5/25/04

Trio of double-figure hitter lead Texas volleyball to 3-0 win in Europe

RAVENNA, Italy - The Texas volleyball team improved to 3-0 on its European tour with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-28, 32-30) victory over Ravenna U-19 on Monday evening. Behind the double-figure fill performances of junior Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia), junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas) and freshman Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif.), the Longhorns won their third-straight match over foreign opponents.

Topic recorded a team-high 12 kills, followed by Howden's 11 kills and team-high four blocks. Magee added 10 kills and three blocks in the victory.

"I thought our club showed good team unity tonight," Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said. "We worked hard to get a 3-0 victory, which was one of our goals coming into the match. Especially after that last game where we went back-and-forth into the 30's (in points), we showed that we have the grit and patience that goes along with having game experience.

"Jessica Curtis has been showing us some great things this trip, and she's been making plays she's never made before. I also think Jen Christian had a great match on the outside, and Erin Larson found some great consistency on the court tonight," Elliott concluded.

Curtis finished the game with three kills, one assist and three blocks, including two solo efforts. Christian had six kills and three blocks, while Larson had four digs and four aces while scoring seven straight points on serve in the second game.

In the first game, the two teams battled back and forth until Texas managed to capture the final two points of the game after being tied 23-23. A Ravenna service error put the Horns up 24-23 before Howden's kill have Texas the game and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second game played out much like the first until Larson stepped to the line and helped UT run off seven-straight points on her serve to stake the Longhorns to a 18-11 lead. After back-to-back kills by Magee to put UT ahead 21-14, UT used a 4-2 run, including the game-winning kill by Curtis, to take the game and a 2-0 lead.

In t he final game, neither team could control play with the squads battling past the regulation 25 points until Topic was able to connect for back-to-back kills to put Texas ahead 32-30 for the game and match. Texas did hold a 17-14 lead in the game, but Ravenna ran off a 6-1 run to pull ahead 20-18 before the Horns could come back to tie the game at 23-23 and force the extra points.

After traveling to Venice on Tuesday, the team will leave Italy and head to Austria where the team will stay in Innsbruck for two nights and face TC Tirol on Thurdsday evening.