11/19/01
Howden
leads Texas past Auburn in four games
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman middle blocker Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) hit a sizzling .600 to tie a career-high while finishing with her first double-double of the season behind 24 kills and 10 digs to help the University of Texas volleyball team to a 3-1 win (30-14, 28-30, 30-24, 30-15) over Auburn on Monday evening in front of 1,078 fans at Gregory Gym.
Howden has hit .500 or better to eight matches in her first campaign. Her 10 total blocks were a career-best, giving her 132 blocks on the season and placing her second on the UT freshmen list behind Errica Hibben’s 186 from 1989. Howden has now collected 20 or more kills in four matches, giving her 408 kills on the year to make her the third Longhorns freshman to collect over 400 kills in her first season.
Freshman outside hitter Mira Topic (Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) led the team with 26 kills and three service aces. Topic, who has 482 kills on the season, improves her kills per game mark to 4.87. With 26 kills, Topic has recorded 20 or more kills in four of her last five matches. Senior outside hitter Katia Lara (Sao Paolo, Brazil/Jucelino), who hit .429, posted 11 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Auburn jumped to an early 3-1 lead in game one. Texas wasted no time responding as it went on an 11-2 run to force the Tigers into their first timeout. The Horns maintained control, opening the lead to 10 points to 22-12. After back-to-back points by Auburn, Texas went on a 6-0 run to win game one 30-14 and take the early 1-0 lead in the match. Topic and Howden led Texas with six kills apiece as the team hit a scorching .478.
Texas fell behind 9-6 to start game two. Auburn opened the game up to a five-point lead at 16-11 but consecutive kills by Topic and Howden closed the gap to 16-13. Auburn maintained the lead until late in game three, leading by as many as four-points at 24-20. The Longhorns narrowed the lead to 26-25 on a kill by Topic, who finished game two with a team-leading seven kills. Texas tied the game on a block assist by Kathryn Wilson (Macomb Township, Mich./Dakota) and Gipy Duarte (Lima, Peru/Colegia Maria Reina) on the next play. With the score notched at 28-28, Auburn scored two straight points to win game two 30-28. Auburn hit .303 as a team to Texas’ .282.
The Tigers
started game three with an early 4-1 lead. Texas tied the game at 6-6
behind two consecutive kills by Howden and one by Topic. Auburn regained
the lead and pulled out to a four-point advantage at 14-10. The Horns
answered with a 4-1 run to tie the game for the second time at 15-15.
Texas and Auburn then went back-and-forth sharing ties and one-point
leads until Texas broke the game open, pulling out to a three-point
lead at 22-19. Coming out of an Auburn timeout at 26-22, Texas was able
to secure game three behind three kills by Howden and a final kill by
Topic to win 30-24. Topic and Howden both fired seven kills each to
help win game three.
Texas ignited
the start of game four with seven straight points and despite an Auburn
timeout, Texas was able to jump to an early 11-3 lead. After that Auburn
was never able to cut the lead to less than eight at 14-6. Texas then
scored four straight points and never looked back as they extended themselves
to their largest lead at 23-8. Though Auburn never showed any signs
of quitting, Texas was able to hold off and win the game four 30-15
and win the match 3-1. Howden pounded seven kills and Topic added six
kills of her own, as the Horns hit a match high .500.
Texas,
which posted its third highest hitting percentage this season at .346,
improves to 15-12 overall. Auburn falls to 1-24 overall.
The Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 21 as they face No. 15 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
