5/22/04

Texas moves to 2-0 on European Tour

	Mira Topic

GROTTAZZOLINA, Italy - Behind a balanced attack, the Texas volleyball team defeated Auchan Ancona, a third-division club team, 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14), on Saturday night in the second game of the team’s European tour. All six attacking players who saw action each recorded at least six kills, while everyone chipped in on the defensive end.

Junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas) had a team-high 17 kills, and was followed by junior Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia), who added 14. Howden and Topic also paced the team at the net defensively, each collecting four blocks (one solo and three block assists) in the winning effort.

Freshman Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif.) had seven kills, while the freshman trio of Jenny Andrew (Kingwood, Texas), Jessica Curtis (Marietta, Ga.) and Jen Christian (Gilbert, Ariz.) each collected six kills.

Defensively, four players recorded four or more digs apiece, while the team had a total of nine blocks. Additionally, the Horns had 14 aces, including a game-high four from Howden on her jump serve.

“This was probably the best game I have seen our team play in various offensive and defensive systems since we came to Texas three years ago,” Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the match. “Everyone did what they were supposed to tonight and most of our errors came from trying to be aggressive and really dictate the pace of play.

“I was pleased with the play of both new players (Christian and freshman Sarah Holloway) as they are getting more and more comfortable in our system, and Jenny (Andrew) played much better tonight as the setter. I’m looking forward to seeing more and more progress from our team as we continue on this tour. So far, the benefit from our extra playing time has shown.”

Texas took a fast 2-0 lead in the game, winning game one by eight points and game two by four points.

In the opening game, UT benefited from a 5-0 run on Christian’s serve to put the game out of reach at 15-8. Howden was involved in four straight points in the run, collecting three kills and combining with Andrew for a block.

In the second game, Texas pulled ahead quickly, moving up by an 8-3 advantage before the team’s hosts pulled the game square at 10-10 and then again at 18-18. UT closed the game on a 7-3 run, including two more kills by Howden to stake itself to a 2-0 advantage.

Auchan took the third game after Texas held a 23-21 lead and scored the final four points of the game to pull within one game of Texas, 2-1.

In the final stanza, Auchan got as close as one point - trailing 6-5 - but Texas used a 4-0 run on Howden’s serve to pull ahead for good at 10-5. The last game saw UT punch out five aces, including the last two points of the game, both by Howden, while Topic had two kills in the team’s final 5-0 run to finish out the match.

The Longhorns, currently in Communanza, Italy (a village in the Marche Region of the country), will play again on Monday, May 24 against a team in the Pesaro area.