12/4/04

Volleyball Preview: NCAA Tournament Second Round

	Complete Version
	Purchase at TexasBoxOffice.com
	NCAASports.com
	Live Audio

Gregory Gym - Austin, Texas
Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are available online at TexasBoxOffice.com, at the Bellmont Hall Ticket Office and by phone (512-471-3333) starting Monday, Nov. 29. The Gregory Gym ticket windows open at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3.

All-Session Ticket Package - Includes all three matches
Reserved Adult Ticket Package: $18
Reserved Student & Senior Citizen Ticket Package: $12
General Admission Adult Ticket Package: $12
General Admission Student, Youth & Senior Citizen Ticket Package: $6

Single Day Tickets
Reserved: $10
General Admission Adult: $7
General Admission Student & Senior Citizen: $5

NCAA Quick Sets
Texas is the No. 6 seed nationally and is in the Green Bay, Wisconsin Regional Bracket ... other seeded teams in the Green Bay Regional bracket include No. 3 Hawaii, No. 11 Stanford and No. 14 Wisconsin, all of whom advanced to the second round, and Hawaii has already moved on to the Sweet 16.

After missing the tournament in 2003 for just the second time in program history, Texas is participating in its 21st NCAA Tournament, the fourth-most appearances across the country ... beginning in 1982 - the team's first NCAA Tournament - Texas advanced to 18-straight tournaments.

A win against Michigan tonight would send the Horns to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998.

2004 marks the 15th time Texas has hosted first- and second-round matches and the first time since 1999.

Texas is 44-19 overall in NCAA Tournament matches and 31-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches played in Austin.

UT is undefeated in opening round action, going 19-0 in first-round matches and 21-0 overall in opening-round matches. UT has never failed to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns are one of just three schools located east of California to win an NCAA Championship (1988), joining Nebraska (1995, 2000) and Penn State (1999).

Of the seven Big 12 teams (Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Kansas, Colorado) selected to play in the tournament, six advanced to the second round.

Texas Quick Sets
With 25 victories, Texas has collected the most victories in a season since 1998 when the team went 27-5 and was a NCAA Regional finalist.

Four players were honored with Big 12 all-conference honors: Mira Topic and Bethany Howden were First-Team selections; Brandy Magee and Michelle Moriarty were Honorable Mention honorees; Topic was the Player of the Year; Dariam Acevedo was the Newcomer of the Year and Jerritt Elliott was Coach of the Year.

Texas is fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (NCAA Stats release, 11/30/04), with a .310 mark through last week, and is ranked 13th in kills per game (17.07) and 11th in assists per game (15.65) with a freshman - Michelle Moriarty - leading the offense at setter ... Moriarty is now ranked 26th nationally in assists/game (13.07).

2004 Big 12 Player of the Year Mira Topic is ranked seventh nationally - and leads the Big 12 - in kills/game ... she has collected 500 or more kills for the third time in her career, as she had 534 as a freshman and 523 as a sophomore ... she currently has 554 kills as a senior ... Topic is the only player in UT history to collect 500+ kills in three seasons.

Bethany Howden earned her third First Team All-Big 12 honor and has racked up 394 kills this season, surpassing the 1,400-, 1,500-, 1,600- and 1,700-kill marks this season ... she is hitting a team-best .388, is ranked 23rd nationally in the category (as of Nov. 23).

Brandy Magee collected her 500th career kill on Friday evening and now has 501 in her two-year career.

HOWDEN'S HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Besides collecting 14 kills on Friday in the Longhorns' 3-0 first-round victory over Texas State, senior captain Bethany Howden also had another reason to celebrate ... Friday was also Howden's 22nd birthday.

TOPIC'S BUSY SATURDAY
Senior All-American Mira Topic had a busy Saturday schedule, and head coach Jerritt Elliott couldn't be too upset if she were to miss the team's serve and pass practice at 2 p.m. ... at noon, Topic was going to attend her graduation ceremony at the Frank Erwin Center as she finished her course of study in three-and-a-half years ...her parents Ante and Olga are in Austin to not only see their second daughter earn her degree in corporate communications, but also be in attendance as she tries to help the Horns advance to the Sweet 16 later in the evening when the team takes on Michigan at 6:30 p.m.

HEAD COACH JERRITT ELLIOTT
Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his fourth season at the helm of the Longhorns Volleyball program ... Elliott has compiled a record of 80-41 (.661) at Texas to go with his five-year career record of 130-52 (.714) ... with a 3-0 victory over Texas Tech on Oct. 18, 2003, Elliott recorded both his 100th career victory and his 50th career UT victory ... Elliott coached his 100th match at Texas on Sept. 15, 2003 at Baylor ... he earned 2004 Big 12 Coach of the Year honors and has a total of three conference coach of the year accolades (1999 & 2000 Pac-10 Coach of the Year)

TOPIC PASSES CAREER KILLS RECORD ...
Mira Topic became Texas' career kills leader in Texas' match against Kansas on Wednesday, Nov. 17, passing Dee Sance's school record 2,013 ... she entered the game needing 10 kills to tie the record and 11 kils to pass it, but she collected 23 kills in the match ... Topic now has 2,059 kills in her career.

AND COULD SET SINGLE-SEASON KILLS RECORD
In addition to setting the Texas career kills record earlier this season, Mira Topic could set the single-season kills record in tonight's match against Michigan ... the record was set by Dee Sance in 1995 when, as a freshman, she swung for 565 kills ... Topic now has 554 kills this season and is 11 shy of tying the record.

WINNING ADVANTAGE TO STAY AT HOME
In the calendar year 2004, Texas teams are a combined 11-1 in NCAA Tournament games held at The University of Texas facilities ... the baseball team went 5-0 (3-0 in Regionals, 2-0 in Super Regionals at Disch-Falk Field) ... women's basketball went 2-0 (NCAA First and Second Rounds at the Frank Erwin Center) ...soccer went 2-0 (First and Second Rounds at Mike A. Myers Stadium) ... women's tennis went 1-1 (First and Second Rounds at the Penick Tennis Center) ... volleyball is 1-0 so far ... additionally, the women's track team earned a fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championships held at Myers Stadium and the men's track team finished tied for 23rd at the same event.

TEXAS VS. MICHIGAN
All-Time Series Record: Texas leads, 1-0 (neutral meeting)
Series Streaks: UT won the only meeting
Last Meeting: December 10, 1981 in Tallahasse, Fla.; UT won 3-0 (15-6,15-7,15-10)
Last UT victory: Same
Last Michigan victory: None
Elliott vs. Michigan: 0-0

MICHIGAN QUICK FACTS
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Enrollment: 38,248
Conference: Big Ten
Nickname: Wolverines
Colors: Maize and Blue
Head Coach: Mark Rosen (Cal State Northridge)
2004 Record: 19-12
2004 Conference Record: 9-11 (Sixth)
How they earned their bid: At-Large