The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
04.13.2021 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. [<a href="http://texassports.com/archives.aspx?path=forty_acres_insider">Forty Acres Insider archives</a>]
Longhorn Nation,
Wow, what an awesome week of sports it was for our Longhorns last week as we posted a perfect record in head-to-head competitions. No. 3 Baseball went 5-0, No. 7 Softball 4-0, No. 2 Women's and No. 6 Men's Tennis each registered a pair of victories and No. 2 Rowing travelled to No. 7 Michigan and crossed the finish line first in all four races against the Wolverines! The results were magnificent, performances across the board were brilliant, and enjoying a steady run of Longhorn excellence was perfecto! With glorious weather as well, I was able to bounce from venue to venue to cheer on our teams in Austin while following closely the action on the road. What a joy it was seeing everyone and taking in another spectacular week in a spring filled with success thus far and so much promise still ahead.
Coach Pierce and Baseball posted a pair of midweek wins before a weekend of total domination in Big 12 play against Kansas State. In their three-game sweep they outscored the Wildcats 37-9 to improve to 10-2 in conference play (25-8 overall). There were so many outstanding performances at the plate, on the mound and in the field. As a matter of fact, we swept all of the Big 12 Player of the Week honors, but how about our guy Ivan Melendez?! He's riding a streak of six straight games with a home run, has seven long balls in the last six games and that includes a pair of bombs on Sunday. One of those was a towering shot over our 28-foot high centerfield "monster" while the other went off the top of the video board, oh my, talk about power! For his efforts, Ivan was named National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA!! Coach White and Softball were just as impressive, traveling to Iowa State to sweep three games from the Cyclones. Saturday's victory was Coach White's 100th at Texas, and our Horns scored 29 runs over the three games, including a run-rule 10-0 victory to cap the series on Sunday and go to 31-3 (6-0 in Big 12) on the year. Next up is a big-time trip to Oklahoma for some Red River Showdown action with the No. 1-ranked Sooners! For Baseball, it's a week of non-conference games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field with Nevada coming In midweek followed by a weekend series with Abilene Christian.
Coach Joffe and Women's Tennis were road warriors last week and nearly perfect at that, knocking off a pair of Big 12 foes in Kansas (6-1) and Kansas State (7-0) on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Coach Berque and Men's Tennis won a pair of Big 12 top-25 matchups at the Texas Tennis Center with a 5-2 win versus No. 21 Oklahoma on Friday, and a gritty, thrilling and exciting 4-3 victory over No. 18 Oklahoma State on Sunday. From our great senior Payton Holden helping us clinch the doubles point on his Senior Day to freshman Micah Braswell coming up big in a tiebreaker to seal the deal, it was a sensational scene with the team rushing the court to cap the weekend. Out of that, we swept the Big 12 Player of the Week awards with Lulu Sun taking it for the women and Eliot Spizzirri for the men! Way to go and a big Hook 'Em for both of you!
For Coach O'Neill and our Rowing squad, conditions were perfect on Belleville Lake in Michigan on Saturday, and he was very pleased with the team's effort in their first official competition of the spring against a perennial power. In addition, Coach Fields and our No. 7 Men's Golf team also had a solid week with a fourth-place team finish to start the week at the Calusa Cup in Naples, Fla. then a third-place showing at the Aggie Invitational in College Station to end it. Kudos to Pierceson Coody, who continues to steadily lead the way, finishing in the top three individually in each of our last four tournaments.
Speaking of the great game of golf, how about two top-20 finishes for Longhorn Legends at The Masters?! How awesome is that? Jordan Spieth was in contention the whole way and finished tied for third, and Scottie Scheffler was under par and tied for 18th on that picture perfect course. It's such a testament to the program that Coach Fields has created that our Longhorns are always represented with the best of the best!
Along with so much incredible in-season competition, I was also able to swing by DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on a gorgeous Saturday morning as Coach Sark and Football were getting after it in their first scrimmage. I love the pace and the intensity out there, and our coaches and student-athletes are putting in the work and getting ready to show you all where they are at as a team in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see them on that field at the Orange-White Spring Game (presented by Living Spaces) on April 24 (1 p.m.).
Now it's on to this week, and it's a monumental one at that, as we take dead aim on the NCAA Volleyball Championship. Coach Elliott and our Longhorns landed in Omaha on Monday and are now tuning up to get things started at the NCAA Tourney. Like the NCAA Basketball tournament, all 48 of the Volleyball squads will be in the safest and healthiest environment possible for competition as they compete in a bubble in Omaha, and we'll be cheering for our 23-1 (16-0 Big 12) squad to stay there until the end. As the No. 4 seed, we earned a bye for the first round and will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Samford-Wright State (6 p.m. CT/ESPN+) on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT (ESPN+). As Coach Elliott and our Horns get ready for first serve at the NCAA tourney, it does warrant a quick look back to celebrate our Big 12 season award honorees announced last week. Coach Elliott was named the conference Coach of the Year, Logan Eggleston Player of the Year, Jhenna Gabriel Setter of the Year, and all totaled, seven of our Longhorns earned All-Big 12 recognition. In addition to that, on Tuesday the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) tabbed Logan Southwest Region Player of the Year and we had five players on the AVCA Southwest All-Region team. All well-deserved honors for a group that we're excited to watch accomplish even bigger and better things in the days to come.
