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No. 7 Volleyball advances to NCAA Second Round
AUSTIN, Texas -- Brandy Magee and Dariam Acevedo each recorded 12 kills to help seventh-ranked Texas sweep LSU 30-19, 30-28, 30-26 Friday at Gregory Gym to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the win, the Longhorns advance to Saturday's second round to face seventh-ranked Hawaii, which defeated Texas State 30-25, 30-28, 30-23 in Friday's first match. Texas (24-4) improved to 22-0 all-time in NCAA opening round matches and stands 11-0 at Gregory Gym on the year. The Longhorns have the opportunity to post an undefeated home record for the first time since 1998 with a victory over Hawaii Saturday evening. Magee hit .500 and had four blocks in the victory, while Acevedo hit .300 with nine digs and three aces. Leticia Armstrong had seven kills and four blocks and Lauren Paolini matched her career high with six blocks. A pair of LSU (21-8) players recorded double-figure kills as Marina Skender had 11 and Jelena Mijatovic had 10 despite hitting -.121. Skender added 10 digs to collect a double-double in the Tigers' season-ending loss. Texas held the Tigers to a .111 attack percentage, including sub-.100 marks in the first and third games. UT hit .242, but after hitting .500 in the first game, UT swung for marks of only .189 and .111 in the final two frames. Texas had nine blocks, besting LSU's six, while the Longhorns also had seven aces to the Tigers' two. LSU did out-dig the Horns, 40 to 38. Texas came out firing in the first game, hitting .500 with 15 kills with just two errors on 26 attacks. Acevedo had seven of her 12 kills in the game, going errorless on 10 attacks. The teams remained tied until 6-6 until UT went on a 7-1 run to move ahead for good. After LSU climbed within four points at 18-14, the Longhorns put down a 9-1 run behind Jen Christian's serve to push their advantage to 10 points. In the second game, UT jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but saw the Tigers rally to tie the score at 13-13. Back-to-back blocks put UT back ahead by two, but Skender had two kills in succession to retie the score. The team battled through 10 ties and lead changes before an Acevedo kill and LSU attack error that allowed UT to regain the lead for good. LSU opened took a quick 3-1 lead in game three, but UT rallied with five-straight points to move on top 6-3. Texas continued to control the game, although the Horns let LSU climb within one point at 13-12. Texas put together a 6-3 run to push its advantage to six points at 21-15. The Tigers got within three points at 24-21 but again saw Texas re-establish a six-point lead at 27-21. However, LSU rode Mijatovic down the stretch as she put down three kills to get the Tigers within points and kill off two UT match points to 29-26. However, Armstrong connected for a cross-court kill to end the match and send the Longhorns into the NCAA second round. POSTGAME QUOTES On the second round match vs. Hawaii... Michelle Moriarty--Sophomore Setter Brandy Magee--Junior Middle Blocker LSU On Texas' blocking schemes... On what Hawaii will need to do to win against Texas... Daniela Romero--Junior Setter POSTGAME NOTES LSU
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