11/11/03

Volleyball Preview: Nebraska

Complete Preview

Match 24: Texas (11-12, 6-8) vs. No. 10 Nebraska (22-3, 13-2)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 12 (8 p.m.)
Where: The Coliseum (4,030) - Lincon, Neb.
Series vs. Nebraska: Nebraska leads the overall series, 21-11, including an 11-2 mark in Lincoln.
Last meeting:  Nebraska defeated UT, 3-0, on September 20 at Gregory Gym
Streak: The Cornhuskers have won the last eight meetings between the two programs
Live Stats: Click here
Audio broadcast: Click here
Television: College Sports Television (CSTV) will broadcast the match live.

THE LONGHORNS IN BRIEF
Texas enters Wednesday's (Nov. 12) match with an 11-12 record overall and a 6-8 mark in Big 12 play.  The team is in seventh place in the Big 12 standings.  Saturday (Nov. 8), the Longhorns fell, 3-2, to Kansas in Gregory Gym after opening with a 2-0 lead.  UT is 3-7 in the team's last 10 matches. Junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) leads the team with 393 kills (4.68/game).  Junior All-American Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) is second on the team with 366 kills (4.36/game) and has also added 42 service aces.  Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) tops the team in hitting percentage (.352) and blocks (72).  She has also added 168 kills.  Freshman setter Jenny Andrew (Houston, Texas/Kingwood) is the team's only setter and has 1,004 assists and is second on the team in blocks with 62, while sophomore defensive specialist Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) has 283 digs to lead the team.  Overall, the team is out-hitting opponents, .250 to .227, and out-blocking its opponents, 213.0 to 148.5.

NEBRASKA IN BRIEF
Nebraska enters Wednesday's match with a 22-3 overall record and a 13-2 mark in Big 12 matches.  The Cornhuskers are currently second in the Big 12 standings.  NU is riding a seven-match winning streak after suffering its first two losses (on Oct. 11 and 15) in Big 12 play since the 1999 season.  Head coach John Cook's squad is led by senior outside hitter Anna Schrad, who has 268 kills on the season (3.12/game).  Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua is second on the team in kills with 265 (3.19/game) and is also the team leader in digs with 330.  Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer has 256 kills (2.94/game) and paces the team at the net overall with a .340 hitting percentage and 144 blocks.  Nebraska is dominating its opponents at the net, out-hitting them .253 to .126.  The team is also out-blocking them 276.5 to 127.0.

AGAINST THE CORNHUSKERS
Texas trails the overall series with Nebraska, 21-11, and has dropped the last eight matches to NU.  Texas' last win against Nebraska came on Oct. 23, 1999, when the Longhorns posted a 3-2 victory in Gregory Gym.  Since the beginning of Big 12 play in 1996, the Huskers hold an 11-2 advantage in the series.

LAST MEETING WITH NEBRASKA
Eighth-ranked Nebraska (10-1, 2-0 Big 12) used 16 service aces and capitalized on the Longhorns' .099 hitting percentage to defeat Texas, 3-0 (30-20, 30-19, 30-19) in Big 12 volleyball action on Saturday, Sept. 20, before 1,960 fans in UT's Gregory Gym. The Cornhuskers' Jennifer Saleaumua had a game-high 13 kills to pace the NU attack, while Bethany Howden led the Longhorns with 12 kills on the night. Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia) had 15 kills. Christina Houghtelling and Saleaumua each had four aces for NU. Sophomore Dariam Acevedo left the match midway through the second game with a left knee injury.

LAST TIME OUT
Texas surrendered a 2-0 lead and fell to Kansas, 3-2, in Big 12 Conference volleyball action at Gregory Gym on Saturday before 2,133 fans. The loss snapped Texas' five-match winning streak at home. Kansas used victories in games three, four and five to take the match, 26-30, 28-30, 30-16, 30-21, 15-9.  Four Jayhawks recorded double-figure kills, led by Sarah Rome (23) and Ashley Michaels (22), and five players had double-figure digs. For Texas, Bethany Howden paced the Longhorns' attack, registering 24 kills. Mira Topic added 14 kills and 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Texas also welcomed back freshman starter Brandy Magee, who had missed the previous three matches after returning home to attend to a family emergency. In the fifth and decisive game, KU ran off four straight points to move to 8-4 and secure the game.

