11/19/02

Longhorns Preview: Iowa State

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 20
Where: Hilton Coliseum (Ames, Iowa)
Records: Texas 20-7,11-6 Big 12 / Iowa State 10-19, 1-16 Big 12
Series: Texas leads 14-0
Last Meeting: Texas 3-0 (10/19/02 in Austin, Texas)

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Coach Elliott audio preview

	Freshman Caron Blotch reached the 1,000 career assist mark against Texas Tech on Nov. 16.

Notes: Texas has never lost to the Cyclones, making ISU the other team in the Big 12 Conference besides Oklahoma that has never defeated the Longhorns. On September 14, 1984, Texas and Iowa State played their first match with the Horns winning 15-3, 15-10, 15-8. The teams did not face one another again until the Big 12 was established in 1996. Texas has won all 13 matches since 1996 in three games except for two matches in which UT won in four games (on Oct. 11, 1996, 13-15, 15-0, 15-9, 15-7 & on Nov. 1, 1997,15-5, 8-15, 15-4, 15-3). Both matches were played in Austin. Texas won the first match of the season over the Cyclones on Saturday, Oct. 19, as the Longhorns won, 3-0 (30-22, 30-18, 30-17), at Gregory Gym.

Iowa State: The Cyclones nearly pulled off the upset of then-No. 24 Missouri, falling 2-3 (33-31, 25-30, 30-22, 25-30, 11-15) on Saturday, Nov. 16. ISU enters the contest at 10-19 and 1-16 in conference play. Senior outside hitter Mandi Harms leads Iowa State with 3.25 kills per game, a .210 hitting percentage and a 1.12 blocks per game average. Harms is tied for fifth place among all Big 12 blockers. Sophomore outside hitter Brittany Dalager is second on the team in kills (2.87 kpg) while leading the team in service aces (0.28 per game) and digs (4.24 per game). She ranks second-best in the conference in the digs category.

Texas: Texas enters its final full week of the regular season with 20 wins, making it the first 20-win season for Jerritt Elliott as head coach of the Longhorns ... This season marks the 27th in which UT has reached the 20-win plateau and is Elliott's second year at the UT helm ... Freshman setter Caron Blotch recorded her 1,000 career assists against Texas Tech on Saturday, Nov. 16 ... Sophomore outside hitter Mira Topic needs 31 kills to reach the 1,000 career kill plateau; Topic has 435 kills on the season and needs 65 kills in the next three matches to become the first Longhorn to post back-to-back 500 kills in the regular season ... Topic leads the Longhorns in kills per game (4.68) and points per game (5.43) while comes in second for aces (0.40 per game) and digs (2.60 per game) ... Topic also leads UT in double-doubles, finishing 10 matches with 10+ kills and digs, totaling 28 in her career ... Topic also has notched double-digit kills in 23 of 27 matches, falling a kill short (9) in victories over Baylor (10/30), Texas Tech (10/12), Kansas (10/5) and Texas-Pan American (8/30) ... She has seven matches with 20+ kills, the last match was against Texas Tech on Nov. 16 (23 kills on 57 attempts), and one 30+ kills match (31 vs. Colorado 11/6) this season ... Topic's 31 kills ties her with UT legend Dee Sance for second place in kills in a four game match ... Sophomore middle blocker Kathy Hahn made her 100th total block of the season against Texas Tech on Nov. 16 and has hit for 10+ kills in 21 of 27 matches this season for a 3.37 kills per game average while hitting .332 in 90 games ... Hahn broke her career-best mark for hitting percentage against Kansas when she hit .667 (17 kills with 1 error in 24 attempts) ... She also is averaging 1.11 blocks per game.... Setter Abbie Schindler has totaled 1,586 career assists to rank her ninth on the career assist list, 587 assists shy of Lisa Denker, who is eighth all-time at 2,173... Right behind Schindler is freshman setter Caron Blotch, who is 10th on the career assist list with 1,041 assists and replaces Dagmara Szyszczak (1987-90), who had 686 career assists ...Blotch broke the 1,000 assist mark against Texas Tech on Nov. 16;she has tallied 20+ assists in every match she has played in this season except against Texas-San Antonio when she left the match early with 12 assists and against Iowa State, leaving due to an injury with 13 assists ... Blotch set a career-high against Baylor (10/2) in the digs category, coming up with 12 digs, a number she tied against Colorado (11/6) ... Blotch had 60 assists and eight kills against Missouri (10/26) for a career-high in those categories ... Libero Stacy Millichap has come up with 10+ digs in 17 matches this year, including three matches of a career-high 20 against Kansas (10/5), Nebraska (11/9) and Texas Tech (11/16) ... Millichap ended a seven-match streak of 10 or more digs which began against Kansas and ended against Baylor (10/30) when she tallied five digs; Millichap currently is on a four-match double-figure digs streak ... Outside hitter Bethany Howden slammed a season-high 22 kills in the second match against Missouri this season at Columbia while putting down 20 kills in the Big 12 opener against Missouri (9/18) ... Howden tied her season-high of 22 kills in the four-game match against Texas Tech on Nov. 16 and has hit for double-digit kills in 18 of 27 matches ...Howden followed the 22 kills in a five-game match at Missouri (10/26) with a 21 kills in a three-game match against Baylor (10/30) ... Howden set a career-high against Missouri when she served five aces (four of those aces were in a row) ... Outside hitter LaTonya Coates has set new career-highs in every category this season except for hitting percentage (1.000 at Texas A&M on 12/01/01)... Coates also has recorded three double-doubles this year; the last against Missouri (10/26) and has had nine matches with 10+ kills and 10 matches with 10 or more digs.