The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Volleyball preview: Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational
08.28.2013 | Volleyball
The top-ranked Longhorns open the 2013 season Friday evening against the No. 11 Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu.
No. 1/1 Texas at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational
Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) | Honolulu, Hawai'i
Aug. 30-31, 2013
Matches 1-3: No. 1/1 TEXAS (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) at No. 11/11 Hawai'i, vs. UTEP/San Diego
When: Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31
Where: Honolulu, Hawai'i (Stan Sheriff Center)
Live Stats: hawaiiathletics.com
Television: Oceanic Time Warner Cable Hawaii
Internet Audio: hawaiiathletics.com
All-Time Series: Texas trails Hawai'i, 2-10 (H: 0-3, A: 1-4, N: 1-3), Texas leads UTEP, 3-0 (H: 2-0, A: 0-0, N: 1-0), Texas/San Diego tied, 1-1 (H: 0-1, A: 0-0, N: 1-0)
QUICK HITS
• The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in the preseason AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll (Aug. 12) for the first time in program history ... Entering the 2013 season, the Longhorns have appeared in the Top 10 of the AVCA poll for 101 of the last 105 weeks ... Texas has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 for 140 consecutive week, dating back to 2004.
• Texas holds the No. 1 spot in the preseason Volleyball Magazine Poll (Aug. 20) ... Big 12 foes in the poll include No. 15 Iowa State and No. 20 Kansas ... four of Texas' non-conference opponents are ranked (No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Stanford, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 11 Hawai'i,).
• Texas has been selected to finish first in the 2013 Big 12 Conference race in a vote of league head coaches ... the Longhorns have been chosen at the top of the preseason poll for the past three seasons and six times overall (1996, 2008, '09, '11-13) ... UT received eight of the possible nine first-place votes, while tallying 64 points overall.
• Junior outside hitter Haley Eckerman has been named the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Player of the Year for 2013 ... Eckerman, senior outside hitter Bailey Webster and junior middle blocker Khat Bell were also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
NATIVE ISLANDERS
Texas has no need for travel guides this week with a pair of Hawai'i natives on its travel roster. Senior Sarah Palmer and sophomore Kat Brooks were raised in Kailua and Honolulu, respectively.
HORNS PRESEASON HONORS
Junior outside hitter Haley Eckerman was named the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Player of the Year ... Eckerman garnered Texas' sixth-consecutive preseason player of the year honor after senior Bailey Webster earned preseason accolades in 2012, while Rachael Adams (2011), Juliann Faucette (2008, 2010) and Destinee Hooker (2009) round out the Longhorns' previous honorees. ... Eckerman, Webster and junior middle blocker Khat Bell were also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
TEXAS IN SEASON OPENERS
The Longhorns own a 33-6 all-time record in season openers and a 10-2 mark under head coach Jerritt Elliott. The 2013 season marks the first time since 2009 that the Longhorns opened the season on the road. That same season, Texas defeated No. 4 Hawai'i 3-1 (25-11, 25-22, 22-25, 25-11) for its fourth-consecutive win of the season.
UT's 2012 ALL-AMERICANS
Four members of the Texas Volleyball program earned 2012 AVCA All-American status. Bailey Webster and Haley Eckerman earend first team honors while Khat Bell and Sha'Dare McNeal earned honorable mention recognition.
HORNS CLAIM 2012 BIG 12 HONORS
Haley Eckerman was named 2012 Big 12 Player of the Year, becoming the fourth straight Texas player to earn the honor. Eckerman earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, along with Khat Bell, Sha'Dare McNeal and Bailey Webster. Molly McCage was named to the All-Freshman Team.
BEAT THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
Texas owns a 67-35 record against ranked opponents over the last nine season (2004-12) and a 34-7 mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gym during that span.
TEXAS IN THE NCAA STATS
In the 2013 final NCAA statistics, the Longhorns ranked No. 1 nationally in team hitting percentage (.325) and fifth in team blocks per set (3.04) ... Haley Eckerman ranked No. 18 with 5.00 points per set and No. 23 with 4.38 kills per set.
HOME SWEET HOME
Success on their home court is nothing new for the Longhorns ... dating back to the 1974 season, Texas has won 82.4 percent of its matches in Austin, sporting an overall record of 490-104-1 ... the Horns are even more successful in Gregory Gym, boasting a winning percentage of .858 (309-51) ... since the 2007 season, Texas has lost only four matches in Gregory Gym.
HEAD OF THE (RECRUITING) CLASS
Head coach Jerritt Elliott has landed a top-five ranked recruiting class in each of the last eight seasons (PrepVolleyball.com) ... Elliott brought in the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class in 2011, its second-ranked recruiting class in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012, while adding the nation's No 5 class in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
FAB 50 INVADES AUSTIN
Of the 15 members of the Texas Volleyball team, 10 of them are former Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 recruits ... seniors Bailey Webster and Hannah Allison, juniors Khat Bell and Haley Eckerman, sophomores Nicole Dalton, Sara Hattis, Molly McCage and Amy Neal, and freshmen Chloe Collins and Chiaka Ogbogu were named to the prestigious list following their senior seasons.
GREGORY GYM IS THE PLACE TO BE
UT has ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance average in each of the last nine seasons (6th in 2009 and 2011, 7th in 2010, 9th in 2004, 2006-07 and 10th in 2005, 2008 and 2012) ... in 2009, Texas welcomed a UT record 3,035 fans per-match into Gregory Gym, marking the highest season attendance average in program history ... 4,324 fans packed Gregory Gymnasium on Nov. 19, 2008, to watch Texas defeat No. 3 Nebraska (3-1), marking the largest crowd to witness a volleyball match in Gregory Gymnasium's current configuration ... there have been four sell-outs in program history, with the last occurring Nov. 24, 2010, vs. Texas A&M.
THE JERRITT ELLIOTT FILE
Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 13th season at the helm of the Longhorns Volleyball program ... Elliott has compiled a 295-79 (.789) record at Texas to go with his 12-year career record of 245-91 (.791) ... in 2012, Elliott was named AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after leading the Longhorns to their third national championship ... Elliott is the only coach in the country to lead his team to the NCAA Regional finals in each of the last seven NCAA Championship (2006-12) ... with a 3-0 victory against Texas Tech on Nov. 14, 2007, Elliott recorded both his 200th career victory and his 150th career UT victory ... Elliott is one of just five coaches all-time to lead two different programs to the NCAA Semifinals after accomplishing the feat three times at Texas (2008-10, 2012) and once as the interim head coach at USC (2000).
HORNS' HOUSE
After an eight-year renovation that was completed in 1998, Gregory Gym returned as the home for the Texas Volleyball program ... UT has averaged over 2,000 fans annually since 2005 with the 2009 season boasting a school-record average of 3,035 fans ... with a capacity of 4,000, the 2013 season marks the second with a brand-new, state-of-the-art Daktronics scoreboard located on the west end of the gym.
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