9/6/02
Texas Volleyball opens Longhorn Classic with 3-1 win
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| Kathy Hahn |
AUSTIN, Texas --
The University of Texas volleyball team defeated the Utah State Aggies,
3-1 (30-22, 28-30, 30-25, 30-21) in the opening day of the Longhorn
Classic Friday night in front of 1,298 fans at Gregory Gym.
“We are continuing to maintain our focus throughout the games,”
said head coach Jerritt Elliott. “I think with this young team,
learning how to win, many of our matches will be see-saw battles like
tonight.”
Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) led the Longhorns
(4-1) with 17 kills. Sophomore LaTonya Coates (Bangor, Mich./Bangor
Public) added a career-high 15 kills along with six aces and seven digs.
Kathy Hahn (Leander, Texas/Leander) and Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake)
put down 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Caron Blotch
(Franklin, Ind./Franklin) just missed a new career-high with 56 assists
on the night. Leading the back row was freshman Jackie Bernardin (Bakersfield,
Calif./Centennial) with 15 digs.
Texas lost the first point on an attack error, but it was the last time
the Longhorns trailed in game one. Coates served her first serve of
the match for an ace to put the Horns up. Coates lost served after an
Erin Cartwright kill, but Hahn regained serve on a kill by Topic. Hahn
served for three straight points including an ace. UT had balanced hitting
with Topic and Hahn with four kills apiece.
The Longhorns lost the second game for the first time this season. The
Aggies hit .234 in game two compared to UT’s .121 hitting percentage.
Junior Whitney Garvens (New Braunfels, Texas/New Braunfels) chipped
in four points, including an ace, to put Texas up, 8-2. Tereza Cernianska
added a quick four points to tie the game, 10-10. From that point, both
teams battled back and forth for points. The Texas back row was put
to the test, coming up with 19 digs. Hahn tallied a game-high five digs.
In the end, USU won game two on a kill by Cartwright.
Texas regrouped during halftime to come back and win game three. Coates
led the scoring attack with four aces along with three kills in the
game. Topic led the offense with seven of the 16 Texas kills in game
three. Blotch tallied all 15 assists.
Coates led the team in kills in game four. Coates tallied seven kills
along with two solo blocks. The Longhorns came out to an early lead
and closed the door on the Aggies.
“LaTonya is a potentially lethal player,” said Elliott of
Coates play tonight. “She is very dynamic and is realizing her
potential as an athlete.”
In other tournament action tonight, UTEP defeated Texas-San Antonio,
3-0.
The Longhorn Classic concludes tomorrow as Texas plays Texas-San Antonio
at Noon, followed by Texas against UTEP at 7 p.m.
