9/24/01
No. 25 Longhorns swept by ninth-ranked Florida
AUSTIN, Texas – Redshirt-sophomore Kathryn Wilson (Macomb Township, Mich./Dakota) hit a career-best .667 with four kills and no errors but it wasn’t enough as the No. 23 University of Texas volleyball team (7-2) fell to the No. 9 Florida Gators (6-1) in front of 1,728 fans at Gregory Gym on Monday evening.
The Horns came out strong in the first set behind a match-high 11 kills to the Gators’ 19 but came away with a 30-23 defeat. Florida's speed and experience proved to be the decider in the following two sets as the Gators put the Horns away 30-13 and 30-17, finishing the match with a .287 hitting percentage to Texas’ -.022. Florida collected 14.0 team blocks while the Longhorns tallied only 4.0.
Mira Topic (Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) paced the Longhorns with eight kills and 11 digs on the night, followed by Austin native Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) who had six kills against the formidable Gators block. Meanwhile, on the other side of the net, the Gator trio of Nicole McCrary, Aury Cruz, and Niki Hartley had a combined 34 of the team’s 45 kills.
Up next for the Longhorns, Big 12 Conference rival Kansas comes to Austin for a 7 p,m, match at Gregory Gym on Wednesday, Sept. 26. Individual match tickets are available by calling UTTM at (512) 477-6060 or 1-800-982-BEVO.
