SB Nation User Blog: TempestHorn

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

Volley for the Cure Wednesday

TempestHorn — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:46:09 -0000

The Gregory Gazelles, also known as the UT women's volleyball team, will take on OU, also known as ousux, on Wednesday night at 6pm in a match billed as Volley for the Cure.

Volley for the Cure

This event is a great thing that NCAA women's athletics is doing for breast cancer awareness. Last February the women's hoops team had a Think Pink night when the Horns took down #8 Baylor. Now NCAA volleyball teams are getting into the act. Tickets are $3 if you buy in advance and you are suppose to wear pink.

This week marks the beginning of the 2nd round of Big 12 competition. The Gazelles have been through every Big 12 team once and stand at 9-1 with the sole blemish the loss to Nebraska in Lincoln. The script is falling in line with last year's where the plan is to sweep through the 2nd half of the season. To do so, the Gazelles have to take down Nebraska in Austin on November 19. They also will face the third, fourth & fifth place teams, in the Big 12 standings, on the road. They definitely have their work cut out for them.

The team is beginning to peak. So the undefeated run through the rest of the season is highly possible. Our libero concerns have been addressed in that Heather Kisner has locked down the role for the departed Alyson Jennings. Freshmen setter, Michelle Kocher, has done an admirable job setting for the 3rd ranked team in the country with a stable of the top veteran hitters in the country. She can still have nights where her sets are a bit off so that makes our road trips to K-State, Iowa State and Baylor a little bit scary. Juliann is still in a bit of a sophmore slump but she keeps swinging away and Elliott is now subbing her in the back row for Hawaiian defensive specialist, Sydney Yogi. Jen Doris came alive last week against Tech so we'll need more of that to further balance our offense. Ashley, Destinee & Pao continue to pound the cover off the ball.

It all begins this week with a homestand against our southern rivals: OU on Wednesday and A&M on Saturday. The aggie match has been moved to 5 pm to avoid conflict with the football broadcast. See you at Gregory! Wear pink on Wednesday and Orange on Saturday.

Volleyball vs Baylor Wednesday

TempestHorn — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:31:10 -0000

Saturday night while Texas was dismantling CU in Boulder, the Gregory Gazelles (aka Texas Volleyball) were dismantling Kansas State, 3-0. In so doing, they turned a 3 way tie (between UT, KSU & BU) for 2nd place in the Big 12 into just a tie between UT and BU. Wednesday night at Gregory Gym at 6:30pm, the Gazelles will look to move into sole possession of 2nd place when the Lady Bears come to town.

Everyone come out and support them in their quest for back-to-back Big 12 championships. If you bring 5 canned goods you can get a free pair of Crocs in the Cans for Crocs promotion. Additionally, you can use a web coupon for $4 general admission. In terms of value $4 is money well spent and I personally guarantee you will have a good time and get fired up for the upcoming weekend of football.

Bevo's Bargains for Wed Night

Also, a reminder that November is fast approaching. The Gazelles take on A&M on Saturday November 1 and the rematch with Nebraska is Wednesday November 19. Both of these matches sold out in advance last year, so get your tickets now!

Volleyball Home Opener This Week

TempestHorn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:42:59 -0000

The Gazelles open at home this week hosting the Time Warner Invitational. The Gazelles are ranked #3 in the nation returning to that spot after Stanford suffered a 4 set defeat to unranked Saint Louis last weekend. Coach Elliott gave me a personal call on my home phone yesterday requesting I invite friends and neighbors. So I'm inviting the BON community.

Bevo Bargains

$4 Web coupons for both night's matches at Bevo Bargains.

GAME 1 - 6:30 pm Thursday night against Texas State. Texas State is the preseason pick to win the Southland Conference. I expect this match to be the most competitive one for Texas in the tournament. By competitive, I mean a 3 set sweep by the Gazelles.

GAME 2 - Noon Friday against old SWC foe, Houston. Houston is picked to finish 6th in Conference USA. This match will be won handily by the Gazelles.

GAME 3 - 6:30 pm Friday against Georgia. Georgia is picked to finish 4th in the SEC East which includes Top 10 rated Florida. Georgia will likely finish 3rd in the East due to some serious injuries by 3rd place pick Tennessee. The best part of this match will be pregame when the Gazelles raise the 2007 Big 12 Championship banner to the rafters of Gregory Gym.

Volleyball in Omaha

TempestHorn — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:42:49 -0000

Just a reminder that our Gregory Gazelles (UT Volleyball) will be in Omaha this weekend participating in the AVCA Showcase.

http://texassports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082808aag.html

Both matches will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV). Friday night at 9:30 pm Texas will likely avenge last year's season ending loss to USC. Sunday at 12:30 Texas will have a smackdown with #2 ranked Stanford, the team that ended our 2006 season.

Texas Tops Preseason Volleyball Poll

TempestHorn — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:06:03 -0000

Bumped. Go Gazelles.

Texas volleyball was voted #1 by the Big 12 volleyball coaches.

The GazellesTM have 4 players named to the preseason all Big 12 Team, Juliann Faucette, Lauren Paolini, Ashley Engle and Destinee Hooker. Juliann is named co-Player of the Year. New recruit Rachael Adams is named Freshman of the Year. This marks the 3rd year in a row Texas has the Freshman of the Year (Engle and Faucette were the previous two).

Also Volleyball magazine's preseason poll has the Gazelles ranked #3 behind Stanford and defending National Champion Penn State. USC is ranked #4. Texas opens the season playing USC and Stanford.

Texassports article about Volleyball Poll

2008 Volleyball Recruiting Class Ranked #2

TempestHorn — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:58:16 -0000

texassports article

prepvolleyball

The Gazelles signed the nation's #2 ranked recruiting class. The link requires a membership but I'm sure the news will be posted on texassports.com shortly.

Just to remind everyone, Coach Elliott signed 6'2" middle blocker Rachel Adams (PHF posted the amazing picks of her vertical abilities), 6'3" OH Amber Roberson from San Antonio, 5'10" setter Michelle Kocher and 5'3" libero Sydney Yogi from Hawaii.

Adding these four to the mix of Lauren Paolini, Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette should give the Gazelles plenty of talent to win their first outright Big 12 Championship in over 10 years. In addition, if they can gel with the new setter (Engle or Kocher) they should be able to finally break through and make the final four.

Gregory Gazelles Dominate the Beach

TempestHorn — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:36:09 -0000

The UT Volleyball duo of Ashley Engle and Kiley Hall won the Collegiate National beach volleyball championship today in San Diego. The girls took down the NU Cornbots, Jordan Larson and Tara Muller, in the semis and put the beatdown on Talor Carico and Jessica Gysin of USC in the finals 21-8, 21-12.

Congrats to the girls. And yes there is a picture if you click the link....

http://www.thecollegiatenationals.com/story/index.php?story=93