The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 3 seed Volleyball advances to NCAA Final Four with 3-0 sweep of No. 6 seed USC
12.09.2012 | Volleyball
Dec. 8, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior All-America outside hitter Bailey Webster led the No. 3 seeded Texas Longhorns with 17 kills in their 3-0 sweep of the No. 6 seeded USC Women of Troy Saturday evening at Gregory Gym (25-19, 25-22, 25-14). The victory marks Texas' first sweep in a regional final since 1988, the year UT won a national championship, and secures their eighth trip to the NCAA Final Four.
Webster, who was named NCAA Austin Regional most outstanding player, posted kills on 17 of 29 attempts with two errors for a .517 clip in tonight's match. In four postseason matches, Webster has 64 kills (4.92 kps) while hitting .519 with eight blocks.
Junior setter Hannah Allison recorded 45 assists, two kills, one service ace, six digs and three blocks for Texas (27-4) in tonight's match, while sophomore All-America outside hitter Haley Eckerman registered 11 kills, one block and one dig. Sophomore middle blocker Khat Bell tied her career high of three service aces, while also posting seven kills, four digs and three blocks.
USC (30-6) was led by Sara Shaw with 10 kills, three assists, 10 digs and one block, as well as Katie Fuller with 10 kills and seven digs.
Texas came out for set one with balance on the attack. Five Horns earned kills in the set and Webster, who connected on eight of ten swings with no errors, posted a .800 clip. Down 9-8, UT launched an 8-2 run, highlighted by four kills from Bell, as well as service aces from Bell and freshman libero Kat Brooks, to earn a five-point margin. The Trojans narrowed the margin to three with back-to-back points, but was never closer than that.
The second set would prove to be back-and-forth with 11 tied scores and five lead changes. A 5-1 run from the Horns, including two straight kills from Eckerman, put Texas up 18-15. The Trojans called a timeout and emerged with a 5-2 run of their own to tie the game at 20. The Longhorns put an end to the set with another kill from Eckerman, who earned a total of six kills in the set on 10 attempts for a hitting percentage of .600.
Behind 5-3 in the third set, UT recorded five straight, in a stretch that included kills from Webster, freshman middle blocker Molly McCage and Eckerman, as well as back-to-back double blocks by McCage/Eckerman and McCage/McNeal. Leading 13-10, the Horns recorded five unanswered points as the team would hit .480 to close out the sweep.
With this win, the Longhorns advance to next week's NCAA Final Four in Louisville, Ky. where they will meet Michigan. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2, Gametracker live stats will be available on TexasSports.com and @TexasVolleyball will post live Twitter updates.
Notes: This is the first time that Texas has recorded a sweep in a regional final since 1988 when the Longhorns swept UT Arlington...tonight was the second time in NCAA postseason history that Texas faced USC (USC beat Texas in the 2007 Gainesville Regional final, 3-0)...Texas is advancing to its eighth NCAA national semifinal (1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2008, 2009 and 2010)...Khat Bell recorded three service aces in a match for the third time in her career...Texas is hitting .405 through four postseason matches...Texas setter Hannah Allison is averaging 12.77 assists per set in the postseason...Texas is now 4-5 all-time against USC...Texas is now tied with USC for fifth place for most NCAA Volleyball Tournament victories with 69...Texas is now 69-27 in NCAA postseason play...with 476 kills on the season, Haley Eckerman needs nine kills to break into UT's single-season list...tonight was the Longhorns' 21st sweep of the season...Texas is 11-4 this season against ranked opponents.
USC 19-22-14 TEXAS 25-25-25Records: Texas (27-4), USC (30-6) Kills: Bailey Webster 17 (Texas), Sara Shaw/Katie Fuller 10 (USC)
Team: USC TEXAS 1 .323 .444 2 .357 .368 3 .029 .480 Match .243 .424
2012 NCAA Austin All-Regional Team
Ashlyn Driskill, Wichita State
Chloe Mann, Florida
Katie Fuller, USC
Sara Shaw, USC
Hannah Allison, Texas
Sha'Dare McNeal, Texas
Bailey Webster, Texas - MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER