Texas Volleyball Falls To BYU In Semis

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – No. 2 Texas Volleyball (29-3) fell to BYU (30-4), 3-1 (23-25, 16-25, 25-17, 24-26) in the NCAA Semifinals to end its season on Thursday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Sophomore Chiaka Ogbogu posted a career-high 14 kills, hitting .500 and also added a team-high eight blocks for the Longhorns.

Seniors Haley Eckerman and Khat Bell added nine kills each. Bell also contributed seven blocks.

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Three players recorded double-digit digs, as freshman Cat McCoy led with 14 and juniors Amy Neal and Kat Brooks finished with 10 each.

Sophomores Nicole Dalton and Chloe Collins had 23 and 21 assists, respectively.

As a team, Texas posted its lowest hitting percentage of the season at .162 and was out-blocked, 17.0 to 14.5.

Sophomore Paulina Prieto Cerame led the longhorns to an early 2-0 lead, but after that a

back and forth battle with 15 tied scores kept the Horns rallying their way through the first set. A set of BYU attack errors helped the Longhorns gain the momentum to go on a 5-1 run to widen the gap, but BYU answered closely after to steal the lead and take set one, 25-23. Neither team led by more than three points in the first set.

The second set took off at a different speed and the Horns could not answer. The Cougars’ defense stepped up and recorded six blocks that Texas couldn’t find its way around. After a Texas timeout, it went on a 4-0 run which then forced BYU to sacrifice its first timeout of the set. Texas couldn’t hang on and BYU took the second set, 25-16.

In the third set, Texas hit .357 to terminate the Cougars chance of a clean sweep. Blocks by Ogbogu and Bell sparked a 3-0 lead and forced BYU to take its first timeout early in the set. Texas took the lead at 18-17 with a BYU service error and kept it as it finished the match (25-17) on a 8-0 run and limited BYU to a .093 hitting percentage.

The two teams played evenly in the fourth set with a 12-12 tie before BYU pulled ahead by three after a kill by Amy Boswell. The rally continued, but Texas found its rhythm late in the set with a kill by Ogbogu that yielded a 3-0 Texas run and a forced BYU timeout. Texas then pulled ahead at 20-19 on an Eckerman kill, but BYU answered and took eventually took a 24-23 advantage. The Longhorns survived the first match point, but the Cougars found themselves back in the driver’s seat at 25-24 and were able to close to win the match, 3-1.

Jennifer Hamson led the Cougars with 22 kills, 10 digs and seven blocks.

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