MAGEE RETURNS
Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee returned to the lineup for the first time in three matches on Saturday against Kansas after taking a temporary leave of absence when her father, Kevin, was killed in an automobile accident on Wednesday, Oct. 22.  Magee recorded eight kills, two aces, and two blocks in the match.  Without Magee in the lineup, the Longhorns were 1-2 overall with a victory over No. 24 Missouri, and losses at No. 21 Texas A&M and Iowa State.

UNIFORM CHANGE
In honor of her late father, Brandy Magee has switched her number to 44 - from 4 - for the remainder of the season.  Her father, Kevin, was a former basketball standout at UC-Irvine and wore #44 during his collegiate and professional career in Europe.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILSON!!
Senior middle blocker Kathryn Wilson will celebrate her 23rd birthday on Wednesday, Nov. 12, while the team is in Lincoln to take on the Cornhuskers.  A mechanical engineering major from Macomb Township, Mich., Wilson will graduate this December after five seasons at Texas.

LINEUP SHUFFLING
The Longhorns have used an astonishing nine different lineups this season, including six separate versions in the last seven matches.  Even more surprising is the fact that the team has only NINE available players.  Because of numerous injuries, international obligations and non-team matters, the Texas coaching staff has resorted to frequent lineup maneuvering.  The following lineups have been used this season (with the number of games started):

1 - Andrew, Howden, Garvens, Hahn, Wilson, Topic
1 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Hahn, Curtis, Topic
1 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Wilson, Topic, Larson
2 - Andrew, Howden, Hahn, Curtis, Wilson, Topic
2 - Andrew, Magee, Garvens, Hahn, Acevedo, Topic
2 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Hahn, Wilson, Topic
3 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Garvens, Wilson, Topic
5 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Garvens, Hahn, Topic
6 - Andrew, Magee, Howden, Curtis, Wilson, Topic

ROAD WEARY
The Longhorns have played six of their last 10 of the road, going winnless away from the friendly confines of Gregory Gym during that span.   Overall this season, Texas is 1-8 away from home, including a 1-7 mark in true away matches.  The team's lone win came on Sept. 24 at Oklahoma and the team has lost every match as the visitor since.

NEED LUCK AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
In eight matches against ranked teams in 2003, Texas has compiled a 2-6 record.  The team's two wins came Oct. 1 at home against No. 22 Texas A&M (3-2) and Oct. 29 at home against No. 24 Missouri (3-1).  UT's losses have come to No. 16 Long Beach State (3-1, Aug. 30), No. 21 Notre Dame (3-0, Sept. 6), No. 9 UCLA (3-0, Sept. 12), No. 8 Nebraska (3-0, Sept. 20), No. 8 Kansas State (3-2, Oct. 15) and No. 21 Texas A&M (3-0, Oct. 24).

HEAD COACH JERRITT ELLIOTT
Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his third year at the helm of the Longhorns' volleyball program.  He has compiled a record of 51-35 (.593) - including an 11-12 record in 2003 - while at Texas and has guided the team to the second round of the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments.  Including his two-year stint as the interim head coach at Southern California, Elliott has a career record of 101-46 (.687) in five seasons as a head coach.  With the team's 3-0 win over Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 18, Elliott reached two coaching milestones: his 50th win at Texas and his 100th career win overall.

HOWDEN EXPLODING
Bethany Howden has done more than come on strong since settling into her new outside hitter position after shifting from her natural middle blocker position because of the season-ending injury to Dariam Acevedo.  In the last five matches, Howden has recorded 122 kills (5.80/game).  In two of those matches - at Kansas (Oct. 22, 29 kills) and at Iowa State (Nov. 2, 32 kills) - Howden has re-established her career high in kills.  In 13 matches since her positional move, Howden has racked up 263 kills in 53 games (4.96/game).  She now leads the team in kills with 393.  Howden has recorded nine matches of 18 or more kills, and six matches of 20 or more kills ? all in the last 13 matches.

ALL-AROUND ANDREW
As her recent triple-double and double-double attest, Jenny Andrew - the team's freshman setter - has become an all-around player for the Longhorns, getting involved in the match far beyond just setting the offense.  At 6-2, Andrew is also a force at the net, accumulating 62 blocks (0.74/game) and 114 kills (1.36/game).  She is hitting .295, and has added 128 digs (1.52/game) and 10 aces.  Before her career performance against the KSU Wildcats on Oct. 15 (see below), Andrew proved to be the-"Aggie-killer" in the team's upset of its traditional rival No. 22 Texas A&M (Oct. 1).  That night, Andrew tied her then-career high of nine kills and set the team's top mark in blocks for the season with nine (two solo and seven assisted).  She has played every point this season and is the team's captain on the court during the match.

