MATCH STATS
- Texas defeats Colorado State (25-20, 25-23, 25-23)
No. 3-ranked Texas Longhorns defeated the Colorado State Rams (Mountain West) 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 in close games at home Friday night. CSU is in its first single-season 4-game losing streak in the history of the program.
Micaya White, Texas freshman and Big 12 Freshman of the Week, helped lead the offense with a career-high 21 kills, 4 blocks and 2 aces. In six of seven matches this season she has led the Longhorns in kills in four straight matches.
The first set on Friday was a close game, with both teams never more than two points apart with seven ties. The Longhorn offense stepped up to gain an 18-11 lead, and although the Rams came within two points to trail 22-20, UT’s 3-point run ended the first set.
In the second set, the Rams again overcame a 5-point deficit to tie the score but were unable to defeat the Longhorn offense with the team of White and Prieto Cerame.
CSU earned its first lead of the match in the third set, but kills from UT tied up the score. The Rams led 18-13, but the Longhorn offense had a 5-0 run, and then continued to take its first lead 22-21. The Rams were unable to close, ending the game 25-23.
The Longhorns hit .293, making it the fifth match in a row to hit .278 or better.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of UT Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball (6-1) defeated Colorado State (4-4) on its home court, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-23) on Friday night.
Freshman Micaya White led the Longhorns with 21 kills, hitting .390, also posting four blocks and two aces in the match.
White has recorded double-digit kills in six of seven matches and has led UT in kills in four-straight matches.
Junior Morgan Johnson joined White with four blocks, also adding six kills hitting .364. Senior Paulina Prieto Cerame posted nine kills and two aces, while sophomore Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani added six kills.
Junior Cat McCoy recorded double-digit digs with 15, while senior Chloe Collins led with 37 assists.
As a team, Texas hit .293 for its fifth-straight match hitting .278 or better.
In the first set, neither team led by more than two with seven ties in the first 16 points. A Prieto Cerame kill, ace and White kill gave the Longhorns an 11-8 lead and they extended it on a 7-2 run for an 18-11 advantage. The Rams pulled to within two points at 20-22, but Texas won three-straight to take set one, 25-20.
The second set began similar to set one with neither team leading by more than two points early, but three kills and two blocks from Johnson fueled the Longhorns on a 5-2 run to create some separation with a 17-13 lead. At 22-17, Colorado State executed a 6-1 run to tie the score at 23. Kills from White and Prieto Cerame sealed set two to give Texas a 2-0 advantage, 25-23.
It was all Colorado State early in the third set as the Rams jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but two kills and a block from White ignited a 5-0 Texas run to give the Longhorns a 5-4 advantage. At 7-7, CSU went on a 3-1 run and maintained a lead of two or more points, taking a five-point lead at 18-13. Texas went on a 5-0 run to tie it at 18 and chipped away to take its first lead at 22-21. It was all Longhorns to close the match, taking set three, 25-23.
Jasmine Hanna led Colorado State with 11 kills and four blocks.
Postgame Quotes
Freshman Micaya White
On the match: I felt good, I fed off the energy of the crowd. I feel like I am improving with every game, because I am learning how to take what the coaches are telling me and applying it on the court.
What’s Next: Texas will play its second and final match of the Rams Volleyball Classic on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. CT versus Wichita State.
Longhorn Numbers
Micaya White (21 kills, 2 aces, 4 blocks, 4 digs)
Prieto Cerame (9 kills, 2 aces)
Morgan Johnson (6 kills, 4 blocks)
Cat McCoy (16 digs, 4 assists)
Chloe Collins (37 assists, 6 digs)
Follow UT on Facebook, Twitter @TexasSports and Instagram @texasvolleyball
Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The fifth-largest crowd in Colorado State volleyball history witnessed the No. 3 Texas Longhorns topping the Rams in three tight sets at Moby Arena on Friday night.
CSU (4-4) pushed the second and third sets to the brink, falling 25-23 in each. Texas improved to 6-1 with the victory.
