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May 25, 2011
Horns' volleyball signing class ranked No. 1
The Texas volleyball team signed only three players this year, but the Longhorns’ class is being judged on quality, not quantity.
Texas has the nation’s No. 1-ranked volleyball recruiting class, by PrepVolleyball.com. It’s the sixth straight year the Longhorns’ volleyball class has been rated in the top 5 nationally.
Who did the Longhorns get?
Katherine Bell, North Mesquite middle blocker: Four-time All-District pick was the No. 2 overall recruit in the country. The 6-1 Bell is a big leaper: able to get as high as 10 feet, 6 inches with her vertical jump.
Haley Eckerman, Waterloo East (Iowa) outside hitter: The nation’s No. 5 recruit, the 6-3 Eckerman has gone through four years of the USA Developmental program and is a two-time prep All-American.
Madelyn Hutson, Ravenwood (Tenn.) middle blocker: The 6-5 blocker is the nation’s No. 13-ranked recruit. She’s a three-year veteran of the USA Volleyball program, and as a senior led her high school team to a state title and a second straight state championship match. She’s also a prep All-American.
Texas had the nation’s fifth-ranked recruiting classes the past two years, in 2009 and 2010, and had No. 2-ranked classes in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Longhorns said goodbye to three seniors this past season, including outside hitters Lauren Dickson and Juliann Faucette.
“This is a gifted class that will attempt to fill the shoes of the talented alumni that paved the way before them,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said.”Our fans will enjoy them and our returners will support and challenge them on a daily basis.”
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August 17, 2010
Texas third in volleyball poll
The Longhorns are ranked No. 3 in the AVCA preseason coaches volleyball poll. Three-time defending NCAA champ Penn State is No. 1, and Nebraska is No. 2. Stanford is ranked fourth, followed by Hawaii.
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Longhorns lose volleyball player
The Longhorn volleyball team has lost a key player.
Sophomore outside hitter Bailey Webster will miss the season after suffering a right knee injury during practice. She will undergo surgery on Aug. 27 — the day Texas opens the season against TCU at Gregory Gym.
The 6-foot-3 Webster, the nation’s top-ranked recruit in 2009, was a reserve last season who made the Big 12 All-Freshman team. She had a chance to be a starter this season.
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December 19, 2009
Horns fall to Nittany Lions in title match
TAMPA BAY — In the end, Texas couldn’t close.
Penn State could.
The Nittany Lions claimed their third consecutive NCAA Championship, coming from behind to win 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13.
The Nittany Lions have won 102 consecutive matches.
Texas was in control after winning the first two sets but couldn’t pull it out in the end.
Texas’ Destinee Hooker finished with a career high 34 kills.
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Fifth and decisive set coming up
TAMPA BAY — Penn State won Set 4 to force a fifth and decisive set in the NCAA National Championship.
Winner-take-all here.
Texas won the first two sets of the national championship.
Penn State won the third and fourth.
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Horns drop Set 3; lead 2-1
TAMPA BAY — Penn State came roaring back in Set 3 of the NCAA National Championship, downing the Longhorns 25-23 to force a fourth set.
The No. 1 Lions, who have won the past two NCAA titles, jumped out early and never let the Longhorns gain control.
Texas has been led by Destinee Hooker, who has 23 kills through the first three sets.
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Horns up 2-0; 25 points from NCAA Title
TAMPA BAY — The Texas Longhorns are 25 points away from winning the program’s third national championship.
Behind a dominating performance from Destinee Hooker, the Longhorns grabbed Set 2 from No. 1 Penn State, 25-XX.
Hooker at one point had nine consecutive kills for the Longhorns.
She had 11 kills in the second set.
Texas leads 2-0 in the best-of-five match.
Penn State has not been behind 2-0 all season and the Longhorns haven’t lost a match after leading 2-0 all season.
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Horns take Set 1 of NCAA Championship
TAMPA BAY — Texas might be underdogs, but they didn’t come out like it.
The Longhorns took down Penn State in Set 1 of the best-of-five NCAA Championship behind the serving of Ashley Engle and the kills of Destinee Hooker.
Engle got the ball with Texas trailing 22-21.
She never gave it back.
Her ace to start the serving sequence was huge. The first set ended on a kill by Hooker.
Hooker and Engle are Texas’ two All-Americans.
The Longhorns closed the first set on a 6-0 run.
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December 17, 2009
It's Texas vs. Penn State for the national title
TAMPA BAY — Penn State got an early scare as Hawaii suprised the Nittany Lions in Set 1, but the top team in the country rebounded with ease.
