SB Nation User Blog: TempestHorn

Omaha Regional

TempestHorn — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:30:06 -0000

The Gregory Gazelles open play tomorrow afternoon in the Omaha Regional (aka the Big 12 Conference Tournament) at 4:30 pm against the Aggies.

Link to Video

Clicking on the game pod should get you a video link to the regional semis.

I can't even begin to describe how annoyed I am with the placement of the Big 12 teams in this year's tournament. What is happening in the NCAA volleyball is the equivalent of the men's basketball committee sending Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and the Aggies to a regional in Oklahoma City. The committee chair has defended the seedings and positioning by saying the RPI helps determine the seeds and the teams are placed in nearby regions to avoid extensive travel. He went on to say there is no unwritten rule to avoid conference #1 and #2 playing in a regional. After the seeding fiasco, the Big 12 went out and got 5 teams in the Sweet 16 - the Omaha Regional and Baylor. Too bad, it's a foregone conclusion the most Big 12 teams that can make the final four is 2. With Baylor in Penn State's region, it really is 1. Shame on you, NCAA seeding committee.

I expect Texas to easily dispatch the Aggies. The ags may actually win their first set off Texas this year as I expect the Nebraska fans to be cheering strongly for A&M. I predict a 3-1 victory for the good guys.

In the other semi, Nebraska takes on Iowa State. Both teams won on the other team's home court during the regular season. If Iowa State can stay composed and get a decent showing of a couple thousand fans, I expect this to be a barn burner of a match. I expect NU to pull it out 3-2 with the homecourt advantage being the difference. I'd love to see ISU pull out the win.

The regional final on Saturday at 8pm will be televised live on ESPNU. Winner to Tampa, Florida.

Saturday Night is Senior Night for Volleyball

TempestHorn — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:32:02 -0000

This Saturday night at Gregory Gym will be the last regular season game for Destinee Hooker, Ashley Engle and Heather Kisner. These three ladies will go out as the "winningest" class in Texas Volleyball history. If you are able, head to Gregory Saturday for the 6:30pm match.

On Wednesday night in Norman, the Gazelles swept OU to claim their first outright Big 12 title since 1997. On Sunday the Gazelles will learn their draw for the NCAA tournament. They are expected to host the first and second rounds December 3-6 at Gregory. The four regionals are being hosted by Florida, Minnesota, Omaha and Stanford. The Final Four is in Tampa Bay.

UT Volleyball faces Judgment Week

TempestHorn — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:00:41 -0000

The Gazelles are facing the most challenging part of the Big 12 schedule beginning this Wednesday at College Station. If they can get wins against A&M, Nebraska and Iowa State in their next 3 matches, they will likely be able to cruise to an outright Big 12 title, go undefeated in Big 12 play, and possibly receive the overall #1 seed for the NCAA tournament. Winning 2 of 3 will probably be enough to get the outright conference title and only slightly impact the chance of getting one of the #1 seeds.

WEDNESDAY: The Gazelles will face the Aggies in College Station for a 7pm match. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU. For those going to the match, be aware that the Aggies have left the building! G. Rollie White no longer plays host to volleyball, the Ags have moved to Reed Arena where the basketball teams play. The Aggies were undefeated in the new digs, until unranked Oklahoma came in last Wednesday night and swept the 21st ranked Aggies. A&M has had a week off to prepare for the Horns. Texas swept A&M in Austin earlier this year.

FRIDAY: The Gazelles return to the friendly confines of Gregory Gym to host the Cornhuskers for a 6pm match. This match will be broadcast on FSN. Earlier this season, Texas took down Nebraska in Lincoln 3-1. The first win in Lincoln since 1988, the last time Texas won a national championship. Tickets are going fast for this one so get yours now if you plan to go. Ticket info.

NEXT WEDNESDAY: The gauntlet finishes with a trip to Ames, Iowa where the team in second place in the Big 12 awaits. This match will be Texas' toughest remaining challenge. More challenging than A&M @ College Station and Nebraska at home. The Cyclones also beat Nebraska in Lincoln 3-2.

Red River Rivalry - Volleyball Style

TempestHorn — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:56:33 -0000

The Gregory Gazelles (Texas Volleyball) will take on the McCasland Maggots (OU Volleyball) this Saturday at noon. Your Texas football ticket shown at the door gets you $3 admission.

The Gazelles are 11-0 with 8 wins against the Top 25. They are 6-0 in the Big 12. Last year OU upset the Longhorns in Austin in a 5 set match that deprived the Horns of an outright Big 12 Championship. If you have yet to catch a volleyball match, Saturday is the perfect opportunity. Take a break from tailgating and walk over to Gregory.

Parking and Ticket Info here

Volleyball Gets a HUGE Win!

TempestHorn — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:04:35 -0000

The Gazelles ended a 20 year drought in Lincoln, Nebraska with a 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory over #6 Nebraska. The last time Texas won in Lincoln was 1988. Interestingly enough, that year is the last year Texas Volleyball won a national championship.

Recap

The win keeps Texas in first place tied with A&M. A&M will likely enter the Top 25 poll on Monday by virtue of their win over #6 Nebraska on Wednesday night. A&M only needs to hold on and beat Missouri tonight. They are up 2-1. The Lone Star Showdown will be a battle for outright first place in the Big 12. First serve is at 7:30 pm on Wednesday night at Gregory.

Texas Volleyball Fan Group on facebook

Volleyball opens up Big 12 Play This Week

TempestHorn — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:12:55 -0000

The Gregory Gazelles begin defense of their Big 12 Championship Wednesday night at Gregory Gym. #24 ranked Baylor comes to town with an 11-0 record. First serve is at 6pm

The Gazelles continue their home stand Friday night at 6:30 against tenth ranked Iowa State in a rematch of last year's regional final.

