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Oct. 11, 2008

Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. -- The third-ranked Texas Volleyball team used a quartet of double-digit kill performances by its four All-Americans to down Colorado, 3-1, Saturday night at the Coors Events Center. The Longhorns' 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20 victory moved UT to 12-2 on the season and 6-1 in the Big 12, while the Buffaloes fell to 9-7 and 3-4 in league play.

Sophomore All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette led all Longhorns with 16 kills on .406 hitting, while junior All-America opposite hitter Ashley Engle tallied 15 kills, 10 digs and hit .367. Junior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker and senior All-America middle blocker Lauren Paolini recorded 14 kills each, with Hooker adding six total blocks.

In the first set, Texas leapt out to an early 13-8 lead behind three kills and a block assist by sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Doris. A 3-0 run fueled by kills from Doris and Hooker pushed the UT edge to 19-12. The Buffaloes rallied to narrow the margin to five (24-19), but a kill by Paolini ended the frame, 25-19.

After grabbing a 5-1 lead to start the second set, Hooker paced a 6-1 Texas run to push the Horns advantage to 17-10. Texas pushed its lead to 21-15, but Colorado responded with a 4-0 run that shrank the UT lead to two (21-19). The Longhorns maintained the advantage down the stretch and eventually closed out the set, 25-23 on a CU attack error.

In the third stanza, Texas claimed a 13-10 edge on a block by Doris and Hooker, but an 8-2 Colorado run paced by a pair of kills from opposite hitter Alex Buth put CU ahead, 19-16. The Longhorns rallied to close the margin to two (22-20) on a kill and an ace by Paolini, but the Buffs countered with a 3-1 run to close out the set, 25-21.

Texas rallied from behind in the fourth set, claiming its first lead on a Colorado hitting error at the 11-10 mark. Hooker headlined a 6-2 UT run to help the Horns push their lead to 19-15. The Longhorns followed with a 3-0 run capped by a Doris kill that moved the margin to 22-17. Hooker and Faucette put the exclamation point on the match with a solo block and kill, respectively that ended the set, 25-20.

The Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 15 when they travel to Texas A&M to take on the Aggies in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.

POST-MATCH NOTES
· Texas' victory improved the Longhorns all-time record against Colorado to 21-8. The Horns have now defeated the Buffs nine straight times.
· The Longhorns win pushed UT's season-best winning streak to six matches.
· Ashley Engle's 15-kill, 10-dig effort was her third kill/dig double-double of the season and the 26th of her career.
· The Longhorns out-hit the Buffaloes .329-to-.262 on the night

TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Jerritt Elliott
General statement: I thought our offensive rhythm was pretty good tonight. We played pretty smooth from the serve receive side and played good defense. Colorado was hot in game three and we made some adjustments on the defensive side and were able to come away with a tough Big 12 road win.

On Texas' comeback in the fourth set: We really adjusted well on the block in the fourth set, helping us to get some good touches. Those touches allowed us to get some good transition swings and put some nice runs together.

On the play of his hitters: Juliann (Faucette) is really starting to get into a rhythm and it is nice to get her going. Jen Doris is getting a little bit more involved and (Lauren) Paolini and Ashley (Engle) have been playing very steady for us.

On Lauren Paolini's performance in Big 12 play: Lauren is playing very well for us right now. She is very low error and she is making herself available on serve receive. She really has a good connection going right now with Michelle (Kocher) and that bodes well for her and our program.