The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
17-2, 9-0Big 12
Oklahoma
12-10, 3-6Big 12
No. 2 Volleyball sweeps Oklahoma to improve to 17-2
10.26.2016 | Volleyball
Texas extended its lead in the all-time series against Oklahoma, 47-4.
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 2 Texas Volleyball picked up its second sweep of the Big 12 season over the Oklahoma Sooners, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-15), inside historic Gregory Gym on Wednesday night to move to 17-2, 9-0 on the season.
Freshman Micaya White led the way for the Longhorns with 14 kills complimented by nine digs and a season-high tying two aces.
Junior Ebony Nwanebu totaled nine kills that came on 15 swings and a .600 hitting percentage, while senior Chloe Colliins had a game-high 36 assists as well as a career-high tying three aces.
As a team, Texas hit .350 while holding Oklahoma to a .183 hitting percentage. This marks the fourth-straight time the Horns have held their opponent under the .200 mark. The Longhorns dominated the net, outblocking the Sooners 9 to 2.5.
With the win, the Horns pick up their second Big 12 sweep of the season. Texas leads the all-time series against Oklahoma, 47-4, and has not lost a match to Oklahoma since the 2014 season.
Oklahoma held the early 4-1 lead in the first set, but the Texas offense battled back with strong hits from the outside to tie things at eight apiece. The Horns slowly forged ahead, piecing together a three-point run in the heart of the opener, to make the score 15-12 at the first timeout. The Sooners capitalized off Longhorn errors to get within one, but two straight kills from White and sophomore Yaazie Bedart-Ghani forced an Oklahoma timeout with Texas leading 18-15. The Sooners captured five of the next seven points to even things at 20, but the Longhorns finished strong with a closing double block from Bedart-Ghani and Collins to take set one, 25-22.
Texas dominated the second set, taking the 7-3 lead after Collins snuck a kill into the back corner of the court. The Sooners rattled off the next four points, tying things at seven headed into a Longhorn timeout. Things evened out three more times until the Horns went on a 6-1 run, including White's second solo block of the night, to lead 16-11. Texas found its defensive footing behind the pair of Nwanebu and sophomore Morgan Johnson, who together added two blocks, and continued to push ahead to as many as eight points. Oklahoma scraped together a 4-0 rally late in the set to get within striking distance, but the Horns pocketed the last two points to take the second, 25-19.
Things squared off at four each in the third set, but a 3-0 rally from the Horns, capped off with a service ace from White, handed them the 7-4 lead. Oklahoma answered with a 4-1 push of their own to even things at eight, but six straight from Texas, including three aces from Collins, gave Texas control of the set, 14-8. From there, the Longhorns never let the Sooners within five points of the lead, ending the match to the tune of 25-15.
The Horns will hit the road next as they travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the No. 6 Jayhawks on Saturday, Oct. 29. The first serve is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted live on ESPN3.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On today's game: I'm really pleased with the things that we saw today, we had a couple of runs that we gave up here and there, but defensive numbers were significantly better. I think it's the best defense that we've played all Big 12 and we were getting touches and getting transition points. If we can play that kind of defense, then we can put a lot of pressure on teams and I think we were able to sustain that through game three. It was nice to see that way we played.
On turning it around after the first set: The serving (issue) has been predominately in the first game, and we got a tough call. We had the five missed serves (and the) tough call, so six points--but our numbers were good. We were starting hitting .400, so I like that we didn't give up, we just stayed with it and we put ourselves in a position to win with a lot of adversity facing us. Then we steadied that with our serving and we know we can be a good serving team. I think Micaya got a nod to her jump serve and is getting more comfortable with it. That is the biggest thing, is getting comfortable with serving in front of fans and serving at a high level. When we do that, it gets teams out of the system.
Freshman Micaya White
On being a team leader as a freshman: I just try to do my role and just do the best that I can at it. I just have really good people motivating me telling me I got it every time. I just have really good people behind me, helping me out.
Junior Ebony Nwanebu
On playing Kansas: It would be awesome to sweep Kansas, but I'm pretty pumped about tonight. Kansas is a really good team, so we want to do what we did tonight and stay with it and be calm.
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