The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Forty Acres Insider: May 24
05.24.2022 | 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,
Yea Orange! Yea White! Yea Longhorns! Fight! Fight! Fight! I must admit that dandy tune fires me up, and with it, there are a whole lot of Longhorns struttin' into this week with another heapin' helpin' of big-time games, matches and Texas Fight! It all culminated with a spectacular evening in Champaign, Illinois, as our Women's Tennis squad made it back-to-back National Championships! It was an unforgettable string of victories en route to another title, and we had a Baseball sweep and senior day, an extraordinary graduation ceremony, and Softball survived and advanced along the way, too! So let's fire up that Tower for Women's Tennis and get ready to cheer on our Horns some more. It's time to put over one more win!
And speaking of wins, how about that magnificent graduation ceremony in a packed-house at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday night?! And with one of our very own who starred on that field delivering a powerful commencement speech, to boot! The stadium was abuzz, all the speakers were spot on, and Emmanuel Acho absolutely hit it out of the park as commencement ceremonies for The University of Texas Class of '22, including 96 of our current and former student-athletes, went off without a hitch. Thank you to our friends at LHN for carrying it live for the world to see, and congratulations to President Hartzell and his staff for the glorious graduation event they provided to all the graduates, their families and friends, and the entire Longhorn Nation.
Now it's on to the final week of May, and another Longhorn team preparing to defend its National Championship with Rowing taking to the lake in Sarasota, Fla. this weekend. Also, Men's Golf tees it up in Scottsdale to begin their quest for a National Championship, Track & Field looks to succeed and proceed at the NCAA Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Ark., and our Softball team is headed there, too, taking the field against the Razorbacks in a Super Regional with a spot in the Women's College World Series on the line. Baseball is on the way to Arlington and Globe Life Field for the Big 12 Championship Tourney, as well. It's Championship Season, and we're all in this together, so let's get those Horns Up, put that Burnt Orange and White on with pride, and do this!
And a quick historical brag for y'all, my friends. Women's Tennis is our second National Championship this year, joining Men's Indoor Track & Field. That makes it five teams that finished first or second at the NCAA Championships in 2021-22, matching our most since 1988-89. And we've now had nine teams finish among the top-two over the last two years, the most for us in a two-year stretch since 1987-88 and 1988-89. We're so proud of our student-athletes and coaches who continue to compete at the highest level and bring us so much joy. And we aren't done yet, far from it! What a great time to be a Longhorn!!
Congratulations Class of 2022
While our teams were tearin' it up on the courts, fields and courses, we've had tons of fun celebrating them off the field as 96 of our current and former student-athletes were a part of commencement ceremonies last week. What a thrill it was fist-pumping, high-fiving and snapping photos with them on Thursday in our meet and greet with the grads and their families at the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame. It's a huge accomplishment of the primary goal they set out to achieve when they arrived on campus, and we couldn't be prouder of our brilliant and talented student-athletes in the UT Class of 2022! The world is your oyster, now go make your pearl!!
Back-to-Back NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS for Women's Tennis
From the magic of Orlando to poppin' in Champaign (yes, I know the spelling's different but stay with me), what more can you say other than WOW?! Winning back-to-back National Championships for Coach Joffe and Women's Tennis is about as special as it gets on its own, but then factor in that our squad and an outstanding Oklahoma team took the Red River Rivalry to a whole new level – for a NATIONAL TITLE – and it's nothing short of legendary! Four times this season our Horns faced off with the Sooners, and although they got us twice earlier on, our ladies stepped up when it mattered most for victories that delivered both the Big 12 and NCAA tournament championships! It just doesn't get any better than that! In fact, that last regular season defeat was the last one, period, on the way to 12 straight wins to close out the year and taking 19 of the last 20! Following the match, you heard Coach Joffe say that after a difficult fall and first part of the season he would have loaded up on lottery tickets before predicting this, but what an awesome testament that is to the Texas Fight this team showed! He had them playing their best at the most important time, and no one was better in the second half of the season. On this journey, they definitely didn't stop belevin'! And don't take for granted the part development played, too. Think about this for the program Coach Joffe's built…there was not one junior or senior on the court for our Horns, it was three sophomores and four freshmen in that lineup! Right now, we're going to celebrate this phenomenal achievement, but that's such a statement for where this program is! Amazing! And what a job they did in Champaign – three definitive wins over No. 5 Virginia (4-2), then No. 1 North Carolina (4-2) and finally No. 2 Oklahoma (4-1) to leave no doubt and claim the fourth national title in program history (1993, 1995, 2021) and the 60th overall in the annals of our incredible school. It also makes Texas one of only three to ever go back-to-back in women's tennis along with Stanford and Florida. And to the victor go the spoils – five of the nine spots on the All-Tournament team went to Horns, including the Most Outstanding Player, who is a true freshman, Allura Zamarripa! Allura incredibly clinched ALL THREE matches and also made the all-tournament team at No. 5 singles. She was joined on the team by the incomparable Peyton Stearns at No. 1 singles, Ukrainian native Sabina Zeynalova with her touching story (not to mention she only lost one singles match all SEASON as a true freshman) at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles, Allura's twin sister Bella, who played with Sabina at No. 3 doubles, and the No. 2 doubles duo of Kylie Collins and Charlotte Chavatipon. It all seems like such a dream, but let me tell you, this team is livin' the dream and keepin' the Tower aglow! Congratulations again and a massive Hook 'Em to all of you! Oh, and as we all know tennis never stops, so Peyton, Kylie and Allura are turning immediately around, hitting the reset button and playing in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships this week! So go get 'em!
