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Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score | Photo gallery | Post-match video

AUSTIN, Texas -- The second-ranked and Big 12 Champion Texas Volleyball team wrapped up regular-season play with a 3-0 win over Kansas, Saturday night at Gregory Gymnasium. The Longhorns 25-20, 25-15, 25-19 victory on senior night improved UT to 24-1 on the year and 19-1 in Big 12 play, while the Jayhawks dropped to 16-14 overall and 8-12 in league action.

On senior night, Longhorn seniors Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker and Heather Kisner did not disappoint, capping off their four-year home career on an Engle to Hooker kill in the third set. Texas hit .526 on the night to equal the third-best single match hitting performance in program history.

Texas grabbed a 5-1 lead to start the first, but Kansas took advantage of a pair of UT service errors and narrowed the edge to 8-7. The Horns answered with a 5-1 run fueled by two kills from junior All-America outside/opposite hitter Juliann Faucette that put Texas ahead, 13-8. KU tied the set at 15 before two more kills by Faucette keyed a 4-0 run and forced set-point at 24-18. A Kansas service miscue eventually closed out the stanza 25-20.

Kansas kept the tally tight to start the second frame before a 7-0 Texas run headlined by three double-blocks by Faucette and sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams put UT in front 17-8. A triple-block by Faucette, Hooker and junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris pushed the lead to 20-10 and back-to-back kills by freshman utility Sha'Dare McNeal ended the set 25-15.

In the third, Texas jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and quickly pushed its lead to 9-3 on a service ace by Doris. Kansas rallied to close the margin to 9-7, but the Horns responded with kills from Engle and Doris to move the lead to 18-12. A solo block by Faucette pushed the tally to 22-15 and an Engle/Hooker hook-up ended the set 25-19.

Hooker headlined the Texas attack on the night with 14 kills on .522 hitting, while Faucette added 13 kills on .571 hitting and chipped in six total blocks. Engle dished out 25 assists and added five digs and three blocks in the victory. Doris connected for seven kills on eight swings and posted two service aces and a pair of blocks.

Texas now awaits its NCAA fate, which will be announced at 2 p.m. Central on Sunday, Nov. 29 on ESPNNews.

POST-MATCH NOTES
· Texas' win improves its all-time record against Kansas to 27-4.
· The Horns' win extended their home winning streak to 20 matches, dating back to Nov. 1, 2008.
· UT hit .526 in the match, equaling the third-best hitting mark in Texas history.
· The Longhorns out-blocked the Jayhawks 8.5-to-1.0 on the night and out-hit KU .526-to-.204.
· The 2009 senior class picked up its 104th career win against KU, tying for the most wins by a class during the Jerritt Elliott era.
· Texas received the 2009 Big 12 Championship trophy following its victory.

POST-MATCH QUOTES
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On the senior's performance tonight: It was great to be able to showcase our senior class in front of such a great crowd. They have done so much for this program. They returned the pride of Texas Volleyball. They have performed very well in order to win three Big 12 Championships and get back to the NCAA's. More importantly they are better people off the court, and the way that they represent this program has set what the standard will be for Texas Volleyball from here on out.

On the future for the team: We are going to work hard to reach the goal that we have all set, and that is to win the national championship.

On the road to this point: It has been a lot of work to get to this point and there were a lot of great players that bought in prior to them getting here, and I don't want to forget about those players. They created a path which gave Destinee (Hooker), Ashley (Engle) and Heather (Kisner) the confidence to come here, seeing that this program was on another level. This class was a huge get for us.

On this senior class: This class was a huge get for us. Nobody knew about Destinee. Heather we just fell in love with the first time we saw her moving around and throwing her body around. And Ashley everybody knew about, but to get her to come here instead of UCLA or a California school was a real confidence builder for everyone, and it had huge implications for getting Juliann (Faucette) and many of the other players we have. So the result of them was what you see on the court. They won the Big 12 outright and they want to take the final four, and there will be nothing more gratifying for me as a coach. We've been before, but this class wants it really bad and they have an opportunity to experience what that is like.

On the final match at home: It meant a lot. I have been trying to hold my emotions, trying to be the stronger one, but I sent them some texts and talked to them personally, because you lose that focus early in the season, but I really enjoy being around these seniors, they mean a lot to me. They are just great people and they will always be a part of my family's life and in a sense I think they have resurrected Texas Volleyball. I want to thank them for choosing Texas, and tell them how lucky myself and the staff have been to be able to coach them on a daily basis. And I want to thank them for how they have represented The University of Texas.

Senior setter Ashley Engle
On what the program has become over the last few years: I think the support from the city and the University in general has grown so much. We love playing here. The fact that tonight we had one of the largest crowds just felt great.

On winning the Big 12: The victory just shows that our hard work has been paying off, and that it was all worth it, up to this point

On the team's expectations post season: To an extent we have the same goals of ultimately winning the whole thing but with the seasons that we had and the experience that we have gained I think it is a different mentality. We are going to go in there and show everyone what we can do and we are really confident in the way that we've been playing so far.

Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker
On going to the NCAA tournament: Going into the tournament is familiar to us because we have been there three times and we know what it feels like to sit in that locker room after a loss. And I think because we have been through that, we are going to be able to step out on the court and really focus on our game.

Senior libero Heather Kisner
On winning the Big 12 outright: It definitely feels great. Knowing that we won the title outright and that we aren't sharing the title with anyone else is just so much greater.