The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
13-1, 3-0Big 12
Iowa State
9-5, 1-1Big 12
No. 3 Volleyball sweeps Iowa State at home
10.03.2015 | Volleyball
The Longhorns earned their 10th sweep of the season.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball earned its 10th sweep of the season with its defeat of Iowa State (26-24, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday night at Gregory Gym.
The Longhorns (13-1, 3-0) hit .360 in the match, their third-best hitting percentage of the season and held the Cyclones (9-5, 1-1) to a .188 hitting percentage.
Senior Molly McCage led Texas with 12 kills, hitting .529 for her third match with a mark of .500 or better this season. McCage also added two blocks, including one solo.
Senior Amy Neal joined McCage in double-digit kills with 10, hitting .360, while also adding a team-high six digs with junior Nicole Dalton.
Freshman Yaazie Bedart-Ghani led the Longhorns in hitting percentage at .667, tying her career-high with seven kills, while also adding three blocks.
Junior Chiaka Ogbogu led the Horns in blocks for the seventh time this season with four.
In the first set, the Longhorns led 4-3 before breaking out on a 6-0 run behind kills from McCage, Prieto Cerame and Ogbogu to lead, 10-3. But the Cyclones fired back with a 5-0 run to pull to within two. From there, the teams traded points until Iowa State took its first lead of the match at 17-16. Kills from McCage and Bedart-Ghani gave the Longhorns the advantage back at 18-17, but ISU won four of the next five points to take a 21-18 lead. Texas then won five of the next six points to lead, 23-22. The Longhorns had set point at 24-23, but the Cyclones evened the score at 24, until Texas took the set on an Amy Neal kill, 26-25.
The Longhorns jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Iowa State chipped away, eventually tying the score at 7-7 and taking an 8-7 lead. Texas then executed a 6-0 run to lead, 13-8, but once again the Cyclones fired back to pull within one point. This time, the Horns responded, winning eight of the next 10 points to lead, 22-14. From there, Texas only allowed one more point and closed out the set, 25-15.
In the third set, neither team led by more than two until the Longhorns went on a 3-1 run to lead, 8-4. Iowa State pulled to within one point at 11-10 and the teams traded points until Texas extended its lead to 17-13. The Cyclones won the next two points, but the Horns responded with a 5-0 run to lead, 22-15. Texas closed out the set on an Ogbogu kill to win the set, 25-17 and the match, 3-0.
Texas will hit the road to Waco, Texas to take on Baylor on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. The match will be televised live on ESPNU.
Post-Match Comments
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On a slow first set: We just didn't pass well. Our pass percentage was way down and kind of got a little methodical and we couldn't find a rhythm with that. It caused some problems. It caused problems the whole game, but it was good to see in the end we got the ace and converted a couple points, which is nice. It got better as the night went on.
On a tough Iowa State defense: Well we have to pass the ball. We have so many different weapons in what we can do. We're pretty efficient. They crash in a lot and they were able to make some good touches early on and put some stress on us. But when we're passing, we can open up some holes in their block and be able to score at an efficient rate. Those numbers that we hit tonight were pretty special.
On performance in second and third sets: Yeah, I thought it was good balance. I think we can start to get some more balls to Yaazie. She's starting to show she can put up some pretty good numbers for us and a high kill percentage. Obviously, we're always working on our touches. Our touches are the key and when we're able to do that, it's good. They just have a good demeanor about them right now. They came in focused today, which was good, and now we have to go on the road at Baylor which has never been easy for us. We'll take it one match at a time.
Senior Middle Blocker Molly McCage
On ISU's 0% kill percentage in the second set: I just thought we were pretty disciplined. Our formations were good. Our blocking needed improvement but I feel like, throughout the set, it just got better and better. So, it took care of itself.
On Amy Neal's key kills in the first set: She's just so smart. We've talked about her hitting line. High lining just works for Amy.
On what she is looking for in the Baylor match: I have a lot of friends on that team. I know that they've improved, they have a lot of strong seniors and some great defense. So I'm excited to play someone who can put up a good block and a good defense against us.