No. 1 PSU (37-0), winners of 101 straight matches, will try for its third consecutive national volleyball championship Saturday.
One team stands in its way: Texas.
The No. 2 Longhorns (29-1) swept past Minnesota 3-0 to set up the matchup every volleyball fan has expected since preseason.
It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2.
It’s Texas’ Destinee Hooker vs. Penn State’s Megan Hodge.
The 7 p.m. Saturday match will be televised on ESPN2.
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Texas volleyball headed to NCAA Championship Finals
TAMPA BAY — There would be no comeback this year.
Texas didn’t give Minnesota a chance to think about an upset in the teams’ NCAA semifinal matchup as the Longhorns swept the Gophers 3-0.
Texas will face the winner of the Penn State-Hawaii matchup.
In 2008, Texas has a 2-0 set lead on Stanford when things fell apart.
The Cardinal won a thrilling five-set mach, ending the Longhorns’ season on a sour note.
Eight straight points by the Longhorns in Set 3 made sure that wasn’t happening again.
The Longhorns won 25-19, 25-20, 25-15.
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Horns up 2-0 on Minnesota
The Texas Longhorns are 25 points away from their first national championship appearance since 1995.
Destinee Hooker, Ashley Engle and Juliann Faucette have been too much so far for the Golden Gophers as the Longhorns took Set 2, 25-20.
The Longhorns have been in this position before.
Texas was up 2-0 on Stanford last year before the Cardinal came back and won a thrilling five-set match.
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Texas volleyball wins Set 1, 25-19
TAMPA BAY — The Texas Longhorns women’s volleyball team is two sets away from a spot in the national title match.
The Longhorns took down Minnesota 25-19 in Set 1 of the teams’ semifinal matchup thanks to a combination of Ashley Engle and Destiny Hooker.
Hooker had seven kills in the first set, while Engle and Juliann Fauctte each added three kills.
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December 1, 2008
Four Horns make all-Big 12 volleyball team
Four Longhorns were named Monday to the all-Big 12 volleyball first team, and Michelle Kocher was named the league’s freshman of the year.
Texas’ first-teamers are junior opposite hitter Ashley Engle, sophomore outside hitter Juliann Faucette, junior outside hitter Destinee Hooker and senior middle blocker Lauren Paolini. It was the third year that Engle and Hooker made the all-conference first team, and the second such honors for Faucette and Paolini.
Paolini was also honored as the Big 12’s player of the week, and Kocher was named the top rookie of the week.
The Longhorns open NCAA tournament play Friday.
Other Big 12 honors:
Player of the year: Jordan Larson, Nebraska
Defensive player of the year: Jordan Larson, Nebraska
Newcomer of the year: Sydney Anderson, Nebraska
Libero of the year: Ashley Mass, Iowa State
Coach of the year: John Cook, Nebraska
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November 17, 2008
Engle picks up another Big 12 honor
Texas opposite hitter Ashley Engle has been named Big 12 player of the week — a week after she was the conference’s top defender.
Engle led Texas in a sweep of Texas Tech and a win at 14 Kansas State with 4.5 kills and 4.75 points per set and hitting at .583.
The honor comes as Engle gears up to face Nebraska on Wednesday night at Gregory Gym — a meeting of top-five teams.
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November 10, 2008
Engle tabbed for Big 12 weekly honor
Texas’ Ashley Engle was named the Big 12’s defensive player of the week after leading the fourth-ranked Longhorns to sweeps on the road at Baylor and Iowa State last week.
Engle has received Big 12 weekly honors four times in her career. This is the first time she’s been honored for her defense.
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October 31, 2008
Texas lands nation's top volleyball recruit
The nation’s top-ranked volleyball recruit has committed to Texas, her high school coach said Friday.
Bailey Webster, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from Brooklandville, Md., was named the Gatorade Maryland player of the year and the nation’s No. 1 recruit by Prepvolleyball.com. She’s a senior at St. Paul’s School for Girls, which is 17-0 heading into the state championship Saturday.
“She’s one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever coached,” said her high school coach, Kelli Wilkinson. “And she’s so humble and gracious.”
Webster is averaging 7.2 kills this season with a .570 hitting percentage.
She had scholarship offers from 160 schools, including other volleyball powers such as Florida, Stanford and UCLA.
“She really fit in (at Texas),” Wilkinson said. “She loved the campus. She loved the big-time sports.”
