The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Fairfield
No. 3 Volleyball Preview: NCAA First & Second Rounds [Dec. 3 & 4, 2015]
12.01.2015 | Volleyball
Texas will open the NCAA Tournament on home on Thursday against Fairfield.
Match 28: Fairfield (21-9, 14-4 MAAC) vs. No. 3 Texas (25-2, 15-1 Big 12)
All-time Series vs. Fairfield: First Meeting
Match 29: winner of SMU (27-5, 17-3 C-USA) vs. Purdue (22-9, 13-7 Big 10)
All-time Series vs. SMU: Texas leads, 3-1 (H: 2-0, A: 1-1)
All-time Series vs. Purdue: Texas leads, 5-2 (H: 2-1, A: 1-1, N: 2-0)
Texas' Streak: The Longhorns have won seven-straight matches
Television: Paul Sunderland (play-by-play) and Nell Fortner (analyst) have the call on the Longhorn Network national telecasts of all three matches.
QUICK HITS:
• Texas is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance ... the Longhorns are a perfect 28-0 in first round matches and 59-9 in all-time NCAA matches played in Austin ... Texas has a 79-29 (.731) record in NCAA Championship matches ... this will be the 12th-straight year that the Longhorns have hosted the NCAA Tournament ... in total, Texas has hosted an NCAA first round match 26 times in program history.
• Senior Amy Neal headlined Texas' seven Big 12 Conference postseason honorees ... Neal was tabbed Big 12 Player of the Year, while Molly McCage, Neal, Chiaka Ogbogu, Paulina Prieto Cerame and Chloe Collins were named All-Big 12 First Team, Cat McCoy was named All-Big 12 Second Team and Yaazie Bedart-Ghani was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Media Availability Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On their one seed: It's a great opportunity to be a one seed, but this team and this program know that seedings don't mean much now. It's about going out and playing at our highest level and trying to advance one match at a time.
On why this team is different than in years past: The thing I like about this team is we have great senior leadership. I think they have bought in to the system, they've bought into what we are doing training-wise and more importantly, communicating well with our younger players. I think that's where we have grown as a team. We have a really close-knit team that likes playing together. We had some injuries early on, so we are counting on everyone to play at a high level. In years past, we were dominant by one or two players and now we have a true team as we are utilizing everybody. They realize that, they're playing great and they are excited to get to this point.
On staying home: That's the plan for the future. They're changing the format next year, where the No. 1 seed will get to host in the regional. It will be different, but that's why we played so many home matches at home this year. We knew we would have an opportunity to get comfortable in this gym, but you can only play in this gym if you win. We aren't looking ahead of the schedule past Fairfield right now.
On having a team that knows what the tournament is about: It's a big advantage that we have been through it a lot. We have good leadership that is able to pass that down to the freshmen in terms of their routines. They are trying to convince the freshmen that just because you show up at Texas, it doesn't mean that that you're going to get to the Final Four and have that opportunity. There is some urgency for them, so we are trying to calm their nerves and let them know that we are confident in what they can do at this level.
Junior Paulina Prieto Cerame
On this team: It is just a different team. We have a lot of balance this year and we get along really well. We are really excited to see how we do and show everyone what we have.
On playing at home: Being at home is a good advantage and we are very grateful for that. Our fans are amazing and Gregory Gym is a crazy volleyball gym nationally. We are really excited about that.
On playing at a high level going into the tournament: I really don't think we have peaked, which is a good thing. Jerritt emphasizes that a lot—we don't want to peak too early. I think with Oklahoma and other matches, we have shown that we still have a way to go and still have a lot to work on. It's tournament time now—our time to show that we can still improve.