Softball is victorious at NCAA Seattle Regional, advances to third-straight Super Regional
Well, Softball is cruisin' into this week like the Saturday Night Fever theme song Stayin' Alive. Try to get that song out of your head now, ha! We sure did get put to the test and none of us were thrilled that Coach White and our Longhorns got sent 2,000 miles to the west coast to start their NCAA postseason journey. But that didn't deter our Longhorns as they had a little fun seeing the sights the day before the game, then were all business from the first pitch and put on quite a show on their way to winning the NCAA Seattle Regional. It started with a never-in-doubt 6-0 shutout of Weber State on Friday, rolled into a comeback rally and eventually a decisive 8-2 victory over host Washington on Saturday afternoon. That set up an epic Sunday with our Horns needing just one win against the Huskies to survive and advance. After a hard-fought 2-1 loss in game one, it was time for some Texas Fight, and that's just what we got as many heroes showed up and showed out while fueling a 3-2 win. In a scoreless battle during the decisive final game, Bella Dayton blasted a double deep to left center field to knock in a pair of runs and give our Horns a 2-0 lead. Our sensational senior Janae Jefferson hit her second homer of the weekend to extend the lead to 3-0, which turned out to be just enough for the win. Fellow Super Senior Hailey Dolcini pitched all 21 innings against Washington over a 24-hour stint and allowed just six runs while striking out 15. That included the crucial final contest on Sunday night where she held UW scoreless for the first six innings, permitting just two earned runs in a complete-game effort, while striking out four with just one walk in the regional-clinching win. That victory secured our Horns a spot in the Super Regionals for a third-straight time. Up next will be long-time Southwest Conference rivals and the SEC Champion Arkansas Razorbacks with a Women's College World Series bid on the line! Action in the best-of-three series will get underway in Fayetteville on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT live on ESPN2.
Softball puts four players on the NFCA All-Central Region teams
Congratulations are in order for four of our outstanding Softball players who earned All-Central Region team honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) last week. That group includes sensational senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini who was selected to the first team, while record-setting senior second baseman Janae Jefferson, senior catcher/first baseman Mary Iakopo and freshman third baseman Mia Scott all earned spots on the second team. Kudos to them on an exceptional 2022 season and this latest honor!
Baseball set to compete for Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field
Coach Pierce and our Baseball squad closed out the regular season at UFCU Disch-Falk Field with a sweep of Kansas in the Big 12 series finale. After cruising to a 12-4 win Thursday and an 8-1 victory Friday, it took some big-time Texas Fight in a comeback rally that fueled Saturday's 11-6 triumph. Trailing 5-2 going into the seventh inning, Skyler Messinger, who came to us this year after four seasons at KU, came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. The rest, as they say, is history as he came to the rescue launching a storybook blast that gave our Horns a 7-5 lead and helped put away the Jayhawks. It was extra sweet with the thrilling win coming on Senior Day when we honored Skyler and a total of 10 seniors. That group also included an outstanding collection of team leaders in Eric Kennedy, Ivan Melendez, Murphy Stehly, Tristan Stevens and Austin Todd, as well as Daniel Blair, Coy Cobb, Justin Eckhardt and Marcus Olivarez. It's always a wonderful time at the Disch, it put an exclamation mark on the day, and we can't thank Longhorn Nation enough for coming out and keeping our team energized with your passion, pride and spirit. Oh, and Friday's game had a memorable moment, too, as the Hispanic Titanic himself, Ivan Melendez, did his thing, hitting his 28th home run of the season to tie the UT single-season record set by Kyle Russell in 2007. And he had another historic accomplishment when he was named Big 12 Player of the Week for a record-setting fifth time this season on Monday. The series sweep, coupled with a mid-week 9-2 win over Sam Houston made for an outstanding final week of the season and sends us into the Big 12 Tourney on a five-game winning streak. I'd be remiss if with the regular season complete, I didn't take a moment to thank y'all for showing up in droves at the Disch this season. We had record-breaking crowds, y'all brought it every game, and we are so, so grateful for your passion and support! Next up, it's the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington. We'll start things off in the double-elimination tournament in an opening-round matchup with Oklahoma State at 9 a.m. CT on Wednesday (ESPNU).
