Texas Sweeps Way Into Regional Final

Omaha, Neb. - The second-seeded Texas volleyball team used an outstanding offensive effort to overwhelm unseeded Texas A&M in a 3-0 sweep on Friday in the first semifinal of the NCAA Omaha Regional at the Qwest Center.

Fueled by an outstanding performance by Destinee Hooker, the Longhorn offense proved to be too much for the Aggies, as Texas cruised to its fourth straight regional final with the 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 win. Texas A&M never led past the 13th rally of any set, as it fell to Texas for the 12th straight meeting.

Hooker was outstanding all night long for the 27-1 Longhorns. She had nine kills in the opening set alone before finishing with 23 kills on .465 hitting. Behind her brilliant night, Texas hit .402 for the match and enjoyed an 11-1 advantage in blocks. Juliann Faucette added 11 kills on .417 hitting for the Longhorns.

Texas A&M hit .231 on the match despite finishing with only five fewer total kills. Sarah Ammerman paced the Aggies with 16 kills, but she also had nine errors. Jennifer Banse added 12 kills on .259 hitting.

With the win, Texas advanced to Saturday night's regional final, where the Longhorns will meet either seventh-seeded Iowa State or 10th-seeded Nebraska. First serve for Saturday's match is 8 p.m. (Central) and the match will be televised on ESPNU as Texas looks to advance to the National Semifinals for the second straight year.

On Friday, the first set was tight early until an 8-1 Texas run turned a one-point deficit into a 14-8 Longhorn lead. Texas built the lead to 17-10 before two Texas A&M kills and an attack error closed the gap to 17-13 and forced a UT time out. Texas responded after the break, scoring four of the next five points to take a commanding 21-14 lead. The Aggies would get as close as four before Hooker closed out the set with a kill. Hooker found the floor on seven of her first eight swings and finished the set with nine kills on 12 error-free swings. Overall, Texas hit .457 in the set, fueled by 14 kills on the Longhorns' first 21 swings.

Texas began much faster in set two, scoring eight of the first 10 points including six straight before the Aggies burned an early time out. Hooker continued her torrid start by pounding four early kills on six swings. After the time out, three straight points helped Texas A&M trim the lead to 10-7 and force a Texas time out. But the Aggies would get no closer however, as Texas quickly moved back in front by seven and led by as many as eight before a Longhorn block wrapped up the set. Texas again hit .457 in the second set, with Hooker again leading the way with eight kills, two blocks and an ace.

The teams traded side outs to begin the third set before the Longhorns scored six straight points to take a 9-4 lead and force an Aggie time out. Texas A&M chipped away at the lead following the break and pulled to within 11-8 before the Longhorns spent a time out. The Aggies scored the first point after the time out to trim the lead to two before Texas scored four of the next five points to go on top 15-10. Texas A&M won three straight rallies to get within 19-17 but Texas answered by scoring four of the next five points. Trailing 23-18, the Aggies again pulled with two before Hooker closed out the match with a kill. Texas A&M had three more kills than Texas in the set, but the Aggies committed twice as many attack errors.

The Aggies ended their season with a 20-11 record, falling one win short of equaling the best NCAA Tournament finish in school history.