 "Photo: Shelley Neuman, Daily Texan Staff")
After brushing aside four consecutive opponents in 3-0 sweeps and in position to extend that streak to five, the No. 4 Longhorns were pushed to the limit by a gritty No. 14 Kansas State team in Manhattan, Kan.
Texas took a two-sets-to-none advantage before Kansas State claimed the next two to force the match into a decisive fifth set. In the final stanza, the Longhorns were able to stem the Wildcats surge for the 3-2 victory.
“In the Big 12, you are tested night-in and night-out,” said head coach Jerritt Elliott. “Against Oklahoma, we were tested and didn’t respond, but tonight we responded on the road in a much more chaotic environment. This shows some growth. You don’t want to have to play five, but if you do, it shows a lot about the character of your team.”
In a back-and-forth first set that went into extra points, Texas managed to fight off four Kansas State set points before stringing together three straight points of their own for the 30-28 win.
Texas was able to claim the second frame by a more comfortable 25-21 margin and headed into the break with hopes of a fifth consecutive sweep still alive.
Kansas State, however, had different plans and made it clear that it did not plan on just going away following the intermission.
The Wildcats battled through two tightly contested sets, coming out on the upper end of both by 25-22 scores to tie the match at two sets apiece.
In the final frame, Texas jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage, fueled by three kills by junior Destinee Hooker and never looked back. The Longhorns were able to extend their lead to seven at its largest point, and a kill by senior Lauren Paolini closed out the set and match 15-19.
“It was a seesaw battle,” Elliott said. “I thought we did a great job in Game 1 and just held strong. We had a couple of set points against us, and we really made some big plays to get back into it. Kansas State played really well in the third and fourth, but I was very pleased with our effort in the fifth. This is a huge win in a tough place to play.”
The Longhorns were led in the match by junior Ashley Engle. The opposite hitter recorded a season-best 24 kills in the match, while committing only four errors and hitting at a remarkable .488 clip.
“Ashley was very good for us,” Elliott said. “She steadied out our passing and offensively [Michelle] Kocher did a nice job of finding her. Our middles also did a nice job of holding their middles and opening up some seams for Ashley.”
Kansas State senior Nataly Korobkova nearly matched Engle’s effort on the other side with 23 kills in the match but was not quite as efficient as Engle, committing 10 errors and posting a .232 hitting percentage.
“[Korobkova] was really good tonight,” Elliott said. “She struggled a little down at our place, but tonight she played like the All-American that she is. We had a hard time containing her, but in Game 5 we finally got a couple blocks on her, and that was the difference in the final set.”
Despite a strong showing in many ways, the Wildcats cannot help but look back on Saturday’s match and wonder what could have been.
“We were in it and had an opportunity to win,” said Kansas State head coach Suzie Fritz. “We had an opportunity to win Game 1 but we had too many inopportune plays of not making a play on our end. I thought we did a tremendous job to win Game 3 and 4 to get to a Game 5. I’m proud of our team for how they played.”
Now the Longhorns can finally look ahead to their rematch with No. 3 Nebraska, a team that beat them in the first conference match of the season. A win against the Cornhuskers on Wednesday would guarantee the Longhorns at least a share of the Big 12 title, as long as they don’t slip up in any of their three remaining regular-season contests.
“To be in our conference and play two matches against a No. 3 team and a No. 14 team in consecutive matches is exactly what we will face in the NCAA Tournament,” Elliott said. “Both teams will be excited on Wednesday, and it is going to be one heck of a match.”
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