Preview of Baylor match here:

Baylor Preview

The Baylor match will be on ESPNU for those of you outside the Austin area.

The Exes promotion for the Iowa State match (use password TEXAS)

Promotion

Volleyball Season Opener This Weekend

TempestHorn — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:45:29 -0000

#2 Texas Volleyball opens their season at Long Beach State this weekend. The Gazelles will be facing #23 Long Beach State on Saturday night and #15 San Diego on Sunday evening.

Coming off last year's disappointing national semi-finals loss to Stanford after being up 2-0, the Gazelles are shooting for nothing less than a National Championship. Having lost only Lauren Paolini, middle blocker; Jerritt Elliott simply reloaded with the #1and #5 national recruits. 6'3" Bailey Webster is the highest rated recruit in last year's class and is expected to start. Sha'Dare McNeal is a 6'1" middle blocker who is pushing veterans Jennifer Doris and Rachael Adams for playing time. Rachael Adams was expected to take over Paolini's vacated spot. Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker and Heather Kisner are this year's seniors.

This weekend Texas begins a challenging preseason schedule with their trip to Long Beach. They are 0-3 versus Long Beach and 0-1 versus San Diego. They followup the West Coast trip with a trip to the volleyball hotbed of Honolulu, Hawaii where they will face another group of ranked teams: host Hawaii, California and St. Louis.

Preview

Texas Volleyball on Facebook

Volleyball's Quest for The Final Four Continues...

TempestHorn — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:11:23 -0000

This weekend it's the regionals at Gregory Gym. Our Gazelles have their work cut out for them as they have two PAC-10 teams and a Big 12 foe waiting to end their dreams of a final four.

I'm reminded of Bum Phillips back in the days when the Oilers came close but couldn't make the Superbowl....we have been knocking on the door and this year it's time to kick the son of a bitch in! That's how I feel going into this weekend.

The schedule for this weekend is:

FRIDAY 4:30 - Oregon vs Iowa State

FRIDAY 6:30 ( or 30 minutes after 1st match) - Texas vs UCLA

SATURDAY 5:30 - Regional Final

I can't stress enough how important having a packed house is to the team. They play better and the environment is outstanding when the seats are full. They need your help to make the Final Four. So get there if it's at all possible.

Keys to Victory for Texas:

1. PASSING - Passing has been the achilles heel of Texas this year. If Texas passes well this weekend, we are Omaha-bound. If we don't we could easily see a result similar to the USC fiasco last year in Gainesville. Kocher needs to have all 3 options available to her so she can distribute the ball effectively. There are only two other teams, Penn State and Stanford, that have the offensive firepower of Texas. No one in our regional comes close. So if Texas passes well to allow Hooker, Engle, Pao, Faucette and the recently discovered power hitter Jen Doris to terminate; Texas wins.

2. Key Contributions from Emerging Players: Hooker, Engle and Pao have carried the load through most of the season. But another key will be how well Juliann Faucette emerges from her sophomore slump. Since the Nebraska game, Faucette has shown signs of returning to freshman form. She's been pounding the cover off the ball. We need her to play like Freshman Juliann this weekend. Jen Doris has been absolutely crushing the ball lately. Her hitting efficiency is rivaling Pao's. Having a 2nd middle blocker with the efficiency of Pao will be lethal. And since Jen is the 3rd option behind Engle & Hooker, if she does well the opposing team's blockers are going to have a devil of a time controlling our hitters.

I believe UCLA will prove to be the biggest challenge this weekend. UCLA has a veteran setter that will try to exploit one on one matchups with her hitters versus our blockers. They play very strong defense, so they can frustrate teams like Texas that want to terminate immediately and play in a fast rhythm. I expect this one to go 4 if not 5. If we sweep, it'll mean our passing is lights out. Expect both UCLA and Oregon to serve very aggressively.

In the regional final, I expect TV-HD (Ms. Hooker, if you're nasty) to absolutely take over. In front of a home crowd and on national TV, I expect her to dominate. Iowa State could pull off the upset Friday as they are defensively as strong as UCLA. They make teams work very hard to get points. I don't know much about Oregon other than the fact they have some foreign players and they are very streaky. They kind of sound like Kansas State.

Hope to see some BONers at Gregory this weekend.

Texas Volleyball's Quest for the Final Four

TempestHorn — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:10:55 -0000

It begins tonight at 6:30 at Gregory Gym against Lamar. If you can make it out, the Gazelles need our help.

Quotes from Texas Volleyball

Tonight against Lamar will probably be little more than a practice match. I expect Wichita State to dispatch Rice in the 4:30 game today. If that's the case, the Gazelles will draw a very tough 2nd round opponent, Wichita State. Wichita was 29-0 going into last weekend's conference tournament where they were upset. Single game tickets for this weekend went on sale today, 471-3333.

Next weekend is the regional at Gregory Gym. General admission tickets still available. Tickets for the regional

UT Volleyball Receives #3 Seed

TempestHorn — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:42:26 -0000

In a sport where playoffs actually determine a champion, UT Volleyball received the overall #3 seed and #1 seed in the Austin regional. The Gazelles will play in Austin this Friday and Saturday in 1st and 2nd round action. They host Lamar Friday night and will face the winner of Wichita State and Rice on Saturday.

The Austin Regional's seeded teams are #3 seed Texas, #10 seed UCLA, #11 seed Oregon and #6 seed Minnesota. Oregon is coached by former Texas coach Jim Moore.

This draw is pretty good for Texas. Although the Wichita State matchup in the 2nd round will be very, very tough. Wichita State was undefeated through last week and lost over the weekend.

The Bracket