The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
10-0
Iowa State
7-5
No. 2 Volleyball moves to 10-0 with sweep of Iowa State
10.01.2014 | Volleyball
Senior Haley Eckerman had 14 kills to lead Texas past Iowa State on Wednesday night
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas volleyball (10-0, 2-0) swept Iowa State (7-5, 0-2), 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15) in its Big 12 home opener on Wednesday night to stay undefeated on the season.
The game marked the Longhorns' 18th-straight Big 12 Conference victory.
Senior Haley Eckerman led Texas with 14 kills, while senior Khat Bell posted eight kills and five blocks.
Sophomore Chloe Collins had 18 assists for the Longhorns and freshman Cat McCoy added 12 digs.
Texas and Iowa State played close in the first set, pushing through nine ties and six lead changes. The largest score margin came when UT took a 15-10 lead, but Iowa State closed the gap to tie it at 18. From there, the teams never led by more than two, but the Longhorns came out with the 25-23 win.
In the second set, Texas jumped out to an 8-1 advantage and rode the momentum to a 25-15 win. Eckerman finished with six kills in the set.
The beginning of the third set resembled the first set, as neither team led by more than two, but the Longhorns widened the gap to 15-11 and didn't look back. UT finished the third set on a 10-4 run to win its 31st-straight at Gregory Gym.
Morgan Kuhrt led the Cyclones with 12 kills.
Texas will travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the Jayhawks on Sunday, October 5 at 1 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The game will be televised live on FSN.
Post-match Comments
Texas Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On hitting stride in game two: I thought we got into a good flow. Our kill percentage went up significantly. For whatever reason, we haven't been starting games that way, so we need to come out a little stronger and be a little bit more narrowed in. I think maybe they were a little rocked from the last week going five games and expecting to win those games. It just felt like we got a lot more comfortable. It's always good to win 3-0 and I'm pleased with that.
On next match against Kansas: I think this Kansas match is a big-time match for us. I don't know what happened tonight between Kansas and Kansas State, but Kansas was picked second or third and they are playing at the highest level along with Kansas State. We've got an opportunity to put a two game spread on them early in the season, so we're going to have to play better than we did tonight and come out with a "W." I think there's got to be some urgency. I think our blocking can continue to get better. For whatever reason, it has taken us a game or two to kind of get organized and get good at that. We've just got to be more efficient. I think our transition game has got to be better. I think our serve and pass game have to be better – that's kind of where it has slowed down a little bit in the past few weeks.
Senior OH Haley Eckerman
On playing at home: It was great to finally have the (people in the) stands for us and not against us and not have to go 15 against 8,000 and 15 against however many West Virginia had. It was great for us to just get back into our routines and just play at home and get as comfortable as possible.
Senior MB/OH Khat Bell
On recovering from errors: The coaches just keep reminding us to relax and play through it and stay focused. We need to make sure we are managing our game, just can't get riled and pushy when things aren't going our way.
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