SB Nation User Blog: patienthornsfan

Thanks to the BON'er community from a very grateful PHF

patienthornsfan — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:16:14 -0000

The Gazelles made me proud tonight, battling the best team in NCAA volleyball history to what amounted to a draw, trading punches until the very end of a remarkable 5-set championship match. Think Federer vs. Nadal at Wimbledon two years ago. Two superb teams, two remarkable sets of athletes going toe to toe, no one giving an inch. Give credit to the Nittany Lions for not hitting the panic button after going down 0-2 for the first time during their remarkable 102-match win streak. It's a cliche to say, but it was certainly a shame for one of the teams to have to lose. My thanks to the Gazelles and Coach Elliot for the most spectacular season I've lived through since I became a fan of the sport.

But I have to add to this my thanks to the entire BON'er community for the outpouring of support last night. It's not often we have 1000-comment posts for any sport, but this was by far the most comments, the best contribution for any volleyball event since BON began. I couldn't be more proud! Thanks to all of you for rooting the team on, for your positive comments, for giving my favorite sport a chance. I hope a whole new set of volleyball fans was born tonight.

So someone did have to lose, and despite the strong start, the Gazelles fell in 5, 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13. Fan favorite Destinee Hooker was named the Most Oustanding Player of the tournament after logging a match-high 34 kils on the night. Great way for this, the best recruiting class of Coach Elliot's short career, to finish up, but damn I would have loved to see them hoist that trophy!

Yes, the Gazelles are in an all too familar position today.

For the Texas Longhorns, the feeling -- and the scoreboard -- were all too familiar: The two-set lead in a women's volleyball tournament environs; the one-set-away-from-victory mentality; and the reminder that, like their loss to Stanford last year in an NCAA tournament semifinal, even an early lead doesn't guarantee a win.

They also lost to Penn State in Gregory Gym in 2006 after leading 2-0.

ESPN recap and video highlights here. You can watch a replay of the entire match on espn360.com if you're a member.

It was one of the smallest people on the court who turned the momentum.

Junior libero Alyssa D'Errico, too, saved many Hooker shots from another marker in the kill column.

"I think D'Errico doesn't get a lot of credit," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "The kid's a fighter, She has a tremendous amount of passion and she kind of willed them to get on the road to competing."

Texassports.com has their version here.

Penn State sports site celebrates the title here.

Tempest has been in Tampa all weekend, so I hope he will chip in with his comments on the atmosphere, and on the championship game himself. I'm sure there must have been a pivotal point in the match where it slipped away from the Gazelles. But this indeed was a special season with a special team. I will miss Ashley and Heather and most especially Destinee, who deserves to have her jersey retired. Truly one of the most special athletes to ever grace the 40 Acres. A hat tip to these amazing seniors, and another to the entire BON community. What a great day to be a Horn!

Poll

Should Texas retire Destinee Hooker's jersey?

Gazelles Daily Roundup - December 19 2009

patienthornsfan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:16:36 -0000

It's time. Four years of waiting are over tonight. Game on.

The matchup is the volleyball equivalent to Texas vs. Southern Cal in football in 2005.

Hooker is Texas' Vince Young.

Just like with VY, this team is about more than just Destinee. But just like VY, Destinee can take over a game.

"This year she's developed into a six-rotation, passing, hitting, jump serving, blocking and defensive specialist (player). She can hurt you from every position," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "She's one of the few players in this country that can take over a match on her own, and it's one of the reasons we've been so successful this year."

And just like VY, Destinee has been dissed. Megan Hodge has been named the AVCA Volleyball Player of the Year.

Snapshots of each of the teams.

They are evenly matched across the board.

Volleyball observers agree that likely the only team to match up with Texas physically is Penn State, and vice versa. Both teams feature stingy defenses and aggressive attacks, which makes this battle for the national title all that more appealing.

"In terms of physicality, there are no other teams in the country that can match up with both of these teams," Elliott said. "When you stare across the net, you’re seeing someone who can do the same kind of things you can, in terms of skill and physicality. It’s going to come down to skill level. We’re going to have to execute and be very efficient with our attacking and make good attack choices. Our block is going to have to be efficient and set up a block so that it can be funneled to the right defensive players."

