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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott, senior setter Michelle Moriarty and sophomore opposite hitter Ashley Engle met the media Thursday, Dec. 6 at the NCAA Gainesville Regional pre-match press conferences. The third-ranked Longhorns begin NCAA Gainesville Regional semifinal play when they take on No. 7 Florida at 6 p.m. Central on Friday, Dec. 7.

PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
HEAD COACH Jerritt Elliott
Opening statement: We're excited to be here. It's been a long season and a really good season for us to get to this point. Again, we're honored that we know there are four very good volleyball teams here. We're here to play our best volleyball with these teams and give it a good shot. We have a lot of respect for Florida, and we've got a very good balanced team that has continued to get better over a period of time.

On what sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker means to the team: She's a very special talent. Athletically, she's the best athlete I've ever seen on a volleyball court. She has a lot of emotions, an extremely good learning curve and has continued to get better over the season. She adds a lot of energy to this team.

On Hooker being a two-sport athlete: She's a very loyal young lady. She's busy with track & field, but she's done a really good job in terms of separating herself. When it's volleyball season, she's fully committed to volleyball season, and then its track's turn to have her. Luckily, right now we have her and hopefully we can continue to have her for another week and a half.

On having a height advantage versus Florida: It's definitely one of our strengths. Our blocking has continued to get better, and we've done a really good job of running a new system of swing blocking over the course of the year. It's good for a lot of pressure on opponents. The serve and pass game is a key component. If we can get them in predictable situations, then our height advantage and athleticism is able to do a really nice job.

SENIOR SETTER Michelle Moriarty
On playing with Hooker: It takes a different type of set to set someone like her. She's such a great athlete and she' so much fun to be on the court with, not only for her talent but for her emotion as well.

On being a senior: I was actually talking about it with Juliann (Faucette) today. I had to travel to Wisconsin my freshman year and the emotions are just so different freshman year because you don't know what to expect and you don't know what's going to happen. Coming here, it's like, `Okay, we're ready this time.' I'm ready and I know what to expect, and I'm excited to play tomorrow.

SOPHOMORE HITTER Ashley Engle
On traveling during the NCAA Championship for the first time in her career: I'm excited. It was nice to be able to stay home two weekends in a row last year. I think that traveling is difficult, but I know that we're ready to play.