Volleyball preview: Kansas
MATCH #21: No.8 TEXAS (15-5, 10-3 Big 12) vs. Kansas (10-12, 3-10 Big 12) · At Wednesday's match against Kansas, The University of Texas is working together with the Capital Area Food Bank on a canned food drive ... All fans bringing a canned food item to the match will receive a free general admission ticket. · Texas remained at No. 8 in the latest CSTV/AVCA poll, released Monday, Oct. 30 ... UT has been ranked in the Top 10 of the poll in 9-of-10 weeks this season ... The Longhorns began the 2006 campaign ranked 8th in the preseason poll, marking the team's highest preseason ranking since 1998 (9) ... Texas earned its highest ranking in the poll Sept. 11 when it was voted No. 5, staying there for two weeks. · The Big 12 Conference named Destinee Hooker its co-player of the week Oct. 30 for the second straight week ... Hooker led UT to a pair of Big 12 road victories last week, posting 15 kills on .312 hitting in the Horns' 3-1 win over Texas Tech and 14 kills on .520 hitting to drop Colorado, 3-0 ... For the week Hooker averaged 4.83 kills per game, 1.17 blocks per game and 1.67 digs per game, while hitting at a .404 clip over a six game span ... Hooker was named POW, Oct. 23 after totaling 50 kills against No. 1 Nebraska and No. 23 Oklahoma ... The freshman set a new career-high with 26 kills against Oklahoma (Oct. 21) ... She hit at a .538 clip against the Huskers and paced the Horns with a .364 attack mark and five total blocks against the Sooners ... Last week's award was the first volleyball POW award for Hooker, but the third overall after garnering POW honors last spring in indoor and outdoor track and field. · Freshman outside hitter Ashley Engle has recorded a kill/dig double-double in eight of her last nine matches, dating back to Texas' loss at Oklahoma (Sept. 27) ... On the year Engle has totaled 11 double-doubles ... Senior outside hitter Dariam Acevedo has tallied eight kill/dig double-doubles on the season, while junior setter Michelle Moriarty has 13 assist/dig double-doubles on the year, including seven in her last nine contests. · The Longhorns picked up their seventh win in their last eight chances, Saturday when they swept past Colorado, 3-0 (30-21, 32-30, 30-22) ... Ashley Engle posted a team-high 15 kills in the match, while adding 5 digs ... Michelle Moriarty steadied the offense with 48 assists, while freshman outside hitter Destinee Hooker hammered out 14 kills on 25 swings, hitting .520 for the match and committing just one attack error. · Texas has the easiest road through the Big 12 in its next five matches, as the Horns take on the 11th toughest schedule of all Big 12 teams during that stretch ... UT's next five opponents have a combined .281 winning percentage in league play ... Missouri has the toughest calendar of opponents at .609, while Texas Tech is second with its opponents combining for a .581 winning percentage ... Kansas ranks third (.571), Colorado and Kansas state tie for fourth (.547), Texas A&M ranks fifth (.532), Nebraska and Oklahoma rank seventh (.516), Iowa State ranks ninth (.469), while Baylor ranks 10th (.323). · Several Longhorns blanket the most recent release of the Big 12 Conference's statistical leaders ... Junior setter Michelle Moriarty ranks atop the league in assists with 13.70 assists per game, and 13.73 assists/pg in conference matches ... The Longhorns rank second in the Big 12 with a .258 attack mark, while ranking second with a 16.61 kills per game average ... Sophomore Lauren Paolini ranks fifth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, with a .343 attack mark against conference foes, while Ashley Engle ranks seventh in kills per-game average, with a 4.08 mark in conference play.
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