Baseball's Melendez tabbed Big 12 Player of the Year, nine Longhorns earn All-Big 12 honors
The honors just keep rolling in for our guy Ivan Melendez, who today was named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Such well-deserved recognition and no shock here as he leads the Big 12 in batting average (.421), home runs (28), runs batted in (85), on-base percentage (.531), slugging percentage (.941) and OPS (1.472). The guy we affectionately call the Hispanic Titanic leads the nation homers, and ranks second in batting average and RBI. Including Ivan, a total of nine Longhorns earned All-Big 12 recognition on Tuesday. That group includes three other first-team selections in catcher Silas Ardoin (.287, 17 doubles, 10 HR, 45 RBI and thrown out 21 runners), outfielder Murphy Stehly (.383, 20 doubles, 16 HR, 51 RBI, leads Big 12 with 87 hits) and pitcher Pete Hansen (9-1, 3.28 ERA, 95 strikeouts). Hansen joined Melendez as the league's only two unanimous selections. Infielders Trey Faltine (.269, 12 doubles, 14 HR, 46 RBI, 53 runs) — one of the nation's premier defensive players — and Skyler Messinger (.364, 13 doubles, 10 HR, 49 RBI), along with pitcher Lucas Gordon (6-1, 2.55 ERA, 61 strikeouts) were second-team picks, while Douglas Hodo III (.316, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 72 runs, leads Big 12 with 21 doubles) and Austin Todd (.326, 6 doubles, 5 HR, 24 RBI) both picked up Honorable Mention honors.
Women's Golf comes up short of match play, but finishes in top-15 for fifth-straight time at NCAA Championship
It was one heck of a run for Coach Murphy and our Women's Golf team. It didn't end the way we'd hoped, but there's so darn much to be proud of with this team that competed to the very end. Monday's 13th-place showing during the 72-hole stroke play at the NCAA Championships left us just outside the top-eight teams who advance to the match play round of the tournament, but after rallying to make the final 15 cut on Sunday, then securing 13th-place in the team standings on Monday, it marked the fifth-straight year we've finished in the top-15. That also capped a season that saw our Horns win the Big 12 Championship for the fourth time in the last five championships. The league title earned us an automatic bid to the NCAA Albuquerque Regional where we were second, earning a spot in the NCAA Championship field for the sixth time in-a-row, as well. That's the third-longest active streak in the nation! Fabulous freshman Bohyun Park led the way at NCAAs, finishing tied for 17th. That's Bo's seventh top-20 finish of the season, including the tie for third she posted at the conference championship to earn Big 12 All-Tournament honors as rookie. The only one with more top-20 finishes (8) is our lone senior, Sara Kouskova, who also earned All-Big 12 Tournament honors and capped her career with an outstanding final season. Sara graduated with a degree in studio art last weekend, and we'll look forward to seeing her as a professional golfer and artist in the near future! Congrats to Coach Murphy and our entire team on another outstanding year.