TRIPLE THREAT
Freshman setter Jenny Andrew recorded the team's first triple-double since 1999 when she collected 10 kills, 11 digs and 51 assists in Texas' 3-2 loss at No. 8 Kansas State on Oct. 15.  She is the first Longhorn to record a triple-double since Jill Gremmel executed the feat as a junior.  On Nov. 20, 1999, Gremmel had 13 kills, 10 digs and 69 assists at Colorado.  Like Andrew, Gremmel was also the team's setter.

WORKHORSE PLAYERS
Two players - Mira Topic and Jenny Andrew - have played every point of all 84 games this season.  Neither player has been substituted out. Two other players - Bethany Howden and Erin Larson - have played in all 84 games, but have been substituted for.

CHARGED WITH LARSON-Y
Sophomore libero Erin Larson has developed into a force in the backcourt for the Longhorns, becoming a crowd favorite in Gregory Gym for her diving defensive displays.  Larson leads the team in digs and has settled into the libero position after sharing with Whitney Garvens to start the season.  In her career-best match - against No. 22 Texas A&M (Oct. 1), Larson recorded a career-high 24 digs and routinely kept the ball in play by getting to the Aggies' back-row attacks. Her previous career high was 16, which she set at No. 16 Long Beach State (Aug. 30). For the season, Larson has 283 digs.  Larson's play is more remarkable considering the fact that she played in only nine of the team's 31 matches in 2002 for a total of 12 games.  Her entire dig total for all of last season was 13, which she eclipsed in the first two matches of the season this year.  Larson has 16 double-figure dig games this season, including 10 of the last 12 matches.

TOPIC'S NEXT STOP: SECOND
Mira Topic has moved quickly up Texas' career kills list since entering it in 10th place on Sept. 5. Topic currently sits in third place with 1,423 career kills and is now 37 kills away from second-place Angie Breitenfield (1992-95) who had 1,460.  In the team's match at Iowa State on Nov. 2, Topic recorded 20 kills to move past third-place Diane Watson (1983-86), who had 1,408.

HOWDEN MAKING HER MOVE, TOO
Bethany Howden, like Mira Topic did earlier this season, has also moved into the Texas career kills list and currently sits in sixth place with 1,275 kills. She passed Laura Neugebauer (1982-85) in the team's match at Iowa State on Nov. 2, who had 1,237 kills.  Howden is now 31 kills shy of Janine Gremmel's (1988-91) fifth-place mark of 1,306.

BIG BLOCKER
Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee leads the team in blocks with 72, even after missing three matches this season.  Magee originally set her career high with six blocks against Nicholls State on Sept. 5, then eclipsed that mark with seven against No. 9 UCLA on Sept. 12.  She raised the bar higher on Oct. 1 against Texas A&M, when she connected for eight blocks, her new career high.

?AND BIG HITTER
In addition to her blocking capabilities, Brandy Magee has also come on as one of the Longhorns' attack options.  In the team's 3-0 victory over Houston (Sept. 26), Magee recorded a career-high 16 kills on 26 attempts.  She had three errors on the night and finished with a .500 attack percentage.  She added four blocks in that match as well.  Magee has recorded eight double-digit kill matches in her young career, most recently on Saturday, Oct. 18, against Texas Tech, when she recorded 10 kills.

RECORD DAYS
Junior outside hitter Mira Topic tied her own school-record with 32 kills in Texas' four-game win over UT-Arlington on Sept. 11.  Topic- a 2002 All-American and All-Big 12 honoree - amassed her kill total on 53 attempts and finished the game with a .528 attack percentage.  Not to be outdone by her teammate, Bethany Howden matched Topic's record with 32 kills in the team's 3-1 loss at Iowa State on Nov. 2.  Howden's total came on 64 attempts and she finished the night with a .344 attack percentage.  Both women tied Topic's original record, which she set against Kansas on Nov. 17, 2001 in her freshman season.  Topic also holds the fourth-place performance in a four-game match with 31, which she accomplished against Colorado on Nov. 6 last season.  Across all matches, Topic holds four of the top five performances, including a 35-kill match against Texas Tech on Oct. 31, 2001.

