10/4/03

Colorado 3, Texas 0

» Box score

BOULDER, Colo. - The University of Texas volleyball team fell to Colorado, 3-0, on Saturday night in a Big 12 Conference match. CU defeated the Longhorns - 32-30, 30-28, 30-26 - before 971 fans at the Coors Events Center. The Buffaloes used the momentum from a 32-30 victory in the first game to carry them through the rest of the match.
The Longhorns had a better hitting percentage than Colorado, .298 to .261, and dominated the net, but the Buffaloes had three players with double-figure kills to help propel them past the visitors.

Texas (8-6, 3-2 Big 12) hit .222 in the first game, slightly better than the Buffs' .218. Colorado (11-5, 3-3 Big 12), however, had 24 kills to UT's 15. After the two teams hit below .200 in the second game, both teams came out on fire in the third. Texas led with a .515 mark, bettering CU's .472. The two teams combined for 40 kills in the final game 20 for each team.

At the net, the Longhorns out-blocked Colorado, 13.0 to 4.0. Freshman setter Jenny Andrew (Houston, Texas/Kingwood) led the team with six blocks (all assisted), while juniors Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) and Kathy Hahn (Leander, Texas/Leander) added five. Howden's total included three solo blocks.

Howden had a game-high 20 kills on 40 attempts and closed the night with a .400 hitting percentage. Colorado responded with three hitters who recorded double-digit kills: Nicole Carr (16), Maragda Santillana (14) and Allie Griffin (12). Two Buffs - Allison Barnes (11) and Carr (10) - each had double-figure digs. Sophomore Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) had 11 digs for the Longhorns. Colorado recorded 11 service aces in the match, while Texas only was able to counter with one.

"We blocked well tonight," Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the match. "We had eight blocks in the first game. Our blocking is really start to come along and everyone is starting to chip in at the net, but our overall defensive effort has to improve. We had a little bit of a let down after the Texas A&M match. Tonight showed us how important it is to stay focused in back-to-back matches, especially in such a tough conference."

Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 8 when the team welcomes Baylor to Gregory Gym for a 7 p.m. match. Live stats and live Internet audio will be available at www.TexasSports.com. The match can also be found KVR-TV, UT's student station which is available in the Austin area on Time Warner Cable channel 16, dorm channel 15 and broadcast channel 9.