The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Volleyball: 2009 in review
01.13.2010 | Volleyball
Jan. 13, 2010
The 2009 season proved to be a memorable campaign for the Texas Volleyball team, winning its third straight Big 12 title, making its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Semifinals and advancing to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1995. Along the way the Horns tallied 29 victories, equaling its win total from 2008. Take a look back at some of the highlights, honors and memorable moments from 2009.
TEXAS IN THE FINAL AVCA POLL
The Longhorns are ranked No. 2 in the final AVCA Division I Coaches Poll ... Texas was ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll and held that spot for the duration of the season ... UT has now been ranked in the Top 10 for 58 straight weeks ... UT opponents in the poll include No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 Hawaii, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 8 California, No. 20 Baylor and No. 21 Texas A&M.
HORNS IN THE FINAL VOLLEYBALL MAGAZINE POLL
Texas holds the No. 2 spot in the final Volleyball Magazine Poll ... Big 12 foes in the poll include No. 5 Nebraska, No. 9 Iowa State, No. 16 Baylor and No. 19 Texas A&M ... four of Texas' non-conference opponents are ranked (No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 Hawaii, No. 4 Minnesota, No.6 California).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (Dec. 17 & 19)
Penn State: Texas leapt out to a 2-0 lead in the NCAA Championship match with No. 1 Penn State, but the Nittany Lions reeled off three straight wins to take the match 3-2 (25-22,, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 13-15) ... senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker headlined the Texas attack with 34 kills, 17 digs and a .316 attack mark en-route to earning Most Outstanding Player honors ... sophomore Rachael Adams added 11 kills on .529 hitting and chipped in six total blocks, while junior outside hitter Juliann Faucette tallied 10 kills and seven total blocks ... senior setter/opposite Ashley Engle came close to a triple-double with her eight-kill, 36-assist and 14-dig effort ... Hooker's 34-kill performance tied for the second-highest single match kill total in UT history.
Minnesota: Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker notched 17 kills, and senior opposite hitter/setter Ashley Engle added 10 kills and 25 assists to lead the second-seeded Longhorns to a 3-0 victory over 11th-seeded Minnesota Thursday evening in the semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Championships ... junior opposite hitter Juliann Faucette added 10 kills for the Longhorns, who hit .400 on the evening, while senior Heather Kisner added 21 digs, and sophomore Michelle Kocher dished out 16 assists.
TEXAS IN THE NCAA STATS
In the final addition of the NCAA statistics, Texas ranked No. 2 in the country with its .338 hitting percentage ... UT ranked No. 5 in blocks per-set, averaging 2.96 stuffs each set ... senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker ranked first with 6.09 points and fourth with 5.06 kills per-set.
TEXAS' SENIOR CLASS
Texas' 2009 senior class of All-America opposite hitter/setter Ashley Engle, All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker and libero Heather Kisner has posted a 109-17 record in its four seasons ... its winning percentage of .865 is the highest of any class in UT history ... their 109 wins are the most in the Jerritt Elliott era and most since the `92 class.
HOOKER HONDA FINALIST
Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker was named a nominee for the 2009-10 Volleyball Honda Award, becoming the first two-time nominee in program history after earning a nomination in 2008-09.
UT IN THE 2009 TOURNEY
Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker has shined in postseason play, hammering out 5.81 kills, collecting 2.48 digs and 0.90 blocks per-set, while hitting .402 in six matches ... Texas hit .350 as a team in the tourney and held opponents to a .185 attack mark ... sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams led the team at the net with a club-best 22 total blocks ... senior All-America setter/opposite Ashley Engle averaged 1.90 kills, 7.62 assists and 2.29 digs per-set in six matches.
ROAD WARRIORS
Texas was 29-2 on the season with 17 of its wins coming on the road ... the Horns were 12-1 at away games and 5-1 at neutral sites in 2009 ... the Horns notched victories at Hawaii and Nebraska (twice), which perennially rank in the top-two on the NCAA Volleyball attendance charts.
RE-WRITING UT's NCAA CHARTS
Several current Longhorns left their mark on UT's postseason record book ... the senior class of Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker and Heather Kisner has played in 19 NCAA matches in its career ranking in the top spot in UT history ... sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams' .465 career NCAA attack mark ranks No. 1 and Heather Kisner's 219 digs and Destinee Hooker's 291 kills hold the top spot as well.
STREAKING AT HOME
Texas ended the season riding a 22-match home winning streak at Gregory Gym dating back to Nov. 1, 2008 ... in 2009 Texas dropped just one set at home, posting a 36-1 sets won record on its home floor.
ENGLE, HOOKER & FAUCETTE ALL-AMERICA HONOREEES
Texas placed three players on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America team, earning three nods for the fourth-straight season ... Texas landed senior setter/opposite hitter Ashley Engle and senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker on the first team and junior outside/opposite hitter Juliann Faucette on the third team ... each member of the trio picked up first-team AVCA All-Region honors.
TEXAS EARNS FIVE BIG 12 AWARDS, HOOKER POY
Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker highlighted Texas' Big 12 Conference awards, taking home Conference Player of the Year honors ... Hooker, senior All-America setter/opposite Ashley Engle and junior All-America outside/opposite hitter Juliann Faucette earned All-Big 12 First Team accolades ... Hooker and Engle earned the fourth first-team honor of their careers, while Faucette claimed her third ... freshman outside hitter Bailey Webster rounded out the awards with a spot on the Big 12's All-Freshman Team.
