The blur of Demetria Sance and Erin Aldrich, sporting Longhorn Volleyball jersey numbers 1 & 2 respectively, is an electric fence of ball-blocking power. They are magic to see live and in the flesh, but don’t expect to be able to detectthe nuance of all their moves with the naked eye.
They jump. The ball’s gone. Opponents are left in the dust. It’s that simple.
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Demetria Sance #1 and Erin Aldrich #2 |
My son ran to the car waving an envelope, obviously pleased with himself. The tickets he won for that night’s UT volleyball game couldn’t have come at a better time. Chronicle writers Robert Bryce and Lee Nichols were raving all season about this year’s squad, and we were set to do a feature (their profiles of Sance and Aldrich appear below). I wanted to see for myself.
The match started out friendly enough — a meeting of two well-suited, congenial competitors. Then things turned upside-down. Oh. UT hadn’t even played Sance in the first game. Spike! Dig! Kill! It was all over.
This week’s feature highlights just two players on the 1998 UT Women’s Volleyball team. But take it from this fan, the entire squad is breathtaking. Lakisha Bledsoe, Katie Austin, Jill Gremmel, and all the others earn their share of glory.
Like the Univision announcer in the World Cup soccer broadcasts, the announcer for the UT home games has his own special style for calling the triumphs of each shot. Throughout a home game you might hear his familiar “Erin Allllllllllllllllll-drich!” or “Kill for Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” a dizzying number of times. And every time he shouts, “Point, Texas!” the loyal crowd responds in kind.
We’ll be in the stands this weekend. We invite you to join in the excitement to cheer on the Longhorn volleyball women as they give two more teams the ol’ one-two.
— Kate X Messer
This article appears in November 20 • 1998 and November 20 • 1998 (Cover).