The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
0-1
Florida
1-0
No. 1 Volleyball falls at No. 12 Florida in season opener
08.25.2017 | Volleyball
Freshman Lexi Sun led the Longhorns with 11 kills and 10 digs.
GAINESVILLE, Florida – Seniors Ebony Nwanebu and Chiaka Ogbogu and freshman Lexi Sun all scored 10 points or more as No. 1 Texas fell to No. 12 Florida, 3-1 (16-25, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25) in Gainesville, Fla. on Friday night.
Sun led the Longhorns with 13 points from 11 kills and two blocks, while also posting 10 digs for a double-double in her Texas debut. Nwanebu posted nine kills and six blocks, while Ogbogu had eight kills and six blocks.
Senior Cat McCoy, sophomore Autumn Rounsaville, and freshman Ashley Shook joined Sun with double-digit digs, posting 11, 10, and 10, respectively.
Shook finished with a team-high 33 assists, while also recording one service ace along with sophomore Claire Hahn.
As a team, UT hit .156 to Florida's .164 and posted 66 digs to Florida's 79.
Texas began the match with a Chiaka Ogbogu kill to give the Longhorns an opening 3-1 lead, with the teams then trading points until a 6-2 scoring run for Florida gave the Gators a 19-15 lead. With Texas unable to reduce the deficit, Florida closed out the first set, 25-16.
The second set began with Texas battling back against the Gators' momentum. The teams traded points up to 13-13 until a kill from Shook began a 4-0 run for Texas to 17-13. With the score tied at 23-23, Florida scored on consecutive points to secure the set, 25-23, and take a 2-0 advantage.
Texas responded to Florida taking the first sets with a strong start to the third. With the Longhorns building confidence, Sun, on her eighth, ninth, and tenth kills of the match maintained the Longhorns' lead at 6-3, 15-9, and 17-12. Not looking back, Texas closed out the set, 25-18, to move back to 1-2.
The opening of the fourth saw Florida start off with a 4-2, as the Gators maintained their lead up to match point at 24-17. Kills from Nwanebu and a block from Ogbogu earned Texas a four-point run and brought the score back to 24-21, but Florida secured a final point to seal the victory for the Gators.
Texas will have a quick turnaround to face No. 18 Oregon on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT on Longhorn Network to complete the VERT Challenge. The Ducks defeated No. 6 Nebraska, 3-1 on Friday.
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
Opening statement…
"It's disappointing for us to come in and lose, but credit Florida. They put a lot of pressure on us with a great crowd and a great environment. We struggled early on with our first touch; we struggled with the quality of swings and we were tipping way too much. I think we just had some nerves from our freshman. But if you would've told me that Florida was going to hit .164, I would've told you we would win the match. We didn't execute on our side; we were high error and you just can't give a team like that that many free balls."
On Micaya White's injury status…
"That's to be determined. I haven't caught up with the details surrounding the situation but I don't think it was too serious."
On a new team and new season…
"Yes, we've been trying to run a little bit faster on offense and we lost some swing opportunities. Early on it was evident that we were not passing at a high level; we were on the run and that caused stress early, but anybody that sees our team can see that we have the potential to be a very good offensive team. I just wanted to see us fight a little bit more and rebound."
On plans for tomorrow's match against Oregon…
"Well at least we'll have an opportunity to know what they're doing. We came into this match blind in terms of scouting reports and things that we can do from a strategic standpoint, but they're a very good team. They cause a lot of chaos. They're moving all over the place. And they beat a very good Nebraska team. Our focus right now is to get back to the drawing board, rally the troops, and get them ready."
Texas Senior Outside Hitter Ebony Nwanebu
On what she can take away from the match…
"Well it's the first game of the season so it's more of a learning curve than anything else. Now that we played our first game, we know what we need to work on in practice. Like Jerritt said, we went into this match kind of blind, but now we know to work on: our passing, shots and blocking. So, I see this as more of a learning curve than a super terrible loss."
Texas Junior Outside Hitter Yaazie Bedart-Ghani
On what Florida did to win the match tonight…
"They were very scrappy. They were covering their hitters very well, playing really hard defense, and we just weren't matching that."