Men's Golf headed to Scottsdale for NCAA Championships
Last week, Coach Fields and our Men's Golf team punched their ticket to a 15th-straight NCAA Championship with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Regional in Norman. That's the longest current streak in NCAA Division I men's golf! Junior Travis Vick led the way at regionals with a breakout performance and career-best second-place finish in the individual standings, firing a 54-hole score of 10-under-par 206 (67-67-72). He finished just one stroke behind individual medalist Jackson Suber of Ole Miss. Oh, and speaking of Travis, how 'bout our guy qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Open by shooting 9-under against a mostly pro field in Dallas on Monday to punch his ticket to that major! Well done, Travis! Now it's time to begin Taking Dead Aim on the NCAA Championship later this week at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Track & Field set to compete for spots in NCAA Championship at West Preliminaries
Fresh off a fantastic and record-setting sweep of the Big 12 Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, our No. 1-ranked squads head to Coach Flo's old stompin' grounds in Fayetteville for the NCAA West Preliminaries this weekend. It's the first round of the NCAA Championships with the goal simply being to succeed and proceed as Coach Flo says. Our team heads into the meet loaded with the nation's most qualifiers on the men's side (32) and the fourth-most among the women's field (33). For the men, All-Americans Tripp Piperi (shot put), Micaiah Harris (200m) and Jonathan Jones (400m) currently have the NCAA's best times in their events, while All-American Julien Alfred (100m) and the 4x100m relay team of Alfred, Rhasidat Adeleke, Kevona Davis and Kynnedy Flannel lead the nation on the women's side. Versatile All-American jumper Tyra Gittens ranks second in the high jump and third in the long jump, while All-American multi-event standouts Kristine Blazevica (heptahlon/No. 2) and Leo Neugebauer (decathlon/No. 5) will move straight on to the NCAA finals. The other qualifiers from this weekend will join them in advancing to the NCAA Championships on June 8-11 in Eugene.
Track & Field sweeps Big 12 Performer and Coach of the Year honors
It was a clean sweep of the Big 12 Coach and Performer of the Year Awards! Edrick Floréal swept the Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards after leading the Longhorns to a second-consecutive sweep at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Julien Alfred and Micaiah Harris were the league's top outdoor Performers of the Year, as well. Texas won all four conference meets this season, totaling 11 in four seasons under Flo. Julien had an electric outdoor season. Leaving the best for last at the conference meet, she ran the third-fastest time in NCAA history in the 100m prelims with a time of 10.81 seconds. It broke a 31-year Texas record and leads the NCAA. Along with her top individual time, she is the opening leg of the NCAA-leading 4x100 relay that set the fifth-fastest time in collegiate history at 42.35. Micaiah earned his honor after sweeping the Big 12 100 and 200-meter races, becoming the second men's high-point scorer from Texas. He now leads the Big 12 in both events, including an NCAA-leading time of 20.39 in the 200m. He became the first Texas sprinter to sweep the two events at the conference meet since Johnny Lam Jones won the 100-yards and 220-yards at the 1977 Southwest Conference Championships, and the first 100m champion since Jamaal Charles in 2006.
No. 1-seeded Rowing set to defend National Championship
Two weeks ago, it was a seventh-straight Big 12 Championship and tons of team conference accolades. This week, Coach O'Neill and our Longhorns will take to the lake to defend our National Championship. Selected as the NCAA No. 1 overall seed, our Horns are the top seed in all three championship events (first varsity eight, second varsity eight and four) for the first time in program history and unbeaten this season as they head to the national regatta. We'll be right back at the scene of the 2021 national title at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida, on Friday to Sunday looking to bring back that Natty, once again.
Longhorns claim Big 12 Rowing honors
More congratulations are in order for our Big 12 Champion Rowing squad as three of our Longhorns earned top conference honors. Fran Raggi was tabbed Rower of the Year, Grace Holland co-Newcomer of the Year, and our captain Dave O'Neill earned Coach of the Year recognition. That's the sixth time in seven seasons that Coach O'Neill has been tabbed Big 12 Coach of the Year. There's much more to yet to compete for this season, but kudos and Hook 'Em to Fran, Grace and Coach!
Five Longhorns named to CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large teams, advance to national ballot for Academic All-America consideration
Five of our outstanding student-athletes on four of our teams earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for at-large sports last week. Congratulations and an emphatic Hook 'Em to Men's Swimming & Diving's Jake Foster and Drew Kibler, Men's Golf's Cole Hammer, Rowing's Kaitlin Knifton and Women's Golf's Sara Kouskova. We couldn't be prouder of them for their success in their sports and in the classroom as this is a tremendous honor. We'll be pulling for them on the national ballot and hope to see them earn Academic All-America honors.
36 Longhorn Rowers on Academic All-Big 12 Teams
Our Rowing squad is filled with champions in the water and the classroom, as well. Last week, 36 student-athletes earned spots on the Academic All-Big 12 teams. Thirty-four of our Rowers were tabbed first team with at least 3.20 grade point averages, highlighted by Faith Banach and Katie Casey who posted perfect 4.00 GPAs. We also had a pair of second-team honorees that posted between a 3.00 and 3.19 GPA.
