The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
No. 5 Volleyball preview: at Iowa State [Nov. 2, 2014]
10.31.2014 | Volleyball
Texas Volleyball resumes Big 12 Conference play with a trip to Iowa State.
No. 5 Texas at Iowa State
Hilton Coliseum (14,356) – Ames, Iowa
Sunday, Nov. 2 – 2 p.m. CT
Match 17: Iowa State
When: Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.
Where: Ames, Iowa (Hilton Coliseum)
Television: ESPNU, Sam Gore – play by play, Dain Blanton - analyst
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
All-time Series: Texas leads, 35-4
-Texas returns to Big 12 Conference play after playing two exhibition matches against Zhejiang.
-The Longhorns have won 23 of their last 24 Big 12 Conference matches and currently hold a streak of 12-straight road conference wins.
-Seven different Longhorns have led the team in hitting percentage this year, while five have led in kills in 16 matches. Senior Haley Eckerman has led Texas in kills in the last two matches.
-Texas has outhit every opponent this season, hitting .300 or better in nine matches and .400 in three. It has held every opponent to under .200.
Media Availability Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On the Oklahoma loss: This is the great thing about coaching—you don't always get to go undefeated in a season, so you evaluate and see how your kids perform. We didn't feel like we performed at the highest level we could have. At the end of the day, we played with anxiety that expanded throughout the match. All of a sudden we couldn't get our composure and they gained confidence. So we went back and had some meetings, watched some film and ultimately, we have to get back and be motivated. I think it's the toughest time of the year, where there are a lot of upsets based on the season being so long. Hopefully, we will see a much different team on Sunday at Iowa State. We need to get back out there. The two (exhibition) matches that we played were two different teams, so we have to get back after it.
On playing on the road: Some teams are different, but I think it's a three or four point difference when you're on the road per game. There's an urgency. It's a very tough road test at Iowa State, then we will come back Monday and practice and leave Tuesday for Texas Tech, so this is a big week for us.
On playing Iowa State in Iowa: First of all, it's a different gym. It's much bigger. The depth of perception and the way you handle the ball is different. They are undefeated at home in Big 12 play, so they're more confident. They will have a big crowd and when we are there, they will probably have 8-to-10,000 people that are yelling at us and trying to get us off our game.
Sophomore Paulina Prieto Cerame
On Oklahoma: We all talked about preparation. I think we were a little inconsistent in preparation that week and it showed during the game. They came out to play that night and we kind of got caught off guard. But not everyone is going to be undefeated and we have left that behind. It's a learning experience and it showed us that if we don't show up, anyone can show up and beat us.
On not being able to rally back and win: It's discipline. With our hard work, we have to focus on practice on being good from the beginning to the end. That should be in the game, as far as energy and not making dumb errors. I think we killed ourselves in the Oklahoma game. They played well, but I think we helped them a lot by making all the errors that we made.
On defeating the Chinese team twice: I think it was a good experience to play an international team. Again, winning or losing is really only something for our record. I think it's how we go about the wins and losses and how we play and if we are getting better every single day. I think we did get better from playing different lineups—that was good for us. Some people got experience that they weren't able to have before. Now we are ready to get back to the Big 12.
On what they are focusing on: From now on, we are focusing on doing well in the conference. Our main goal is to win the national championship, but we also want to win our conference. Because we have a loss, that puts a little more pressure on our backs. We embrace that and we are going into it thinking we need to make it a good weekend.
On how they are preparing for Iowa State: It's just going back to our routines. I think maybe we weren't doing some of our typical routines when we played Oklahoma and I think what we were doing before was good for us. We just need to keep our focus and play hard.
