By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — Outside hitter Amy Neal had a team-leading 17 kills Friday to lead the No. 3 University of Texas volleyball team past No. 17 Purdue, 3-1 (25-14, 14-25, 25-19, 27-25), in the second round of the NCAA Championship at Gregory Gym.
The Longhorns (27-2) advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinal for the 10th consecutive year and the 28th time in program history. UT reached at least [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]27 wins for the fifth consecutive season, and has won at least 25 matches in a season for the 30th time in program history, including each of the last nine years.
The 2015 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, Neal was one of five Longhorns with eight or more kills. Middle blockers Molly McCage and Chiaka Ogbogu and outside hitter Yaazie Bedart-Ghani had nine kills each; McCage also had a pair of blocks and hit a match-high .304, while Ogbogu added eight digs and four blocks. Junior outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame chipped in eight.
Neal has either led the Longhorns or tied for the team lead in kills in 23 matches this season.
Junior setter Chloe Collins led both teams with 44 assists, while sophomore libero Cat McCoy had a match-high 18 digs.
Texas hit .219 in the match while holding Purdue to .167.
The Longhorns improved to 61-9 (.871) all-time in NCAA tournament matches played in Austin and 81-29 (.736) in all NCAA Championship matches.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]
Discover more from Horns Illustrated
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.