BEVO BEAT Volleyball

Texas heads into the final week of non-conference play with a firm grip on its No. 3 ranking

Posted September 16th, 2019

Danny Davis American-Statesman Staff

@aasdanny

On Monday, Texas remained ranked third in the national poll compiled by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

This marks the third straight week that Texas (5-1) has just trailed Nebraska (7-0) and Stanford (5-1) in the AVCA rankings. Nebraska did leapfrog Stanford in this week’s poll following Stanford’s four-set loss to Minnesota. Stanford and Nebraska will meet in Lincoln on Wednesday in what will be a rematch of the NCAA’s 2018 title match.

Stanford’s Saturday slip-up also allowed Texas to pick up two first-place votes on Monday.

Last week, Texas beat both BYU and Wichita State at a showcase hosted by the Shockers. After travelling to Rice on Wednesday, Texas is set to host Texas A&M in a sold-out grudge match this Friday. The Longhorns will then prepare for their Big 12 opener against Iowa State on Sept. 25.

Week 3⃣ #Big12VB awards:

🏐 White: averaged 4.86 kills/set, hitting .417 in the process.
🏐 Petersen: scooped up 39 digs in just seven sets for a league-leading 5.57 avg.
🏐 Nalls: leads #Big12VB freshmen in kills, kills/set, points & points/set.

➡️ https://t.co/p6thSxv1Qu. pic.twitter.com/KZBjW5evns

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 16, 2019

On Monday, Texas also won two of the Big 12’s three weekly awards. Senior outside hitter Micaya White was named the conference’s offensive player of the week. Sophomore libero Sydney Petersen took home the defensive accolades.

White averaged 4.86 kills while hitting .417 over the seven sets she worked last week. Petersen produced a season-high 19 digs against a BYU team that is now ranked 12th nationally. She then bested that number by one dig in the following day’s sweep of Wichita State.

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