The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
23-2, 13-1
Baylor
16-12, 4-10
No. 5 Volleyball defeats Baylor, 3-0
11.18.2015 | Volleyball
The Longhorns have hit .300 or better in 17 matches this season.
AUSTIN, Texas –No. 5 Texas Volleyball defeated Baylor, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-21) on Wednesday night in its second to last regular season game inside Gregory Gym to improve to 23-2 on the season and 12-1 in the Big 12.
Senior Amy Neal led the Longhorns in kills for the sixth-straight match with 13, while junior Paulina Prieto Cerame posted 10.
Senior Molly McCage had five kill, hitting .556 for her second-highest in conference play. She also posted a team-high five blocks, including one solo block.
Junior Nicole Dalton and sophomore Cat McCoy led the Longhorns with 10 digs each, while senior Kat Brooks added nine.
As a team, Texas posted a .315 hitting percentage for its 17th match this season hitting .300 or better.
Texas came out on fire at the net to lead 11-7 until Baylor closed the gap and tied the score at 17. Neal led the first set with four kills, followed closely by Prieto-Cerame with three. Neal wrapped up the set with as service ace to give UT the first set, 25-20.
Baylor came out strong in the second set, keeping even with Texas until Neal and McCage hit a series of kills to give Texas an 8-4 advantage. From there, the Longhorns took the lead and never looked back. McCage had three blocks and five kills in the set, while Texas closed the set on a kill from Prieto-Cerame, 25-18.
The Horns hit the ground running with a 5-1 streak to open set three, but the Bears battled back to a take a 7-6 lead. UT tried to get the momentum back with a series of kills from Prieto-Cerame and a service ace from junior Chloe Collins, but Baylor stayed close. The Longhorns found their momentum and closed the set at 25-21 and the match 3-0.
Texas returns to Gregory Gym on Saturday, November 21 at 4:00 p.m. to take on Kansas State. The match will be televised on the Longhorn Network and will celebrate the team's three seniors after the match.
Postgame Comments
Head coach Jerritt Elliott
Opening Statement: Tonight we played well enough to win, obviously, and played well in spurts. I thought in game one, our offense was good, we just made a few too many errors and kind of got back into our rhythm a little more in game two. In game three, it was just kind of a game of runs. We had an opportunity to go up 7-3 and we got a net and let them get back up, 7-6. We then kind of pulled away and stayed steady the whole time, so a good win.
On being comfortable with a home stretch: That's why we've played so many matches at home this year. I think we're pretty comfortable at home. Right now my focus is getting them ready for Kansas State, who is playing better. I think they've won five or six in a row. I also want to make sure we put some thought into Amy [Neal], Molly [McCage] and Kat [Brooks] in terms of what they've done and making sure we have a great night with them. And celebrate it as opposed to getting all emotional. I think that's the challenging part. You tell them whenever they're freshmen that it goes by fast, and they're like 'yeah, yeah', then all of a sudden 'I can't believe I'm a senior already'. It goes by really quick.
Senior Outside Hitter Amy Neal
On the motivation today: It was about coming out and not letting your guard down. I think Jerritt [Elliott] is right. He can't just keep telling us, we have to keep changing it up. I think he does a really great job of it. He will find quotes other teams say and he will find anything. I think that helps our team a lot.
On if she looks forward to senior night: I do. I think it is fun. I think last year celebrating the seniors was huge. I think doing it after the match is good, because it does get emotional, but you can't look at the game as senior night. You play for the seniors, but Kansas State is going to be good. And they are very good at defense, so we just have to come out and play. We can't let that affect how we come out.
On getting a rhythm in the second set: I just trusted my teammates and got into a rhythm with Chloe [Collins] and just drove. I think the coaches reminded me I wasn't getting my feet to the ball and I just remembered to get there quickly, open the net, and be rangy with my hits.
