Long Horns volleyball punches ticket to NCAA Regional Final with sweep of Colorado State

Article posted by Texas Gazette.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 2 Texas Volleyball swept No. 15 Colorado State to advance to the NCAA Regional Final on Friday at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.

It marks Texas' ninth-straight trip to the Regional Final and 20^th all-time. Texas is the only school in the nation that has advanced to the NCAA Regional finals in each of the last nine NCAA Championships (2006-14).

Six Longhorns finished with four or more kills, but senior Haley Eckerman led UT with 16, while hitting .364. Eckerman also had five digs and three blocks.

Sophomore Paulina Prieto Cerame finished with eight kills, while junior Amy Neal and sophomore Chiaka Ogbogu added seven each. All three players hit .333 or better.

Junior Molly McCage led Texas in blocks with five and also added five kills, hitting a team-high .400.

Neal and freshman Cat McCoy posted double-digit digs with 14 and 12, respectively.

Sophomore Chloe Collins had 20 assists on 25 attempts, while sophomore Nicole Dalton finished with 18 assists on 21 attempts.

As a team, UT out-hit CSU, .327 to .175 and out-blocked the Rams, 8.0 to 3.0.

The Longhorns have out-hit 25 of their 26 opponents this season and 51 of their last 52 dating back to September of 2013.

Texas has out-blocked or tied its opponent in blocks in 26 of its 28 matches this season.

Texas jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the first set and led the rest of the way. Colorado State narrowed the score to within one at 11-10, but the Longhorns won three of the next four points and kept a steady lead the rest of the way. Eckerman had six kills to give UT set one, 25-19.

The Longhorns led 5-2 early in the second set, but the Rams came roaring back with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the match, 6-5. From there, the teams traded points until the 10-10 mark, when Texas won five of the next six points and lead by as many as six before closing out the set, 25-18.

In the third set, Texas again jumped out to a 5-2 lead and again Colorado State fought back with a 4-1 run to tie the score at 6-6. The Longhorns then fueled a 4-0 run of their own to take a 10-8 lead. From there, UT did not let up and closed out the set, 25-17.

Texas has not swept its first three opponents in the NCAA Tournament since 2009. It fell to Penn State in the national championship match that year, 3-2. The Longhorns will face the winner of No. 10 Oregon and No. 7 North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.