MATCH #6: No. 7 TEXAS (4-1) vs. No. 4 SANTA CLARA (5-0)
When: Thursday, Sept. 7, 6:30 p.m. Central
Where: Austin, Texas (Gregory Gymnasium)
All-Time Series Record: First meeting between the two schools in volleyball
MATCH #7: No. 7 TEXAS vs. No. 2 PENN STATE (6-0)
When: Friday, Sept. 8, 6:30 p.m. Central
Where: Austin, Texas (Gregory Gymnasium)
Television: Broadcast nationally on CSTV
All-Time Series Record: Texas leads, 6-5 (0-2 home, 6-1 neutral, 0-2 away)
Last Meeting: Sept. 2, 2000; UT lost, 0-3 (13-15, 3-15, 10-15
· Texas returns to Austin this week for its first home matches of the 2006 campaign ... The Horns spent the first two weekends on the road, winning the AVCA Volleyball Showcase at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Aug. 25-26) and tallying a pair of victories at the Asics Classic at Pepperdine University (Sept. 1-2) ... The then ranke No. 8 Longhorns opened the season by defeating No. 9 Wisconsin - by a 3-0 count, before knocking off defending NCAA champion No. 3 Washington in an epic five-game battle ... This past weekend, Head Coach Jerritt Elliott's squad downed tournament host and 19th ranked Pepperdine 3-1 in game one of the Asics Classic before dropping their first contest of the season to Cal Poly, in a tightly contested five-game match ... Texas bounced back in its final match of the tournament to sweep Long Island, 3-0.
· Texas moved up to No. 7 in the latest CSTV/AVCA poll, released Monday, Sept. 4 ... The Longhorns began the 2006 campaign ranked 8th in the preseason poll, marking the team's highest preseason ranking since 1998 (No. 9).
· The Longhorns start the year with one of the toughest schedules nationally, as five of its first seven opponents are nationally ranked ... To date, UT is 3-0 against Top 25 opponents (defeating No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 3 Washington and No. 19 Pepperdine) befeore facing fourth-ranked Santa Clara and No. 2 Penn State this week. Last year, Texas compiled a 7-3 mark against top 25 foes (including a a 1-2 mark vs. top 10 teams)
· Junior setter Michelle Moriarty and senior outside hitter Dariam Acevedo earned spots on an all-tournament team for the second consecutive weekend, being named to the Asics Classic All-Tournament Team ... Moriarty recorded 161 assists over the weekend, good for a 13.42 assist-per-game average ... The junior setter also headlined the club with five service aces over the weekend, while adding six total blocks and 41 digs for the tournament ... Acevedo recorded a team best 55 kills (4.58 pg) on 134 attacks over the weekend and posted a .291 hitting percentage ... she added 31 digs and seven total blocks, including four block solos to her weekend performance.
· Leticia Armstrong, Dariam Acevedo and Michelle Moriarty were all named to the AVCA Volleyball Showcase All-Tournament Team, with Moriarty earning tournament MVP honors ... Armstrong posted a team-high .524 attack mark and nine total blocks for the tournament, while Acevedo's 35 kills and 4.38 kills per game average for the tournament equaled Destinee Hooker for the team best in each category ... Moriarty totaled 108 assists for the weekend (13.50 pg) and tallied 20 digs and six blocks, en-route to earning tournament MVP accolades ... For her efforts she was also selected the AVCA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week.
· Senior outside hitter Dariam Acevedo is the only Texas player to post double-digit kill totals in each of the Longhorns five matches ... Acevedo opened the season with a 16-kill outing against Wisconsin and a 19 kill tally against Washington ... in game one of the Asics Classic, she recorded a season-high 23 kills on 53 swings, en-route to posting a .353 attack mark ... the senior came back the next day to post a team-high 22 kills in the Horns' loss to Cal Poly and was the lone Longhorn in double figures against Long Island, with 10 kills.