Hailey Hernandez to compete for Team USA at the FINA World Championships
More exciting news from the Texas Swimming Center, as our Big 12 Diver of the Year and 2020 Olympian Hailey Hernandez was announced as part of the United States roster for the FINA World Championships next month! That makes five Longhorns at this summer's event, as teammate Anna Elendt will be competing for Germany in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, and a trio of men's swimmers – Coby Carrozza, Carson Foster and Drew Kibler – will be representing Team USA. And lest we forget, congratulations to head diving coach Matt Scoggin, who will serve on the USA Diving coaching staff at the World Championships!
Another Full Week on the 40
We've got a lot going on this week on The Forty and beyond with lots of NCAA Championship competition Men's and Women's Golf, Rowing, Men's and Women's Tennis, and Track & Field. There's Big 12 Conference Baseball Championship play, as well.
Monday
• Women's Golf at NCAA Championship
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis at Individual Championships
Tuesday
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis at Individual Championships
Wednesday
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Baseball at Big 12 Championship
Thursday
• Softball Super Regional vs. Arkansas
• Track & Field NCAA West Preliminaries
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Baseball at Big 12 Championship
Friday
• Softball Super Regional vs. Arkansas
• Men's Golf at NCAA Championship
• Rowing at NCAA Championship
• Track & Field at NCAA West Preliminaries
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Baseball at Big 12 Championship*
Saturday
• Softball Super Regional vs. Arkansas*
• Men's Golf at NCAA Championship
• Rowing at NCAA Championship
• Track & Field at NCAA West Preliminaries
• Men's Tennis at Individual Championships
• Women's Tennis Individual Championships
• Baseball at Big 12 Championship*
Sunday
• Men's Golf at NCAA Championship
• Rowing at NCAA Championship
• Baseball at Big 12 Championship*
*If Texas advances or if necessary
Get those Football Season Tickets before they're gone!
Season tickets for the 2022 Football campaign continue to go at a fast and furious pace. If you haven't gotten on board, you best hurry up before they're gone! There is still time to get those tickets and guarantee your spot at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium this fall for the epic Texas-Alabama game and our exciting seven-game home slate. Take a look at the map here, dial us up or learn more about it on TexasSports.com. Bear in mind that purchasing season tickets is the ONLY way to guarantee tickets for that monumental matchup with Alabama on Sept. 10. DKR will be the place to be all season long, so don't miss out. There are a number of different options to consider, from your traditional season tickets to premium seating options and the UFCU Field Club location, just call 512-471-3333 (Monday-Friday/9 a.m.-4 p.m. CT) to discuss or read more about it right here.
Secure your Women's Basketball season tickets in the Moody Center!
Coming off of two consecutive Elite Eight appearances and the Big 12 Tournament Championship, Coach Schaefer and our Women's Basketball program have things cooking. With the move to the brand new Moody Center, now is the time to get those season tickets if you haven't already. Starting at $100, you can join the Texas Fight in the finest arena in college sports all season long. Tickets can be purchased online at TexasSports.com/tickets or by calling 512-471-3333 (Monday through Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central). More information on the Moody Center can be found here.
We'll Light the Tower for another National Championship with Women's Tennis bringing home the trophy for the second-straight year. Now it's on to Rowing and its chance to defend its title, while Softball is among the final 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Championship Tourney as they head to the Super Regionals in Fayetteville, which is the same location as the NCAA Track & Field preliminaries this week. There's Big 12 Baseball Championship action, as well. It's wall-to-wall Longhorn action, all the live long day! Let's go Longhorns, we got this!
Hook 'Em Horns,
Chris Del Conte
Chris Del Conte
P.S. — What Starts Here Changes the World my friend. Inspirational messages for our graduates, you did great Emmanuel!
P.S. — They got ya Coach Joffe! Nothing like a good, old-fashioned Gatorade bath, and so well-deserved my friend!!
P.S. — U.S. Open Qualifier sounds real nice! Congrats to Men's Golf's Travis Vick!!
P.S. — How cool was it to have MLB Network broadcasting live from the Disch last week!
P.S. — Can't believe it's already been a month and just getting started indeed! Can't wait for Basketball season!!
P.S. — This is priceless! Well done Coach Beard, and congrats Brock!!
HEADLINES
Light the Tower — again! Texas Women's Tennis team wins NCAA Title (Austin American-Statesman)
Men's Basketball to host Creighton in 2022 Big 12-Big East battle
Women's Basketball lands DePaul transfer Sonya Morris
Rowing Coach Dave O'Neill joined 'Big 12 Today' on SiriusXM
Six Longhorns invited to USRowing U23 National Team selection camps