"The match-up problems that Texas brings for everyone is that, with the system they’re running (6-2), they always have three great hit¬ters in the front row," Rose said. "Part of preparation is, ‘Do you have someone in your gym who is capable of playing like (UT’s) Ashley Engle?’ With Texas, you can stand on a box and hit balls and say ‘Seriously, this is how high Destinee (Hooker) hits.’ I think what they pose for everyone is how offensive they are, and they’re a very confident unit."

Both teams have a singular motivation.

"Texas is hungrier to do better, and it probably feels like it has some unfinished business," Kiraly said. "Penn State will be trying to do something that nobody has ever done, and that’s win three (NCAA championships) in a row. Texas would love to prevent that from happening."

It's going to be Jordan vs. Bryant. In tight shorts.

U.S. men's national volleyball coach Alan Knipe compared it to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan meeting when both were in their primes.

"There have been a lot of really good matchups over the years for different reasons," Knipe said. "It's probably the matchup that most people wanted to see."

"I don't think there are many athletes who can do what Destinee Hooker can do, and not many can do what Megan Hodge can do," Minnesota coach Mike Hebert said. "They just stand out, to me, as two of the most dominant players in the college game today."

Gazelles Daily Roundup - December 18 2009

patienthornsfan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:13:39 -0000

Gazelles win! And just like their counterparts in football, Texas moves on to play the #1 team in the country for the National Championship.

Texas had an easy time of it, taking out Minnesota in a sweep.

The ease with which the Longhorns (29-1) moved the ball around and spread the wealth made the victory seem methodical.

It wasn't.

It was domination.

The Horns now face Penn State, who surprisingly dropped a set before taking out pint-sized Hawai'i in the second match of the night.

I'll have a position-by-position analysis in tomorrow's GDR. These two teams are practically a mirror image of each other.

Gophers had matchup issues. If you focus your defense on Destinee, then Juliann, Jen or Ashley will make you pay.

Engle, a 6-3 lefthanded, setter/hitter, presented matchup problems for the Gophers, who often pitted 5-10 Hailey Cowles against her. Cowles led the Gophers with 12 kills and added two service aces.

"She's a tiger of a player, but to have her matched up against Engle for two rotations, we knew that wasn't going to bode well for us," Hebert said.

The Gophers had to be perfect to have any hope of pulling the upset. They weren't.

"In order to compete with Texas, we had to serve a little better than we did," Minnesota coach Mike Hebert said. "We had to serve a little bit tougher and play a little bit better defense. I thought we were often confident in all three of those areas, but there were too many moments when we didn't do it well enough and they have the athletes to take advantage of any mistake and they did."

Gazelles Daily Roundup - December 17th Edition

patienthornsfan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:57:50 -0000

With apologies to Dime, who does an amazing job trolling the Interweb to gather stories on all things Longhorn, I will be providing a daily update through the weekend as the #2 Gregory Gazelles continue their march to the National Championship at the Final Four in Tampa. First up: Minnesota Golden Gophers tonight at 6pm on ESPN2.

Seeding stupidity aside, the NCAA are hoping to attract more fans to the sport PHF loves.

"If this is your first exposure to women's volleyball at this level, I think you're going to be in awe," said University of Wisconsin associate athletic director Terry Gawlik, who serves as chairperson of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee. "It's fast, it's furious, it's emotional and it's played way above the net.

"You can watch it on television and ESPN does a great job. But when you're sitting courtside, you can really experience the speed and the power."

Your link to the four teams in the hunt.

Cedric Golden comments on the Gazelles' second chance.

Volleybal legend Karch Kiraly is talkin' Texas in advance of commentating on the Final Four matches.

Coach Elliot is making sure Texas is not looking ahead.

"Penn State's a great team," said Longhorns standout Ashley Engle, ever so diplomatically, "but so is Minnesota, and that's who we're focusing on."

Speaking of Minnesota, meet the Gophers.

They've got two, we've to three.. And two of ours are candidates for National Player of the Year, which will be announced at the annual AVCA banquet in Omaha Friday night. I'm hoping neither of our two star players plan to attend in person!

Scary thing is, Penn State ended up with five, including a ridiculous four on the first team.

The Nittany Lions have won a mind-boggling 100 matches in a row.

Hawi'i hopes to play David to PSU's Goliath.

An upset by the Rainbow Wahine, relegated to 12th seed by the NCAA, would rock volleyball's world.

