work on. There has been a lot of volleyball so it will be good to get away from it this weekend. We can reflect on how far we've come and how far we still need to go.
Sophomore outside hitter Amber Roberson
On her career-high total: I just came in focused. Obviously, we did not start off well. I told myself to focus and give it my all. I think that we all realized that our rhythm wasn't there. We had to jump start it, after we came out and luckily we did in time.
Junior outside hitter Juliann Faucette
On the loss in the first set: Any time you lose a set, it really motivates you to come out strong. Destinee (Hooker) and I are really key energizers on the team and we realize when we have to use that part of our personality and take advantage of it. That is exactly what we had to do tonight.
On the new lineup: I think it is awesome. It just goes to show how much variety we have on our team. Some players are versatile enough to switch positions. And I think our coaching stuff has done a great job of finding the best lineup that will get us there in the end.
