The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
14-2, 6-0Big 12
Iowa State
12-4, 3-3Big 12
No. 5 Volleyball sweeps No. 23 Iowa State to stay undefeated in Big 12 play
10.14.2017 | Volleyball
Senior Ebony Nwanebu led the Longhorns with 11 kills, hitting .474.
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior Ebony Nwanebu led the Longhorns with 11 kills as No. 5 Texas Volleyball (14-2, 6-0) defeated No. 23 Iowa State (12-4, 3-3), 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-18) on Saturday evening at Gregory Gym.
In Texas' second victory against a ranked opponent in one week, Nwanebu recorded a .474 hitting percentage on 19 swings, with 2 errors and 11 kills.
Senior Chiaka Ogbogu recorded a team-high .583 clip on eight kills. Ogbogu led Texas in blocks with six, as junior Morgan Johnson and Nwanebu contributed four apiece.
Sophomore Micaya White posted seven kills (.350) while adding a team-leading 14 digs. Senior Cat McCoy joined White in recording double-digit digs (11).
Ashley Shook's 33 assists led Texas, with the freshman adding eight digs as sophomore Autumn Rounsaville posted five.
Texas forced Iowa State's second match on the season being outblocked, with an 11.0 to 5.5 advantage over the Cyclones.
Outhitting Iowa State .323 to .121, Texas recorded a 10th match out of 16 on the season with a hitting advantage over its opposition.
A quick dump from Ashley Shook opened Texas' first three-point lead of set at 5-2 in the fist frame. As the teams settled in, exchanging points, pressure on Iowa State forced a timeout from the Cyclones at 15-8. With Nwanebu leading the Longhorns' attack through three kills without error, a 9-4 run secured the set at 25-16.
Texas' offense began to fire in the second set, pushing a .529 clip as Sun joined Nwanebu in leading the Longhorns' attack. Beginning to find gaps in Iowa State's defense as a media timeout gave pause at 15-11, Texas executed a 9-5 run up to set point at 24-16. Iowa State saved one before a service error gave Texas a 2-0 match score advantage.
On the verge of being swept, Iowa State opened the third frame swinging, starting 4-0. But with the Longhorns covering as White and McCoy reached double-digit digs, Texas drew hitting errors from the Cyclones and replied to jump back out to lead on the set. With match point at 24-18, a kill from Nwanebu secured the sweep.
The Longhorns head out on the road next week for matches at Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Texas' match against Texas Tech takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 18, with a 6 p.m. start.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On the match: We did what we were supposed to from the scouting report, we were playing really good defense behind the block and were scoring at a high level.
On playing three games in seven days: It was one of my concerns, I told them that yesterday—that we have been going for 10 days straight, so the emotional side of this can catch up to you sometimes. Luckily we came out and played well. It just seems that we are playing better for longer periods of time and learning to concentrate for longer periods of time. It was a really nice job for our team tonight.
Senior Outside Hitter Ebony Nwanebu
On rallying in the third set: I think the atmosphere on the court wasn't as high as it was in the first two sets. We kind of let up and they got up on us. As a team, we decided to turn it around, started going hard like we did the first two sets. I think that's what really changed the momentum. As that went on, we got better and better with our energy level.
Freshman Outside Hitter Lexi Sun
On their confidence level in the third set: I think Jerritt called timeout when we were down 4-0 and just told us to settle down, not get frantic or panic, I think we went back and did that. I think that's what helped us get a couple points back and eventually get the win.
