11/20/03

Volleyball Preview: Oklahoma

Complete Preview

Match 27: Texas (12-14, 7-10) vs. Oklahoma (11-18, 3-14)
When: Saturday, Nov. 22 (7 p.m.)
Where: Gregory Gym (4,400) - Austin, Texas
Series vs. Oklahoma: Texas leads the overall series, 24-0, including a 12-0 mark at home
Last meeting: Texas defeated Oklahoma, 3-0, on Sept. 24 in Norman, Okla. 
Streak: Texas has won all 24 meetings between the two schools
Live Stats: Click here
Audio broadcast: Click here
Television: KVR-TV (Texas' student television station) will televise the game live
Game promotions: Match is presented by University Federal Credit Union; Camper Reunion - Texas volleyball campers receive FREE admission if wearing their camp t-shirt.

THE LONGHORNS IN BRIEF
Texas enters Saturday's (Nov. 22) match against Oklahoma with a 12-14 record overall and a 7-10 mark in Big 12 play.  The team is in seventh place in the Big 12 standings.  Wednesday (Nov. 19), the Longhorns fell to Colorado, 3-0, in Austin.  UT is 3-7 in the team's last 10 matches. At home, Texas has been strong, earning a 10-5 record. Junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) leads the team with 454 kills (4.78/game).  Junior All-American Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) is second on the team in both kills (424, 4.46/game) and digs (271, 2.85/game) and has also added a team-leading 49 service aces.  Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) tops the team in hitting percentage (.344) and blocks (82).  She has also added 188 kills (2.24/game).  Freshman Jenny Andrew (Houston, Texas/Kingwood) is the team's only setter and has 1,136 assists, and is second on the team in blocks with 69, while sophomore defensive specialist Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) has 317 digs (3.34/game) to lead the team.  Overall, the team is out-hitting opponents, .249 to .230, and out-blocking its opponents, 241.5 to 166.5.

OKLAHOMA IN BRIEF
Oklahoma enters Saturday's match with an 11-18 overall record and a 3-14 mark in Big 12 play.  The team is currently in 10th place in the Big 12 standings.  On Wednesday, OU lost, 3-0, to No. 5 Kansas State in Norman.  The Sooners are 1-5 in their last six matches and 2-11 in their last 13.  A total of six players have recorded 100 or more kills this season, led by freshman outside hitter Joanna Schmitt, who had 459 (4.33/game).  Sophomore outside hitter Sheena Werilng (236) senior outside hitter Christina Maynes (203) each have more than 200 kills for head coach Kalani Mahi's squad.  Defensively, Schmitt also leads the team with 293 digs (2.76/game), while sophomore middle Jennifer Adams has the team's most blocks with 97.  Junior middle Keri Coates had a team-high 32 aces, while setter Rachel Jackson has 822 assists.

AGAINST THE SOONERS
Texas has never lost to Oklahoma, as the Horns lead the all-time series 24-0.  The teams first met on Oct. 25, 1975.  Only eight matches have gone more than three games.  The Longhorns have a 12-0 record at home against Oklahoma, and a 9-0 record on the road.  The teams have met three times on neutral courts.  Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott is 5-0 against Oklahoma.

LAST MEETING WITH OKLAHOMA
Texas defeated Oklahoma, 3-0, on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at McCasland Fieldhouse in Norman, Okla.  Texas battled from behind in each of the first two games - from 14-9 in the first game and a 13-7 in the second - to secure a 2-0 lead.  In the third game, the two teams played evenly until UT used a 12-2 run to close the match.  Mira Topic had 13 kills to the Longhorns, while Bethany Howden had 12 and Kathy Hahn added nine.  Three UT freshmen --Jenny Andrew, Jessica Curtis and Brandy Magee - each had four blocks to pace the team at the net.

