Texas Bows Out of Playoffs
By Lee Nichols, 9:10PM, Sat. Dec. 9, 2006
All evening at Gregory Gym, it seemed like Texas was hanging on to the cliff by their fingernails. In game 4, the fingers finally got tired: At the NCAA regional on the UT campus at Gregory Gym, the Stanford Cardinal ended the Longhorns' season three games to one, by scores of 30-28, 34-32, 31-33, and 30-24.
Nonetheless, the Longhorns were impressive. Outside hitter Jen Christian was a rock – it seemed like every time she went up for a kill, that ball hit the floor, and 19 times it did. Ashley Engle was right behind her with 18 kills, and Destinee Hooker had 16. Good lord, Hooker is intimidating – she hits the ball with such power. If I ever faced her and saw her jumping up and aiming at me, I'd wet my pants.
Just a few years ago, the Horns didn't even make the playoffs. Last year they got knocked out in the second round. This year they made the Elite Eight. Nice turnaround, ladies – I'm already looking forward to next season.
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Lee Nichols, April 3, 2007