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September 29, 2008
Longhorns get Big 12 volleyball honors
Two Longhorns received Big 12 weekly honors today — junior outside hitter Destinee Hooker was named player of the week and freshman setter Michelle Kocher is the rookie of the week. Texas topped Iowa State and Kansas last week.
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August 19, 2008
Texas volleyball starts with No. 3 ranking
Already tabbed as the preseason favorites in the Big 12, the Longhorns picked up a No. 3 national ranking Tuesday in the CBS College Sports/AVCA Preseason Coaches poll.
Penn State, the defending NCAA champ, claimed the top spot, followed by 2007 runner-up Stanford. Texas’ Big 12 nemesis Nebraska is ranked No. 7.
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August 14, 2008
Texas tabbed Big 12 volleyball favorite
The Longhorns were chosen as near-unanimous Big 12 preaseason favorites Thursday. Texas, a conference co-champion a year ago, was ranked first by 10 other Big 12 coaches. The only other first-place vote went to Kansas State. (Coaches couldn’t vote for their own teams.)
Nebraska was the coaches’ second pick, followed by K-State, Texas A&M and Missouri.
Longhorn sophomore outside hitter Juliann Faucette (pictured above) was chosen as co-player of the year, along with Nebraska’s Jordan Larson. Texas middle blocker Rachael Adams was the preseason choice for freshman of the year.
Four Longhorns — Faucette, Ashley Engle, Lauren Paolini and Destinee Hooker — were named preseason all-conference selections.
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December 12, 2007
All-America volleyball team loaded with Horns
Outside hitter Juliann Faucette was named freshman of the year and first-team All-American on Wednesday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Three of her Longhorn teammates also earned All-America honors, with sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker being named to the second team and senior setter Michelle Moriarty and junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini earning spots on the third team.
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November 26, 2007
3 Longhorns invited to national team tryouts
Three Texas volleyball players are among the 13 athletes that USA Volleyball has invited to a tryout for the U.S. women’s national volleyball team Jan. 7-12 in Colorado Springs.
The UT players are Juliann Faucette, Destinee Hooker and Lauren Paolini.
Selected players will be invited to train with the U.S. national team and then compete for roster spots in the summer. Team USA will compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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October 22, 2007
Volleyball match nears sellout
The fifth-ranked Texas volleyball team is on the verge of a rare sellout for its showdown Wednesday against top-ranked Nebraska.
About 500 general admission seats remained Monday. The crowd is expected to surpass last year’s attendance of 3,822 for last year’s match against Nebrasksa — third-largest crowd in Gregory Gym history.
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August 7, 2007
Horns picked second in Big 12 volleyball race
Defending national champion Nebraska is the choice of Big 12 coaches to win the league again, while Texas was picked second. The Longhorns, who open play Aug. 24 at Penn State, received the only first-place vote that did not go to the Cornhuskers.
Texas placed three players on the preseason all-conference team: senior Michelle Moriarty and sophomores Ashley Engle and Destinee Hooker.
Longhorn freshman Juliann Faucette, a high school All-American from San Diego, was chosen the preseason freshman of the year. Nebraska’s Sarah Pavan was the coaches’ choice for player of the year, and Kansas State’s Nataly Korobkova, was picked as the top newcomer.
After Nebraska and Texas, the coaches picked Missouri and Texas A&M, followed by Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech.
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August 18, 2006
Volleyball fan appreciation day is also Saturday
The football team isn’t the only one “appreciating” the fans Saturday. The Texas volleyball team will hold a fan fest at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Gregory Gym.
The event includes a free children’s volleyball clinic conducted by UT players and coaches — open to all youths in the eighth grade or below.
An alumni match is set for 5 p.m., followed by a dinner (for which reservations are no longer being taken).
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November 10, 2005
Longhorn volleyball signs top recruit
Ashley Engle, the nation’s third-ranked volleyball recruit, has signed to play at Texas next year. Engle is a setter/right side hitter from Anaheim, Calif., who played on the 2005 U.S. Youth National Team.
“She is a world-class athlete who is multi-dimensional on the volleyball court,” said Longhorn coach Jerritt Elliott.
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October 11, 2005
Volleyball-football double dip
The Longhorns’ volleyball match against Kansas State on Oct. 22 has been set for 7 p.m. The match time was chosen to avoid a conflict with that day’s football game against Texas Tech, which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
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August 9, 2005
Volleyball team ranked 11th
Texas’ volleyball team begins 2005 right where it ended 2004 — ranked 11th in the nation in the CSTV/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
Nebraska, the defending Big 12 champ, is the preseason No. 1. Texas A&M is 16th, and Missouri is 21st.
See the full poll here.
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