The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Kansas
Faucette propels No. 8 Volleyball past Kansas, 3-1
11.20.2010 | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2010
Final Stats | Post-match interviews 
AUSTIN, Texas -- The eighth-ranked Texas Volleyball team used a 26-kill performance by senior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette as it knocked off Kansas, 3-1, Friday night at Gregory Gymnasium. The 25-16, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23 victory improved the Longhorns to 21-5 on the year and 16-2 in Big 12 action, while the Jayhawks fell to 16-13 overall and 7-11 in league play.
Faucette's offensive explosion marked her fourth match in her last five outings that she has registered 24 or more kills. She hit .396 and added 15 digs for her 20th career kill/dig double-double and improved her career kill total to 1,474 to move into fifth-place on UT's all-time kill charts. Senior middle blocker Jennifer Doris connected for nine kills on .571 hitting, while junior middle blocker Rachael Adams and senior outside hitter Lauren Dickson chipped in eight kills apiece.
In the first, Texas erased an early deficit with a 6-0 run capped by a Dickson kill that gave UT an 11-8 lead. A 5-0 rally fueled by two Faucette kills extended the Texas advantage to 19-11 and after the two sides traded a series of miscues the Longhorns closed out the set, 25-16 on a kill by sophomore opposite hitter Sha'Dare McNeal.
Texas took advantage of 4-1 rally fueled by a block and a kill by Doris midway through the second to claim a 13-8 advantage. The Jayhawks rallied behind a 4-0 run to close the margin to 14-13, but UT was able to balloon the lead back to 21-18 on a kill by Faucette. Kansas fought hard down the stretch, coming back to ward off two set points before the Horns closed out the frame, 25-23 on a kill by Adams.
The Longhorns fell behind quickly in the third as the Jayhawks jumped out to a 6-1 lead and widened the margin to 11-5 on a double-block by Nicole Tate and Caroline Jarmoc. Texas battled back with a 4-1 run to pull within one at the 17-16 mark and two kills by Faucette pushed the Horns ahead, 21-20. The Jayhawks and Horns traded the next five points before KU forced set point 24-23. Texas evened the set at 24 before two kills by Kansas' Karina Garlington lifted KU to a 26-24 set win.
In the fourth, the Longhorns again dug a hole, falling behind 8-3 out of the gate prior to mounting a 5-0 run fueled by four kills from junior outside hitter Amber Roberson to even the set at eight. Kansas answered the Horns' run with a 4-1 rally to take a 12-9 lead and quickly widened the gap to 17-12. Texas responded with an 8-2 run headlined by two blocks and two kills from Doris that moved the Longhorns in front 20-19. The Horns maintained a two-point margin late in the set courtesy of three kills by Faucette that forced match point at the 24-22 mark. After a kill by KU's Jenna Kaiser, Faucette closed the door with her 26th kill of the night to propel UT to a 25-23 victory.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 24 when it plays host to Texas A&M in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
POST-GAME NOTES
- Texas' win over Kansas improved its all-time record against the Jayhawks to 29-4 and 14-1 in Austin. The Longhorns have won the last 13 meetings.
- The Horns' victory extended their season-best winning streak to 13 matches.
- Texas' win extended its Big 12 home winning streak to 24 matches.
- Juliann Faucette registered her 20th career kill/dig double-double and her fifth of the season.
- Faucette's 26 kills marked the fourth time in five matches that she has notched at least 24 kills. During the five-match span she is averaging 6.53 kills per-set and hitting .382.
- Faucette improved her career kill total to 1,474 in the win, moving her into fifth place on UT's all-time charts.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head coach Jerritt Elliott
General statement: Tonight was a challenge for our team. We came out and played very smooth in game one, and came out and did a really good job on the defensive side. Then Kansas was able to get their offense going, and we weren't able to respond on the defensive end. That was the reason the games were so tight. I thought our offensive numbers were good, our passing struggled at times, but overall, we have to be better defensively to be able to put teams away. We were great in the crunch with our senior leaders Juliann [Faucette] and Jennifer Doris taking some big swings at the end that were critical. We can learn some valuable lessons from this. We can continue to improve as we get back to the gym on Monday.
On how important Lauren Dickson is to the team: It's critical. We've had so many injuries, and Lauren is a very good volleyball player. She has a very good volleyball IQ and brings a lot of knowledge to the court. She is a nice player.
On how Sarah Palmer responded after the timeout in the fourth set: It was good. I was just telling her that she is a really good player and she has to be confident with what she is doing. The mistakes she was making, she was hesitating on the relationships and questioning that. I told her she is in there because she is good, so she just needs to go out there and be aggressive. That is a lesson she has to learn at this time of the season, and she was able to go out and do that, so that was good.
On this time of the year being hard to motivate the team: On the drive to work I was thinking about that. We put so much focus on Missouri and we talked to them about Kansas, and you have the big game with A&M coming up, and they have the weekend off. So, it was a scary time to try to prepare them and get them to understand that. Volleyball is a funny thing, if you give teams confidence, they believe they can play with you and then you get into a battle. And that is what happened. Kansas played very well tonight.
On if this game will prepare the team well for the upcoming tournament: Yeah, I think it does so. The lesson that has to be learned, is that we can't take our foot off the pedal, and that is what we talked to them about tonight. Our numbers offensively siding-out wise, we're close to being good enough. But defensively, we can't let teams side-out at that percentage too. That is where the focus comes in. Our blocking wasn't very good tonight either. We didn't make reads in terms of their approach speed.
On Juliann Faucette's statline: With the way she has been playing in the last few matches, she would be a National Player of the Year candidate. Her early season numbers probably won't be good enough, but that is world class swinging, being able to average over six kills a game, hitting over .400. That is big time production. She is scoring more than 25-percent of our points, so that is amazing production.
Senior outside hitter Juliann Faucette:
On if as she has gotten older, if she can sense when her team needs her: Absolutely. I think as the years progress, I have just learned the team. As a leader, you have to do that and you have to know when to push buttons and when to take it upon yourself, or whatever the case is. I like to take a lot of responsibility at crunch time, which is what has to happen
On how she will prepare the team for the upcoming games: Every game I try to keep it the same, the same mentality. We have to treat each team the same as the time before. We have some really good teams in the Big 12, our next week is a pretty big deal with A&M here and Iowa State for our last game. So, we just have to stay in a strong mentality, and make sure we are ready to play.