RULING THE ROOST IN THE BIG 12
In the Big 12 stats, Texas was the best hitting team by a large margin and posted its second-highest team hitting mark in program history ... the Horns hit .338 overall and .337 in Big 12 play, while Nebraska ranked second, hitting .256 overall and .262 in league action ... UT led Iowa State in blocking 2.96-to-2.51 overall and led Iowa State 2.91-to-2.60 in Big 12 play.
HOOKER, CHAMPION OF SOLOS
Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker is the Big 12 Conference's all-time leader in career solo blocks with 132 ... Hooker registered a team-best 33 solos in 2009.
SUCCESS IN BIG 12 PLAY
In 14 years of Big 12 Conference play the Longhorns own a 211-66 (.762) mark in league action ... Texas' all-time Big 12 record ranks second to only Nebraska ... during head coach Jerritt Elliott's nine-year tenure, Texas has posted a 136-43 (.760) record against Big 12 foes ... the Longhorns' 19-1 record in 2007 and 2009 are their best marks since the inception of the league.
HOOKER EARNS BIG 12 RECORD 13TH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker was named Big 12 Player of the Week (Nov. 30) for a conference record 13th time after leading the second-ranked Longhorns to sweeps of Oklahoma and Kansas ... the award was the sixth of the season for Hooker, setting a Big 12 record for most in a season ... Hooker anchored No. 2 Texas' attack, connecting for 6.00 points and 5.33 kill per-set, while hitting at a red-hot .500 clip and committing just three attack errors on 58 swings.
LONE STAR STATE DOMINANCE
Since head coach Jerritt Elliott arrived in Austin, the Longhorns have emerged as the dominant volleyball program in the state of Texas ... the Longhorns have posted a 72-7 (.911) record against in-state opponents during the Elliott era, including an 18-0 mark against Texas Tech and a 17-1 mark against Baylor ... Texas has won its last 45 matches versus in-state foes, last dropping a match on Oct. 16, 2004 to Texas A&M.
TEXAS No. 1 in NCAA RPI
In the final release of the NCAA RPI, Texas ranked No. 1 ... No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Illinois and No. 5 Washington rounded out the top five ... Big 12 rivals Iowa State and Nebraska ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
GET SMART
Texas landed five players on the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Team, marking the second straight season with five players on the squad ... sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams, junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris, senior libero Heather Kisner and sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Yogi earned spots on the first-team, while senior setter/opposite hitter Ashley Engle claimed a place on the second-team ... Doris and Engle captured their second academic honors of their careers and Kisner claimed her third straight first-team accolade.
TOUGH ROW TO HOE
Texas was 29-2 on the season with 14 of its wins coming against ranked opponents and its two losses coming against No. 1 Penn State and No. 8 Iowa State ... Texas' season-opening streak of seven wins against ranked opponents was the longest in program history, while the seven straight matches against ranked opponents tied a UT record set in 1995 ... the Horns have defeated No. 4 Hawaii, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 10 California, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 15 San Diego, No. 19 Saint Louis, No. 23 Long Beach State, No. 24 Baylor (twice) and No. 25 Texas A&M in 2009.
ACADEMIA
Three Longhorns were named to the 2009 CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District squad ... senior libero Heather Kisner earned a spot on the first team and claimed the third all-district honor of her career (2007: first team, 2008: second team) ... junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris was named second team for the second straight year and sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams earned her first career second team honor.
ENGLE GRACES VOLLEYBALL MAGAZINE COVER AGAIN
Texas senior setter/opposite hitter Ashley Engle is featured on the cover of the December issue of Volleyball Magazine ... the magazine cover marks the second time Engle has been featured on the front of VBM ... Engle made her first appearance on the cover of the magazine's March 2006 issue when she was a senior at Esperanza High School.
TEXAS SNAPS NEBRASKA STREAK
Texas snapped then-No. 6 Nebraska's 82-match winning streak at the NU Coliseum on Sept. 26 with its 3-1 win over the Huskers ... the 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory was the Longhorns' first win in Lincoln since 1988 ... senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker paced the Texas attack on the night with 15 kills on .308 hitting ... junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette added eight kills and five block assists, while sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams connected for seven kills and four total blocks.
HAWAIIAN ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
After claiming the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic title, three Longhorns were named to the all-tournament team ... senior setter Ashley Engle garnered tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, while senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker and junior outside hitter Juliann Faucette earned all-tournament accolades ... Engle headlined the Texas offense on the week, averaging 8.82 assists, 2.91 kills, 2.27 digs and 0.64 blocks per-set for the week, while hitting at a .564 clip.
HORNS' HOUSE
The Longhorns ranked seventh in attendance in 2009, averaging 3,035 fans per home contest .. in 2008, Texas ranked 11th in the NCAA in attendance average with 2,370 fans per-match ... 4,324 fans packed Gregory Gymnasium on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to watch Texas defeat No. 3 Nebraska (3-1), marking the largest crowd to witness a volleyball match in Gregory Gymnasium's current configuration ... the Horns ranked ninth nationally in attendance with an average of 2,502 fans at their 2007 home dates ... Texas ranked ninth nationally with an average of 2,169 fans at its 2006 home dates.
TV-D
In 25 career national television appearances, senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker has shined ... in 2009 she averaged 5.52 kills per-set (21 sets) and hit .342 in UT's six national TV matches ... she averaged 4.40 kills on .331 hitting in 2008's six TV matches ... in 2007 Hooker posted 4.85 kills and 2.00 digs per-set on TV (63 kills in 13 sets) ... in Texas' eight nationally televised matches in 2006, Hooker recorded 124 kills, including a 4.00 kill per-game average (31 sets) in those matches ... Hooker averaged 16.00 kills per-match and 4.44 kills per-set when the Horns appeared on national television in her four seasons.