11/16/04
Volleyball Preview: Kansas
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Match #25
No. 11 Texas (21-3, 13-3 Big 12) vs.
Kansas (15-10, 6-10 Big 12)
When: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Austin, Texas (Gregory Gym; capacity: 4,400)
All-Time Series Record: Texas leads, 16-4 (7-1 home, 6-3 away, 3-0
neutral)
Series Streaks: Texas won the meeting earlier this year after Kansas
had won the prior three meetings
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2004 in Lawrence: UT defeated KU, 3-0 (30-24,
30-20, 30-15)
Last UT victory: See last meeting
Last KU victory: Nov. 8, 2003 in Austin: KU won, 3-2 (26-30, 28-30,
30-16, 30-21, 15-9)
Elliott vs. Kansas: 3-4
QUICK SETS
Texas
fell out of the top 10 this week, slipping to No. 11 after a 1-1 week
that saw the team top No. 13 Texas A&M, 3-2, at home on Thursday,
and fall at Missouri (3-1) on Sunday ... UT was ranked No. 10 in last
week‚s Volleyball Magazine poll.
Mira
Topic is now just 11 kills away from eclipsing the Texas career kills
mark, currently held by Dee Sance (2,013) ... Topic has 2,003 kills
after a pair of 30-kill matches last week ... she became just the third
player in the history of the Big 12 Conference (Baylor‚s
Elisha Polk, 1996-99, 2,272 kills; and Sance, 1995-98, 2,103 kills)
to record 2,000 career kills.
Mira
Topic earned her fourth Big 12 Player of the Week honor of the year
after her pair of 30-kill, double-double performances last week ...
she became the first player in league history to earn the volleyball
weekly honor four times in one season.
Texas
is third in the nation in hitting percentage (NCAA Stats release, 11/16/04),
with a .314 mark through last week, and is ranked ninth in kills per
game (17.33) and eighth in assists per game (15.90) with a freshman
- Michelle Moriarty - leading the offense at setter.
Mira
Topic is ranked fourth nationally - and leads the Big 12 in both overall
and conference only - in kills/game ... she in on track to collect
500 or more kills for the third time in her career, as she had 534
as a freshman and 523 as a sophomore.
Bethany
Howden has racked up 325 kills this season and has surpassed the 1,400-,
1,500-, 1,600- and 1,700-kill marks this season ... she is hitting
a team-best .382, is ranked 28th nationall in the category and is second
in the Big 12 in both overall matches and conference only matches.
Dariam
Acevedo has earned Big 12 All-Academic First Team honors, marking the
first time in her career she has been honored academically by the conference
... she is an education major and carried a 3.70 grade point average.
Texas
is ranked eighth nationally in attendance and issecond in the Big 12
in attendance behind Nebraska ... the Horns currently average 1,900
fans per game and recently saw the fifth-largest crowd ever at Gregory
Gym -- 3,608 -- when the team defeated Texas A&M, 3-2,
on Nov. 11.
UT
has limited it opponents to a hitting percentage under .250 in 21 of
its 24 matches, including seven matches where the team has held its
opponents below .100 ... the only teams that has hit better than .250
against UT is Texas A&M, which hit .257
and .303 in two matches this season against the Horns, and Missouri
(.315) in Columbia ... offensively, Texas has hit for an attack percentage
of .350 or higher in 12 of 24 matches this season, including five
matches of .400 or higher.
UT
has won 17 of its 21 victories matches by 3-0 scores, and has won 67
games to its opponents‚ 15 in 2004
... Texas has limited opponents to 19 or fewer points in 30 games
this season ... UT managed the feat in only eight games in 2003.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Kansas is in seventh place in the Big 12 with a 6-10 record, after opening its
season with an 8-0 non-conference record and moving as high as No. 21 in the
polls ... KU‚s conference wins have come against Texas Tech, Iowa State
(twice), Oklahoma (twice) and Baylor ... as a team, the Jayhawks are hitting
.208, led by Ashley Michaels‚ .276 mark ... Josi Lima averages 3.48 kills/game
and is one of five players to record 100+ kills as she has a team-best 195 ...
opponents have out-blocked KU by a 200.5 to 119.0 margin.
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KANSAS QUICK FACTS Location: Lawrence, Kan. Nickname: Jayhawks Colors: Crimson and blue Head Coach: Ray Bechard (Fort Hays State '80) 2003 Record: 22-11 2003 Big 12 Record (Finish): 13-7 (tied for third) NCAA Postseason: NCAA Second Round |
