The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
15-1, 5-0Big 12
Oklahoma
7-10, 1-4Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKLAHOMA | 25 | 20 | 13 | 18 | 1 |
| Texas | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
10.11.2015 | Volleyball
Three Longhorns recorded career numbers in the match.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas Volleyball defeated Oklahoma, 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-18) inside Gregory Gym to improve to 15-1 on the season and remain undefeated (5-0) in Big 12 play.
Senior Amy Neal and junior Chiaka Ogbogu both had double digit kills, with 20 and 12, respectively. Ogbogu also had career-highs of two solo blocks and eight block assists in the match. Freshman Morgan Johnson led the Longhorns with a career-high hitting percentage of .833.
Rounding out the career record-setting was Kat Brooks, who totaled 15 digs against the Sooners. Cat McCoy and Chloe Collins contributed 13 and 11 digs as well.
As a team, the Longhorns posted their fifth-consecutive hitting percentage above .300 and eleventh of the season at .331.
Texas and Oklahoma traded service errors to start the first set, and the score tied eight times before the Sooners went on a 4-2 run to give them a 14-11 advantage. Texas battled back with kills by Neal and junior Paulina Prieto-Cerame and a solo block from senior Molly McCage to tie it at 14. The Longhorns rallied to take an 18-16 lead, but a solid Oklahoma hitting percentage of .438 and Texas errors would hand the Sooners the first set, 25-22.
The Longhorns started out strong in the second set, taking a quick 6-2 lead after blocking efforts from Collins, Neal, and Ogbogu. The Sooners fought back to tie the set at 8-8, but it was all Longhorns from there. Texas took its largest lead of the set after another double block from Collins and Ogbogu to make it 23-14. The Sooners went on a late 5-0 run, but it was too little too late and a McCage kill sealed the set, 25-20 for the Longhorns.
Texas came out of the locker room determined, never letting Oklahoma lead in the third set. The set included Texas' highest hitting percentage (.478) of the match, seven signature Neal kills, and an unanswered 6-0 run to take the set 25-13.
Texas will return to action next Saturday, Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. as they host Texas Tech in Gregory Gym. The match will be broadcasted live on Longhorn Network.
Post-match Comments
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On the flow of the game during first set: Game one, we gave them a lot of outs. We have a specific scouting report where we follow specifically what players do. I thought they came out and passed really well and executed well. We gave them some outs based on some of the defensive schemes we wanted to do, but a lot of that credit goes to them. It just felt like we couldn't get anything going, like we would make a couple plays and then make an error. We just didn't play well, at the best of our game and a lot of that had to do with Oklahoma playing at a very high level for them first game.
On do Paulina [Prieto Cerame] and Molly [McCage] play off of one another: We work a lot on our tempos with our sets. We have been spending a lot of time with our middles. We are trying to get a little more consistent. One of the things Chloe [Collins] does well is she feels the speed of them. With Paulina, we like a little bit higher of a ball, maybe one ball length higher than Amy but she had a good flow after the first game and I thought we got a rhythm going.
Senior L Kat Brooks
On team adjustments: Yeah, I thought we made some great adjustments and the coaches were telling us some things that we needed to do in order to play better. And we definitely made those adjustments. It took, maybe, longer than we wanted to, but we definitely made them in the end. They're a great team and we expected them to come out and play hard, which they did.
On not getting flustered by the first set: I agree [with Chloe]. And like I said, they were a great team and (we knew that) that they would come out really strong. So we definitely needed to get in that mindset of 'ok this is going to be a battle'. And I think after the first set, we realized that and we battled.
On how Paulina is able to challenge defenses: When you have a great hitter like Pau or Amy coming at you, you don't really know where they're going to hit the ball. And they have so many different shots, that as a defender, you really have to be ready for anything. That can kind of psych you out a little bit sometimes, because you're like 'I really don't know where this ball is going'. So having Pau and Amy on that side is really great for us and obviously they both had a nice match.
Junior S Chloe Collins
On keeping things in rhythm: We really focus on setting location. I just try to work on getting our hitters a good ball in the right spot.
On not getting flustered by the first set: Personally, I think it falls back on our routine, just going back and being consistent and steady throughout the entire match. Just going back to what we know and then everything will fall into place after that.
On playing to the skills of her hitters: Just how Jerritt mentioned earlier. Working on same location. Obviously Amy has a faster ball and Pau would like to make it a little higher. Just knowing each hitter's personal and what they like. Getting the speed of the ball and tempo, and just making sure I'm setting it in the right location.
