8/29/03
St. Mary's (Calif.) 3, No. 23 Texas 0
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- St. Mary's (Calif.) spoiled the No. 23 Texas volleyball team's 2003 season opener, upsetting the Longhorns, 3-0 (30-26, 33-31, 30-28), in the first match of the 2003 Mizuno Invitational at The Pyramid, hosted by Long Beach State, on Friday evening.
Although they dropped the first game, the Longhorns came out hitting well, recording a .300 hitting percentage. UT scored 14 kills to just five errors in the first stanza. However, the Gaels came out stronger, hitting .378 (19-5-37) to take the game. Both teams' hitting percentages suffered in games two and three as both clubs hit under .100.
Senior All-American Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor), the Longhorn's 6-3 outside hitter, led Texas (0-1) with 14 kills. UT committed 28 errors for a .108 attack percentage on the evening. Senior Kathryn Wilson (Macomb Township, Mich./Dakota) finished with nine kills and led the team by hitting .412, while freshman Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) and junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) added six kills apiece. Texas was able to out-dig the Gaels 58-46, as freshman Jenny Andrew (Houston, Texas/Kingwood) and sophomore Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) both contributed 12 digs each.
Texas started three freshmen in the match - Andrew, Jessica Curtis (Marietta, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain) and Magee - and rotated in two defensive specialists (senior captain Whitney Garvens (New Braunfels, Texas/New Braunfels and Larson).
Jill Parmele led the Gaels (1-0) with 15 kills as SMC registered 26 block assists, and 46 digs. Stacey O'Connor registered nine kills and six blocks, plus hit .316, while Lindsey Bogason added nine kills and four blocks.
Texas will take the court again on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 9:30 (Central) against No. 16 Long Beach State in the final match of the Mizuno Invitational. A live Internet broadcast of the game can be accessed longbeachstate.com.