In closing, we lit the Tower Orange on Sunday night to celebrate our Big 12 Women's Swimming & Diving Champions, and along with that, a huge shoutout and Hook 'Em to our Swimming & Diving programs that swept the Big 12 season awards last week. Our Diving Coach extraordinaire Matt Scoggin once again brought home both the Men's AND Women's Diving Coach of the Year honors to record his own personal double. On the men's side, Eddie Reese was Coach of the Year, Drew Kibler Swimmer of the Year, Jordan Windle Diver of the Year and Carson Foster Newcomer of the Year as our Horns swept the awards for seventh straight year and 15th time in program history. It was a fifth consecutive sweep for our Women's program as Carol Capitani was named Coach of the Year, Evie Pfiefer Swimmer of the Year, Paola Pineda Diver of the Year and Olivia Bray Newcomer of the Year. Coach Reese and Coach Scoggin previously won the CSCAA National Men's Swimming and Men's Diving Coach of the Year honors, respectively. Congratulations Texas Swimming & Diving on another outstanding year!
Let's keep the good times rolling my friends! We appreciate you more than you know and are so grateful for your steadfast support, positive energy and just amazing Texas Fight. Weather it's winning on the fields, courts, track or pool, success in the classroom, or continuing to sweep conference, regional and national honors, you are all a part of each and every accomplishment. We are one big Longhorn Family and it's fantastic to celebrating alongside each and every one of you. Keep pulling for our Longhorns, and let's continue to make this a spring to remember!
Stay safe, be healthy and Hook 'Em Horns,
Chris Del Conte
P.S. — Congrats to our Longhorn Legend and College Football Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson on his latest honor, the Nagurski Trophy Legends Award.
P.S. II – Year one for Coach Schaefer is in the books and what a year it was. Thank You Longhorn Fans for your wonderful support!
HEADLINES
Football's Johnnie Johnson to receive 2021 Bronko Nagurski Legends Award
The Longhorn Legend was a two-time consensus All-American at Texas, and an All-Pro performer in the NFL.
VIDEO: Steve Sarkisian Tuesday post-practice media availability
Longhorns Coach covers various subjects after spring practice number nine.
VIDEO: Steve Sarkisian post-scrimmage media availability
The Football head coach met with media after Longhorns first scrimmage on Saturday.
Baseball completes sweep of Kansas State
Ivan Melendez hit two home runs and has homered in six consecutive games.
Baseball preview: Nevada
The Longhorns continue their 10-game homestand with a midweek series against Nevada.
Softball finishes sweep of Iowa State, 10-0 (6 inn.)
Junior designated player Mary Iakopo went 3-for-4 while finishing a triple short of hitting for the cycle
Rowing sweeps No. 7 Michigan
The Longhorns won all four races against the Wolverines.
Men's Golf finishes third at The Aggie Invitational
Junior Pierceson Coody finished in solo second at 5-under, his fourth-straight top-three finish individually.
Track and Field continues top-10 residence in USTFCCCA Rankings
The women are again ranked No. 3 while the men sit at No. 7 in this week's updated top-25.
VIDEO: LHN profiles legendary Men's Swimming coach Eddie Reese
Longhorn Network reflects on the career of the coach who led the Longhorns to 15 NCAA team titles.
Volleyball's Eggleston, Phillips earn Big 12 weekly honors
Logan Eggleston and Molly Phillips were named Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Volleyball lands six on Academic All-Big 12 teams
The Longhorns had five student-athletes earn All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 honors.
VIDEO: Football Players Media Availability
Roschon Johnson and Josh Thompson talk about spring drills.
Women's Basketball signs Aliyah Matharu
The incoming guard averaged 10.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game at Mississippi State this past season.
Softball's Shea O'Leary named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week
The sophomore went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 14 innings during the sweep of Texas Tech
Soccer's Grosso & Missimo earn Top Drawer Soccer national honors
Grosso totaled four points while Missimo scored her first collegiate brace in the 4-0 road shutout of Baylor
Women's Swimming and Diving UT Tower lighting set for tonight
Campus landmark will be bathed in Burnt Orange on Sunday night in recognition of the Big 12 Conference title.
Flannel named Big 12 Athlete of the Week
The Longhorn swept the sprint double and posted two NCAA top-10 marks vs. No. 6 Texas A&M last Saturday.
Spizzirri named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week
Sophomore Eliot Spizzirri earns his fourth conference weekly honor of the season, tying him for the most in one season in Big 12 history with Yuya Ito in 2020.
Sun named Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week
UT freshman went 4-0 in singles and doubles to lead the Longhorns to a pair of Big 12 dual-match wins last week.
