The 2007 Texas Volleyball team was one of the best in recent memory, posting a 27-4 record, UT's best mark since 1995, while earning a share of the Big 12 Conference Championship for the first time in a decade. The Longhorns made their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regional finals and earned their highest final ranking since 1995.
2007 YEAR IN REVIEW
THE FINAL TALLY
Texas was ranked No. 6 in the final CSTV/AVCA poll, released Wednesday, Dec. 19, after holding the No. 3 position for six consecutive weeks ... The Longhorns' No. 3 ranking was their highest ranking since Sept. 17, 1996 when Texas was ranked No. 3 ... UT was ranked in the top seven every week of the season ... The Top-Five was comprised of No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 USC, No. 4 California and No. 5 Nebraska.
HORNS FARE WELL AT ALL-AMERICA AWARDS
Four Longhorns earned AVCA All-America honors in 2007, including freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette who earned AVCA National Freshman of the Year accolades and first team honors ... Sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker earned second team honors and senior setter Michelle Moriarty and junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini were tabbed third-team All-America.
RECORD BREAKING SEASON
In 2007, Texas set several new single-season marks ... Junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini and senior middle blocker Brandy Magee both broke the UT single-season hitting percentage mark, with Paolini claiming first-place with a .418 mark and Magee placing second at .415 ... As a team UT set new single-season team records for kills per-game (17.36), hitting percentage (.343) and assists per-game (16.11) ... senior setter Michelle Moriarty also set the UT single-season record for assists per-game with 14.18.
AT THE NCAA GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
The Longhorns extended their season-best winning streak to 23 matches with their 3-1 victory over No. 7 Florida in the NCAA Regional semifinal ... Sophomore opposite hitter Ashley Engle highlighted the Texas attack with 17 kills on .324 hitting and added 10 digs ... Sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker added 16 kills on .406 hitting, while middle blockers Brandy Magee and Lauren Paolini posted 12 kills each ... Texas then fell to No. 5 USC, 3-0 in the NCAA Regional final, getting swept for only the second time all season ... Against the Women of Troy, freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette recorded a team-best 16 kills on .406 hitting, while Paolini registred 11 kills, one attack error and a .500 hitting mark.
TEXAS CLAIMS EIGHT AVCA REGION AWARDS
Texas earned a total of eight AVCA All-Central Region awards, including Regional Freshman of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year ... Head coach Jerritt Elliot earned AVCA All-Central Region of the Year honors and Juliann Faucette garnered FOY accolades ... Faucette, senior setter Michelle Moriarty, sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker and junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini all earned first-team All-Central Region honors, while senior middle blocker Brandy Magee and sophomore opposite hitter Ashley Engle earned honorable mention accolades.
NCAA TOURAMENT
Texas was the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and the No. 1 seed in the Gainesville Regional bracket ... The top two seeds in the Gainesville Regional ( No. 4 Texas and No. 5 USC) advanced to the Regional final, with USC defeating UT, 3-0 ... Texas' appearance in the Regional final marked the second straight time UT has made it to the round of eight, after losing to Stanford, 3-1 in the 2006 Regional final.
UT DOMINATES BIG 12 AWARDS
Texas earned a total of nine Big 12 Conference awards, including five All-Big 12 First Team honors, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year accolades ... Head coach Jerritt Elliott claimed his second Big 12 Coach of the Year honor (2004), while outside hitter Juliann Faucette earned UT's second straight conference Freshman of the Year award ... Sophomore opposite hitter Ashley Engle, Faucette, sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker, senior setter Michelle Moriarty and junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini were named to the All-Big 12 First Team ... Senior middle blocker Brandy Magee was named honorable mention All-Big 12, while Faucette added All-Big 12 Freshman Team honors.
BIG 12 CHAMPS
Texas' 3-0 sweep of No. 12 Kansas State on Nov. 24 moved the Horns to 19-1 in the Big 12 and netted UT a share of the Big 12 Conference Championship ... The Longhorns tied with Nebraska for the title, earning their first championship since 1997.
THE NUMBER 23
The Longhorns put together a 23-match winning streak in 2007, spanning from their victory over Missouri on Sept. 15 and lasting until Dec. 8 when UT fell to USC in the NCAA Regional finals ... In its 19 Big 12 Conference victories, Texas dropped just six games, going five games with then-No. 17 Kansas State and Iowa State, while dropping one game at Texas Tech and at home against Texas A&M ... The Longhorns recorded 19 sweeps in Big 12 play (including No. 1 Nebraska) and 21 sweeps on the year ... UT's nine straight sweeps from Oct. 10-through-Nov. 7 set a school record for most consecutive sweeps.
HEAD COACH Jerritt Elliott
Head coach Jerritt Elliott concluded his seventh season at the helm of the Longhorns Volleyball program with a 156-58 (.729) record at Texas to go with his nine-year career record of 206-70 (.746) ... Elliott was named 2007 AVCA Central Region and Big 12 Coach of the Year, repeating both honors after claiming conference and region honors in 2004 ... With a 3-0 victory against Texas Tech on Nov. 14, 2007, Elliott recorded both his 200th career victory and his 150th career UT victory.
#1 GOES DOWN IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD
Texas' 3-0 sweep of No. 1 Nebraska (Oct. 24) snapped NU's 29-match winning streak and handed the Huskers their first sweep in Big 12 play since 1997 ... The largest crowd ever to watch a match in Gregory Gymnasium's current configuration (4,286) witnessed the Longhorns' first sweep of Nebraska since 1997.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Texas ended the season riding an 18-match home winning streak in regular season play, dating back to Texas' win over then-No. 23 Oklahoma on Oct. 21, 2006 ... In 2007 the Longhorns were a perfect 15-0 in the friendly confines of Gregory Gymnasium, including a 3-0 sweep of No. 1 Nebraska ... Texas owned a 45-2 games won mark in its 15 home victories ... At home the Horns hit .392 for the season, while limiting opponents to a .159 attack mark .
RE-WRITING HISTORY
Several Longhorns etched their names into the Texas career record books in 2007 ... Senior setter Michelle Moriarty claimed the top spot on the career assists chart in 2006 and pushed the total to 5,819 in 2007, while senior middle blocker Brandy Magee solidified her place as UT's all-time leader in career hitting percentage (.373) ... Senior Alyson Jennings moved into second place all-time in digs with her 11-dig effort against No. 5 USC (Dec. 8), and finished her career with1,551 digs ... Moriarty ranks 14th all-time with 983 career digs and ties with Jennings for 11th place with 427 career games played ... Magee ranks third in block assists (395), eighth in total blocks (432) and 14th in kills (1071).