LAST TIME OUT
Behind 16 kills and a .462 hitting percentage from Maragda Santillana, Colorado defeated Texas, 3-0, in Big 12 volleyball action on Wednesday night before 1,471 fans at Gregory Gym. Texas held an 11-4 lead in the final game, and continued to lead at 26-21 as the game wound down, but Colorado rallied with an 11-4 run to close out the third game and the match (32-30, 30-24, 32-30).  Bethany Howden had a game-high 17 kills, and Mira Topic had her 12th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs. For the Buffaloes, Santillana paced the offense with 16 kills, while Nicole Carr had 15 and Monique Gerlach had 12. Gerlach also added five blocks, while Brandy Magee added four to lead UT. Overall, Colorado hit for .366 and limited Texas to a .204 mark.

STUDENT-ATHLETES HONORS BY BIG 12
Four Longhorns were recently named to the Academic All-Big 12 Conference Team.  Senior Whitney Garvens and sophomore Erin Larson were first-team honorees, while junior Mira Topic and senior Kathryn Wilson were second-team selections.  The volleyball academic all-league squad consisted of 42 first-team members and  eight second-team members. First-team members are those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, while the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.  To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 average or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests.

TOPIC NOW AIMING AT NO. 1
Mira Topic currently sits in second place with 1,481 career kills and is now 572 kills away from first-place Dee Sance (1995-1988), who had 2,013 during her career at UT.  With three matches in the 2003 season and her entire senior season remaining, Topic has the opportunity to establish a new career kills record.  For her career, Topic has averaged 4.67 kills/game.

QUICK PROGRESSION
Mira Topic has made a rapid accession up the Texas career kills chart, moving from outside the top 10 at the start the season to her current position of second place.  Below is a timeline of her milestone matches this season:

Date, Opponent      place moved into (no. of kills)
Sept. 5 vs. Nicholls State      10th (1,128)
Sept. 11 vs. UT-Arlington  seventh (1,175)
Sept. 26 vs. Houston    sixth (1,240)
Oct. 15 at Kansas State   fourth (1,322)
Nov. 2 at Iowa State     third (1,409)
Nov. 15 at Baylor second (1,467)

TOPIC'S COUNTDOWN TO 500 IS ON
In each of her first two years at Texas, Mira Topic has recorded 500 or more kills and became the first Longhorn to have back-to-back 500-kill seasons as a freshman and sophomore.  This season, Topic has 424 kills with three matches remaining and is looking to become the first UT player to have three 500+ kill seasons to open her career.  To accomplish the feat, Topic must average 25.0 kills/match in the remaining three matches.  In Texas' last six matches, Topic has recorded 117 kills for an average of 19.5 kills/match.  In four of those six matches, she registered 20 or more kills, including a high of 25.

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 fifth place with 1,336 kills. In the team's 3-0 victory at Baylor on Nov. 15, Howden recorded 14 kills to move past both sixth-place Janine Gremmel (1,306) and fifth-place Dawn Davenport (1,310).  Howden is now 72 kills away from fourth-place Diane Watson (1983-1986), who had 1,408 in her career. 

HOWDEN JOINS SELECT CROWD
Bethany Howden has now accomplished what only four other players in Texas history have done: recorded a 30-kill match ? and she's done it more than once.  Howden is one of five Longhorns - joining Erin Aldrich, Dee Sance, Kathy Tilson and current UT junior-Mira Topic - who have recorded 30 or more kills in a match at Texas.  Ironically, with the exception of Tilson, all have connected for 30 kills more than one time, led by Topic's five occurrences.  This season alone, Topic has hit for 30 kills once and Howden twice for three of the school's 12 overall 30-kill matches. 

THOUGH, 30 KILLS NOT SO LUCKY
Twice this season, Bethany Howden has recorded 30 or more kills in a match, but neither time Texas was able to come away with a victory.  Against Iowa State on Nov. 2, Howden recorded a career-high and UT record 32 kills in the team's 3-0 loss to the Cyclones.  She also recorded 30 kills at the team's 3-2 loss at No. 10 Nebraska on Nov. 12.

UP NEXT
Texas will travel to Lubbock, Texas to face the Red Raiders in a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at the United Spirit Arena.  Earlier this season, Texas defeated Tech, 3-0, in Austin on Oct. 18.