The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Missouri
No. 2 Volleyball sweeps past Missouri
11.07.2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2009
Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The second-ranked Texas Volleyball team hit .371 as a team and notched 11 blocks in its sweep of Missouri, Saturday evening at the Hearnes Center. The 25-21, 25-8, 25-23 victory improved the Longhorns to 19-1 on the year and 14-1 in the Big 12, while the Tigers dropped to 15-11 overall and 6-8 in conference matches.
Texas led early in the first before a 4-1 Missouri rally erased the Horns' advantage and tied the set at eight. The Longhorns answered immediately with a 5-1 run capped by a kill from senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker to take a 13-9 lead. A 4-1 rally paced by three MU miscues allowed Texas to push the advantage to 19-12. The Tigers narrowed the margin to 19-15, but three straight points, including a back row kill from Hooker gave UT a 22-15 edge. Missouri rallied late to shrink the lead to 24-21, but a Hooker kill ended the set 25-21.
In the second, Texas led from the start and used a 9-1 run headlined by two kills and a solo block from junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris to balloon the lead to 13-4. A 5-0 run paced by three Texas blocks stretched the margin to 19-6. After allowing one Mizzou point, Texas went on a 6-1 run to close the frame, taking advantage of two of its seven second-set blocks to seal the set 25-8. Sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams recorded five block assists in the set and senior All-America opposite hitter Ashley Engle notched four block assists.
The Longhorns used a quick 6-0 run paced by a kill and a block from Doris to grab a 7-1 lead to start the third set. Missouri battled back to narrow the lead to four, but a 4-1 Texas run led by two Doris kills pushed the Texas lead to 19-12. The Tigers answered with an 8-3 run of their own to move the tally to 22-20. Two Mizzou errors and a Hooker kill forced set point at the 24-20 mark, but Texas did not close the match until Hooker connected for her 17th kill of the match to end the set 25-23.
Hooker paced the Texas attack with a match-high 17 kills on .400 hitting, while Doris notched eight kills on 11 error-free swings and equaled a career-best with a .727 attack mark. Engle and junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette each tallied six kills, with Engle adding 17 assists, nine digs and four blocks.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 11 when it plays host to Texas Tech. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- Texas' win improves its record to 18-10 all-time against Missouri.
- Jennifer Doris equaled her season-best effort with eight kills against Mizzou and equaled her career-best hitting percentage with her .727 attack mark.
- The Longhorns notched seven total blocks in its 25-8 second-set win.
- Texas out-hit Missouri 11.0-to-4.0 and out-hit the Tigers .371-to-.075.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Head coach Jerritt Elliott
General statement: I am very pleased and I feel like we bounced back really well. We had two very good days of practice and it showed tonight in a place that we have struggled in the past. I thought our team did an excellent job of managing our new system. We got a lot of good production from a lot of people. This is a fun team to coach.
On Texas' offensive balance: It has been a focus for us. Against Iowa State we got pretty predictable and didn't have as much balance as we needed. This new lineup gives us an opportunity with players getting healthy and it lets us get more from the middles and our right pin.
On Texas' efficiency: We blocked really well in game two and our production was really good in all three games. We made a few too many errors in game three and in rally scoring that can let the other team back in the game. You need to be efficient on both ends of the ball. We earned 22 points in game three and when you do that you should win handily.