The defending national champion runner-up Longhorns and the Rams went back-and-forth to open Set 1, with CSU leading at 4-3 before Texas jumped out to a 17-11 lead following a 4-0 run. CSU trailed by six again, facing a 20-14 deficit before cutting the Texas lead to 2 at 22-20 following a combo block by Jasmine Hanna and Kirstie Hillyer. The Longhorns called timeout and then scored three straight points after the break to win, 25-20.
Set 2 was tied on nine occasions, with both teams boasting a high side-out percentage early on. Texas took two separate five-point leads, including at 22-17. CSU responded with a four-point run that included an ace by Katie Oleksak and a block by Hanna and Alexandra Poletto to narrow the Texas lead to 22-21. After a Texas kill, the Rams tallied two consecutive points on a kill by Hanna and a block by Poletto and Olivia Nicholson, forcing a Texas timeout with the score tied at 23-all. Out of the timeout, McKenna Thornlow delivered a tricky serve to the Longhorns’ side but Texas still managed to deliver a kill and ultimately take the set at 25-23.
The Rams pounced early in Set 3, taking a 4-0 lead with a pair of aces by Hillyer. Texas called timeout and scored five straight to take a 5-4 lead, but CSU punched right back with a 6-2 run to go up 10-7. The Rams would go up by five at 17-12 following a pair of kills by Nicholson, but then the Longhorns scored six of the next seven points to tie the set at 18-18. The score was knotted four more times before Texas ultimately took the third and final set, 25-23.
IN THEIR WORDS…
“I thought both outside hitters did a fantastic job of using the outside blocker today and we’ve been working on that a lot and they both did a good job on that. What I thought was great tonight was our team really intensified and stayed emotionally and cognitively in this match from beginning to end. Let’s put that into perspective; we did lose. But they still stayed in it and it was intense until the end. You can learn doing that. There are some plays we’d like to have back at the end of (Set 3) for sure, in that one row we got stuck in. If we get through that rotation we could have probably won that set and that’s the only way you’re going to beat a team like Texas. Then you have to do it again and again.” – CSU head coach Tom Hilbert’s general thoughts on the match
“It is crazy to think that all these people came out to watch a volleyball game, to watch us play. Coming from a tiny high school I never thought I would experience that. Jasmine came from a small town too so just knowing that all these people are here to cheer us on was a really cool feeling.” – Freshman middle blocker Kirstie Hillyer on the crowd atmosphere
“I think more than anything it is a confidence booster for us. We just competed with one of the best teams in the nation and we hung in there the whole time. This gives us confidence going into conference season and continuing on.” – Junior outside hitter Jasmine Hanna on what the result means for the team
STAT OF THE DAY…
6,253 – 6,253 was the official attendance for the match, marking the fifth-biggest crowd in Moby Arena in CSU volleyball history. The crowd topped that of the CSU match against Colorado in the 2014 Sweet 16 (6,011) and is the largest since hosting Wisconsin earlier in 2014 (7,018).
NOTES…
• Jasmine Hanna led the team in kills for the second night in a row, tallying 11 on .276 hitting.
• Senior libero Cassidy Denny totaled a match-high 15 digs, with eight coming in the final set.
• The Rams topped Texas in both blocks (9 to 7), and in service aces (7 to 4). Three Rams notched a pair of aces – Kirstie Hillyer, Katie Oleksak and Denny.
• The 6,253 fans in attendance provided the sixth occurrence of 6,000-plus fans in Moby Arena for a volleyball match.
• The four-match losing streak is the first within a single season during Head Coach Tom Hilbert’s tenure at CSU, and the first of its kind in program history since 1994.
Up Next: Texas and Wichita State will play in the final match of the Rams Volleyball Classic tomorrow at noon in Moby Arena. For the Rams, CSU will have a week between matches before they host New Orleans on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
Rams Stats
Jasmine Hanna (11 kills, 1 dig)
Kirstie Hillyer (7 kills, 2 aces, 1 dig, 1 block)
Sanja Cizmic (7 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig)
Katie Oleksak (28 assists, 8 digs)
How to Follow
Track the Rams on Facebook, @CSUAthletics on Twitter and @csuathletics on Instagram
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