"I think they (the Nittany Lions) are the best ever," said Cincinnati coach Reed Sunahara, a Hilo boy who considers both Shoji and Rose mentors. "What they've done the past three years is something that's untouched."

"An upset would rank right at the top of the great upsets in volleyball."

Both teams are led by an experienced senior class. People have been underestimating Hawai'i all year, but their seniors have proved everyone wrong.

Everybody thought we were too small," said Cubi-Otineru, the master's student nicknamed "Pork Chop."

"They underestimated us because they thought we were too small and we play in the WAC and don't see top 10 opponents over the year," said Lee, whose frenetic energy soon will be focused solely on medical school.

"Our motto all year was just get better, no matter who we are playing, just get better. I think we did," added Kaufman, one of the country's finest high jumpers. "Saying that we made it to the final four that's what I've been waiting for."

PSU does seem to be looking past Hawi'i. At least their website is.

Texas
Penn State owns an 8-6 record against the Longhorns. The series began with six straight losses, but Penn State has won the last eight in a row. The teams last met in 2007 with Penn State winning both matches 3-1.

Minnesota
The Nittany Lions are 34-7 all-time versus the Golden Gophers. Penn State has defeated Minnesota twice in 2009. The first came on Oct. 11 when the Gophers were ranked No. 5 in the nation. The squads last faced off on Oct. 30 with the Lions winning, 3-0.

The Gazelles want to take it a step further than they did last year. PHF would prefer two steps, actually.

"I think being through it last year helped us a lot," said Longhorns outside hitter Juliann Faucette. "It basically felt like a national championship just getting to the Final Four, but I think this year that has changed, and we know that was a goal of ours, to get back to the Final Four.

"It was kind of expected among our team that we would earn the right to be back, and we have to be down to business and ready for Minnesota."

I know BON'ers love Erin Andrews

patienthornsfan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:26:28 -0000

I know BON'ers love Erin Andrews

... but I don't think any of you would go this far. Would ya?

"Barrett has admitted renting hotel rooms next to Andrews three times and shooting two videos of her while she was naked. He was accused of posting the videos online and trying to sell them to the Los Angeles-based celebrity gossip site TMZ this year."

Hunter an honorary Gazelle

patienthornsfan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:43:00 -0000

Hunter an honorary Gazelle

'Prior to Lawrence kicking the game-winning 46-yard field goal at the Big 12 Championship against Nebraska, Texas Volleyball head coach Jerritt Elliott sent text messages to all his captains. All season, the Longhorns have been motivated by a theme of "defining moments," so Elliott wrote, "This will be a defining moment for him. This is the moment we want to be in."

Once the Longhorns were preparing for the NCAA Volleyball Omaha Regional, Elliott wanted the theme to continue. Football coach Mack Brown shared a Lawrence jersey that Elliott placed in the locker room before the Longhorns took on Nebraska in the regional final.

"Sometimes adversity will face you, and you have to figure out what to do to be successful. The jersey was a reminder of what (Hunter) was able to do for our school," senior setter Ashley Engle said.'

Jealous PB?

Early Enrollees ($)

patienthornsfan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:51:44 -0000

Early Enrollees ($)

The article says Connor Wood will enroll in spring and I know Reggie Wilson will as well. Anyone else?

Texas True Freshman of the Year - Who Ya Got?

patienthornsfan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:27:37 -0000

Texas True Freshman of the Year - Who Ya Got?

Marquise Goodwin?
Garrett Gilbert?
Kenny Vaccaro?
Marcus Davis?
Tevin Mims?

Is Case the Real Deal

patienthornsfan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:45:12 -0000

Is Case the Real Deal

"After his defense gave him a 7-0 first quarter lead on an Ethan Hiser interception return, McCoy threw three touchdowns to lift Graham to a 34-0 halftime lead. McCoy spread his seven first half completions among four receivers and threw a 38-yard touchdown to Spencer Sims and two touchdowns passes to Dylan Fulford.

The 6-foot-2-inch University of Texas commitment also ran for a 19-yard touchdown on Graham's first drive of the second half."

Looks like we're headed to a Colt vs. Jevan Part Two with Case and Connor.

Another Sooner regretting his decision to come back?

patienthornsfan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:21:55 -0000

Another Sooner regretting his decision to come back?

Willie Warren scores 30, but Sooners lose to yet another unranked team.

"We're not a very good team right now," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said.

Ya think Jeff?