The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
2-1
San Diego
1-1
No. 1 Volleyball rallies for 3-2 win over San Diego
09.01.2013 | Volleyball
Sophomore Amy Neal notched a career-high nine kills and added five digs as Texas improved to 2-1 on the young season.
HONOLULU -- No. 1 Texas Volleyball rallied from a 2-1 deficit against San Diego to force a fifth set in its third match in 24 hours at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational before pulling off a thrilling 3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 21-25, 30-28, 15-10) victory Saturday evening to cap off its opening weekend in the Aloha State.
Sophomore Amy Neal notched a career-high nine kills and added five digs as Texas improved to 2-1 on the young season. Senior outside hitter Bailey Webster and junior middle blocker Khat Bell recorded 12 kills each.
Battling a small deficit throughout the beginning of the first set, senior setter Hannah Allison followed a USD (1-1) serving error with a block to tie the game 14-all. The Toreros immediately came back with a pair of quick points to regain the lead before relinquishing it at 17-all on a pair of hitting errors. Back-to-back kills put San Diego back in front by two, 19-17, and forced a Texas timeout, but two more immediate points by the Toreros put the game out of reach for the Longhorns.
An early 3-0 run to begin the second set put Texas ahead, 5-3, and it cushioned its lead to 15-9 when San Diego called for a break. The Longhorns continued to command the set and outhit the Toreros .278 (6-1-18) - .088 (15-12-34) behind three kills by Neal en route to evening the match.
Game three began with four-straight points from the Toreros, but the Longhorns fought back and closed the gap to just one after a 6-3 stretch. Molly McCage, Haley Eckerman and Webster combined for a trio of kills for the first tie of the game at 11-all. The two teams continued to trade points until they were knotted with 17 apiece, and then San Diego clawed back to a two-point lead after a kill from Katie Hoekman and a Texas hitting error. Four late kills kept USD on top for a 2-1 lead heading into game four.
Texas used the momentum of a 10-2 run in the fourth set to build what appeared to be an unstoppable 13-7 lead until San Diego charged back and forced the game into extra points. Tied at 28, Webster kept Texas alive for a deciding final set with a kill and a block.
In the fifth set, Texas grabbed the early momentum and didn't let go, as it quickly built up an 8-3 lead, and never looked back, going on to escape with a 15-10 win to claim the match.
Taylor Hollins paced the Toreros with 19 kills and Chloe Ferrari recorded 16.
Next up, the Longhorns return home where they will host the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic next weekend at Gregory Gymnasium. Texas faces No. 2 Penn State Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. Central, and No. 3 Stanford the following day at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at TexasBoxOffice.com or by calling the UT Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 982-BEVO.