WEEKLY LEAGUE HONOREES
Juniors Mira Topic and Bethany Howden have each been named Big 12 Conference Volleyball Player of the Week earlier this season.  Topic received the honor on Oct. 20 and Howden was selected on Nov. 3.  Topic was so honored after posting her seventh double-double of the season with 20 kills and a season high of 18 digs in the team's near upset of No. 8 Kansas State on Oct. 15. Along with the double-double, Topic added four aces and four blocks. Against Texas Tech the following Saturday, she accumulated 14 kills and nine digs, barely missing another double-double for the week. She recorded a career high of four solo blocks in the match and hit for .370 on 27 attempts.   Howden earned her player of the week nod after she hit a game-high 28 kills in the team's win over No. 24 Missouri on Oct. 29.  She also added eight digs, four blocks (three solo and one assisted) and one ace.  Against Iowa State the following Sunday, Howden posted a career-high, and a match-high, 32 kills, tying teammate Mira Topic's UT record for kills in a four-game match.  She tallied 11 of the team's 22 kills in game three.

THEY'RE TALL IN TEXAS
According to research done at richkern.com, Texas has the third-tallest volleyball team in Division I, behind Louisville and Illinois.  The Longhorns, who as a team average just under 6-1, trail the Cardinals who average just over 6-1, and the Illini who average 6-1.  Pepperdine and Stanford round out the top five tallest teams.

RECRUITING NEWS
In its October issue, Volleyball Magazine released its rankings of the recruiting classes who entered school this past fall.  Texas' freshman class of setter Jenny Andrew, middle blocker Leticia Armstrong (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart), opposite hitter Jessica Curtis and middle blocker Brandy Magee was rated second, behind Stanford.

FAMOUS FAMILIES
Several of the Longhorns' family members have also made names for themselves in the sporting world.  Jenny Andrew's cousin, Gil Meche, is a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners.  Bethany Howden is a second-generation Longhorn as her father - Lynn - was a star on the Texas men's basketball teams in the early 1970's and still holds the UT single-game rebounding record (24).  And though not immediate family members, Jessica Curtis' close family friends whom she considers family - Jason (New Jersey Nets) and Jaron (Utah Jazz) Collins - play professional basketball in the NBA.

ALL-TOURNAMENT PERFORMERS
Three Longhorns were selected to the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational All-Tournament team on Sept. 12.  Freshmen setter Jenny Andrew and middle blocker Brandy Magee, along with junior outside hitter Bethany Howden, were chosen to the squad after posting the team's best performances in the round-robin tournament.  At the Longhorn Classic the week prior, Mira Topic and Andrew were both selected to the All-Tournament team.

FAB 50 BECOME FAB LONGHORNS
The Longhorns boast six players who were chosen to the Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 list of high school seniors.  Juniors Kathy Hahn and Bethany Howden, as well as all four of this year's freshmen (Jenny Andrew, Leticia Armstrong, Jessica Curtis and Brandy Magee) all received the honor in their final year of high school play.

30th YEAR OF LONGHORN VOLLEYBALL
The Longhorns kicked off the 30th year of Texas volleyball when they took the court at the Mizuno Invitational in late August.  With its 11-12 start, the squad has an all-time record of 832-318-14 (.721) in 1,164 matches.  UT has had 29 winning seasons and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 20 times, including 18 straight years from 1982-1999, and 2001-2002.  The Longhorns were the 1988 National Champions.

LONGHORNS HAVE LOYAL FANS
Texas' fans are some of the most loyal in the country, according to figures compiled weekly by the sports information department at the University of Wisconsin.  The Longhorns are currently averaging 1,546 fans per match at Gregory Gym, ranking 17th nationally.  Hawai'i leads the country with an average of 7,214.  There are 29 teams nationally that average 1,000 or more fans per match.  Additionally, all but one of Texas' matches - a 10 a.m. contest against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 11 - have attracted 1,000 or more fans.  In total, 13 of UT's 14 home dates are listed among the top crowds in the country.

UP NEXT
Texas will remain on the road for its next match when the team takes on Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 15, in a 7 p.m. match in Waco.  Earlier this season, Texas defeated the Bears, 3-1, in Gregory Gym.