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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The seventh-ranked Texas Volleyball team used a 20-kill performance by freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette to knock off Texas A&M, 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 20-25) Wednesday night in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. The victory gave Texas the first half-point of the rivalry series for 2007.

The Longhorns fifth straight victory moved Texas to 9-3 on the year and 5-1 in Big 12 play and Texas A&M fell to 12-5 overall and 2-5 in league play. Faucette anchored the Texas attack which hit .352 on the night and out-hit the Aggies by more than 100 points. Sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker and junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini added 13 kills apiece for UT, while Faucette added 11 digs for her third career kill/dig double-double.

Texas A&M jumped out to an early in advantage in game one on a pair of stuff blocks, but Texas rallied back, putting together a 3-0 run highlighted by a Faucette/Paolini block that gave UT a 7-6 lead. The Aggies regained the edge briefly, but the Longhorns took advantage of a pair of A&M errors at the 13-13 mark to forge ahead 15-13. Faucette helped Texas extend its lead with a pair of kills and block as part of a 3-0 run that moved the score to 19-15. Texas A&M rallied back to within two points at the 26-24 mark, but Faucette answered with two kills down the stretch and led UT to a 30-25 game one victory.

After putting together a 4-0 run and grabbing a 7-4 lead to start the second game, the Longhorns allowed the Aggies to take the lead a 12-11 mark. Texas managed to tie the game at 12, but could not close the gap until it went on 7-2 run and took a 21-19 edge. Hooker paced the rally with two kills, while Faucette and Paolini each added a kill. The Aggies battled back to claim a 25-24 lead, however, Hooker and the Longhorns would prove to be too much, connecting for two blocks and a pair of kills late in the frame to lift UT to a 30-28 win.

In the third game, Texas claimed a 4-3 lead on a service ace by junior defensive specialist Kiley Hall and it would not look back. Texas A&M rallied to tie the game at nine, but UT responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by two kills from senior middle blocker Brandy Magee to take a  16-9 lead. The Longhorns widened the margin to 10 at the 23-13 mark, using two kills by Faucette and closed out the game, 30-25 on her 20th kill of the match. 

Faucette hit .395 for the match and recorded 22 points, while Paolini hit at a blistering .611 clip and recorded 13 kills. Hooker added 13 kills on the night and senior setter Michelle Moriarty recorded her fourth assist/dig double-double of the season with 57 assists and 12 digs.

Texas returns to action Saturday, Oct. 6 when it travels to Manhattan, Kan. to take on No. 17 Kansas State. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m.

POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS HEAD COACH Jerritt Elliott
On the match: It was definitely not an easy win. Texas A&M was close in game one and they were up in game two, but fortunately for us we were able to take advantage of the chances we had. So far this season we have not had our entire lineup, but now we are finally getting all the pieces in place. We have moved Lauren (Paolini) to the middle and she is playing well, but the key for us now is finding a rhythm for our defense and making adjustments so we can have the best defensive numbers possible. I like where our team is at. We are very athletic and we are committed to one another and we play very hard.

On his team's strong rally in game two: We ran a great blocking scheme and we really keyed on Jillian Phillips. I thought we really smoothed things out late in the game and Destinee (Hooker) had a couple of big swings for us to close out the game.

SOPHOMORE OUTSIDE HITTER Destinee Hooker
On Texas turning on the intensity late in the match: I think the turning point was when coach Elliott brought us together as a team during a timeout and he told us to shake off the bad things that were happening. Michelle (Moriarty) told me to get up and she would get me the ball and Alyson (Jennings) told me that she had my back and to go ahead and put it down.