The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-1
Miami
3-3
No. 3 Volleyball sweeps Miami to conclude American Campus Classic
09.03.2016 | Volleyball
The Longhorns hit a season-high .494 in the match.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball (5-1) closed out the American Campus Classic with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-10) defeat of Miami (3-3) on Saturday at Gregory Gym.
The Longhorns hit a season-best .494, posting 50 kills on 89 swings, led by freshman Micaya White's 14, junior Ebony Nwanebu's 12 and senior Paulina Prieto Cerame's 11.
White's 14 kills came on a season-high .583 hitting percentage, also contributing four digs and a block.
Nwanebu recorded 12 kills on 24 swings for a .417 hitting percentage, while Prieto Cerame's 11 kills also came on 24 swings at .375.
Junior Cat McCoy led the Longhorns with 10 digs, while sophomore Morgan Johnson had five blocks and senior Chloe Collins posted 37 assists.
The Longhorns finished with 9.0 blocks and held the Hurricanes to 1.0.
Neither team led by more than two in the first set until the Longhorns went on a 7-1 run behind kills and a solo block from Prieto Cerame to lead, 13-7. Texas did not allow Miami to score more than three-consecutive points and finished the set hitting .621. A White kill sealed the first set for the Horns, 25-17.
Texas and Miami tied six times early in the second set until the Longhorns channeled their first set performance with a 6-0 run behind three kills from Prieto Cerame to lead, 12-6. Texas maintained at least a three-point lead until the Hurricanes went on a 4-0 run of their own to pull within one at 16-17. But a Collins and Johnson block and Prieto Cerame kill gave the Longhorns back the momentum and Texas closed out the second set, 25-19.
The third set was more of the same as the Longhorns jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind three more kills from White. From there, Texas built on its lead and didn't look back, closing out the set, 25-10 and the match, 3-0.
Olga Strantzali led Miami with 12 kills and five digs.
Texas will hit the road again to take on No. 25 Colorado State and Wichita State in the Rams Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10.
Postmatch Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On progressing through the tournament: Well, I think we get more comfortable and we played steadier. We were able to do the things we do in practice. So, it's the part of the season where you figure yourself out. It takes a little bit of time, but I like what I saw tonight.
On the changes made in practice after the Oregon tournament: We just watched some film and looked into the things we could do. We just keep working on the players playing into each other and getting comfortable.
