Match times set for Green Bay Volleyball Regional
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AUSTIN, Texas - The sixth-seeded and 10th-ranked Texas Volleyball team (26-4) will face 11th-seeded and sixth-ranked Stanford (26-6) on Friday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. Central in the Sweet 16 of the Green Bay Regional of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. All matches at the Green Bay Regional will be played at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisc.
One of the marquee match-ups in the Sweet 16, Texas and Stanford will play for the right to face the winner of the other regional semifinal featuring third-seeded and second-ranked Hawaii (30-0) and 14th-seeded and 22nd-ranked Wisconsin (21-9), which will be played immediately following the Horns' and Cardinal tilt on Friday.
The winners of both regional semifinals will meet on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 3 p.m. Central in a match that will be aired live on CSTV.
Texas and Stanford, two of the storied programs in women's collegiate volleyball, will meet for the 21st time and for the fifth time in NCAA Tournament play. Stanford holds a 13-7 advantage in the all-time series, but the two squads are all squared in postseason play with each team winning twice.
In the teams' last meeting - on Sept. 7, 2001 in College Station, Texas at Texas A&M's Verizon Invitational - Stanford topped UT, 3-0 (30-21, 30-20, 30-17), in head coach Jerritt Elliott's first season at the helm of the Longhorns' program.
However, in the teams' last meeting in postseason play, Texas bested Stanford, 3-1 (16-14, 15-5, 4-15, 16-14), in the 1998 Mountain Regional Sweet 16 match in Long Beach, Calif., the site of the 2004 NCAA Volleyball Final Four.
UT and Stanford feature two of the nation's best players, both of whom are considered front-runners for National Player of the Year honors. Texas' Mira Topic, the Big 12 Player of the Year and Texas career kills leader, will go head-to-head with Stanford's senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani, the Pac 10 Player of the Year, Academic All-America of the Year and 2004 U.S. Olympian. Topic is seventh nationally in kills per game with a 5.65 mark, while Ogonna is just ahead of Topic in fourth place with a 5.88 average. Topic is hitting .312 on the season and Ogonna is connecting for a .338 mark.
Another curious storyline for the match is that both team have freshmen starting at setter. Texas' Michelle Moriarty averages 13.14 assists per game, while Stanford's Bryn Kehoe has a 12.11 mark. Additionally, Texas is hitting .309 on the year, while Stanford is swinging for a .288 average.
Also looking to continue to make a significant impact as her Texas career winds down is UT senior middle blocker Bethany Howden, who leads the team in hitting with a .375 mark and who averages 4.02 kills per game. Howden, a three-time first-team All-Big 12 honoree and 2003 All-American, is also a leading candidate for All-America honors again in 2004.
Additionally, a pair of sophomores are heating up just in time for a strong postseason run for Texas. Opposite hitter Dariam Acevedo is averaging 2.71 kills per game in the NCAA Tournament - almost a full kill more per game than her season average - while hitting .349. Middle blocker Brandy Magee has stepped up, as well, connecting for 3.57 kills per game and is hitting a blazing .536 in the Horns' pair of NCAA matches.
A live Internet broadcast of the Texas-Stanford match will be available at TexasSports.com, and live stats will be streamed at NCAASports.com.
