11/24/01

Texas Volleyball sweeps Oklahoma to finish regular season

Box score

AUSTIN, Texas -- Freshman middle blocker Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) hit over .500 for the ninth match this season and was the lone player to finish in double-digit kills by pounding 19 as she guided the University of Texas volleyball team to a 3-0 victory (30-20, 30-24, 30-16) over the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday evening in front of 1,644 fans at Gregory Gym.

The match also marked the final home contest for senior outside hitters Gipy Duarte (Lima, Peru/Colegia Maria Reina) and Katia Lara (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Jucelino). Duarte finished with seven kills and four blocks. Lara pounded eight kills and collected nine digs.

Texas finished with a .304 hitting percentage, its fifth best mark this season, while holding Oklahoma to .051. The Longhorns, who also outblocked the Sooners 11 to 7, are now 14-2 in matches when holding their opponents to under .200. Texas also collected 11 service aces on the night, led by freshman outside hitter Mira Topic (Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor).

Howden, who finished the match with a .548 hitting percentage, was errorless in game one, posting 10 of her 19 kills while hitting a sizzling .714. The Longhorns and Sooners battled back and forth early in game one. Texas took its first timeout after Oklahoma took a 9-8 advantage. With the score notched at 10-10, the Horns posted four straight points to take the lead for good. Later in the game, Texas opened the lead up to 10 by recording five consecutive points to make the score 29-19. The Horns won 30-20 behind a kill by Lara, who collected five kills for a .571 hitting percentage in game one.

Duarte and Howden each led the team with four kills apiece as Texas edged Oklahoma in game two 30-24. The Longhorns broke a 5-5 tie and never looked back. Texas, who outhit the Sooners .310 to .194, took a eight-point lead (29-21) late in game two, but the Sooners didn't back down as they answered with three consecutive points to narrow the score to 29-24. Howden, however, put the game away off a kill to put the Horns ahead 2-0 going into intermission.

Game three was all Texas from the start as it jumped to a 9-2 advantage, forcing Oklahoma to take its first timeout. The Horns, who hit .207 with 12 kills, pushed the lead to 10 points at 21-11. Oklahoma used its final timeout but were unable to stop the Longhorns as the closed out the match and regular season with a 30-16 victory in game three. The Sooners finished hitting -.121 while Howden continued her hot streak, posting her second errorless game on the night with five kills and .556 hitting percentage.

Howden also collected a team-leading eight blocks on the night and is tied for sixth on the individual season record list with 125 block assists. Howden, who has 144 total blocks, moved up the list for hitting percentage in a season and now sitting in third with a .361 mark.

Topic finished with five kills and becomes the first player since Demetria Sance in 1998 to reach the 500-kills plateau. Topic concludes the regular season with 500 kills, placing her fourth on the Texas individual season kills list.

"It was a great win because we played extremely aggressive in a must-win situation," said head coach Jerritt Elliott. "Our fate rests in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. We play in one of the nation's toughest conferences and have posted two significant wins over tourney-bound teams."

The Longhorns, who finish the regular season 16-13 overall and 9-11 in the Big 12 Conference, now hold a 21-0 all-time advantage, including 12 sweeps. Texas now awaits word of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Monday, Nov. 26. The selection show begins at 2 p.m. Central.