The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-1
Denver
6-2
No. 5 Volleyball defeats Denver, 3-0 in American Campus Classic nightcap
09.07.2017 | Volleyball
The Longhorns have hit .378 or better in five-straight matches.
TICKETS FOR NO. 1 MINNESOTA - FRIDAY, SEPT. 8, 8 P.M.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5 Texas Volleyball (6-1) defeated Denver (6-2), 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-17) on Thursday night in the second match of an American Campus Classic doubleheader.
The Longhorns swept Texas A&M Corpus Christi earlier in the day.
Freshman Lexi Sun led UT with 13 kills, hitting .440 for her third-straight match recording a .316 hitting percentage or better. Sun added eight digs, three blocks, and one service ace in the match.
Senior Chiaka Ogbogu and sophomore Micaya White also posted double-digit kills, Ogbogu registering 11 on 13 attacks with only one error for a .769 hitting percentage. White also had 11 kills, also with only one error on 32 attempts to hit .312.
Freshman Ashley Shook led the Longhorns in assists with 33, while senior Cat McCoy and sophomore Autumn Rounsaville finished with double digit digs, recording 14 and 10 respectively.
As a team, Texas hit .378 for its fifth-straight match hitting .378 or better and outblocked the Pioneers, 12.0 to 4.5
UT and Denver traded points early in the first set until the Longhorns went on an 8-2 run to take a 17-12 lead behind kills from Sun and Ogbogu. From there, UT outscored the Pioneers, 8-7 to take set one, 25-19, hitting .357 in the set.
Denver took an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but Texas responded with a 5-1 run to lead, 8-4. The Pioneers pulled within two at 11-13, but the Longhorns held their lead until Denver executed a 10-3 run to tie the score at 21. They tied two more times before Texas won two-straight points to close set two, 25-23.
In the third set, neither team led by more than three until the Longhorns took a 13-9 lead on a kill and ace from Ogbogu. From there, Texas did not look back and finished the set 25-17 for its second sweep of the day.
The Longhorns will host No. 1 Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8 to close the American Campus Classic at Gregory Gym.
Post-Match Quotes
Head Coach Jerritt Elliot
On how the team played against Denver: I thought tonight we were a lot more efficient. Denver is a tough team to play against because they play so fast. So I thought we did a really nice job of getting in front of them. We got some blocks early and took advantage of a lot of the transition plays that came at us. You look at the hitting efficiency numbers and they were really good. The only thing that we need to improve before tomorrow night is that the serve and pass has got to be better. However, if we put up offensive numbers like tonight, we're going to be in every game.
Freshman Outside Hitter Lexi Sun
On the importance of having a good balance between experienced players and underclassmen: Coming in as a freshman with no college experience under my belt, it's been really nice to have people like Chiaka (Ogbogu) and other upperclassmen to look up to. When there are big crowds, when we're nervous, or in tough situations, I think it's important to have both aspects. Everyone coming together is really nice.
Senior Middle Blocker Chiaka Ogbogu
On getting to be home after a couple of weeks on the road: It was amazing. Our fan base is very engaged in the game which really helps us. It helps us take the momentum into every set. It's hard playing away because everyone is cheering against you, but just being home and knowing that we have our fans behind us is nice.
