Nov. 30, 2007

Final Stats

AUSTIN - Lawrencia Brown tied with a match-high 12 kills, but No. 3 Texas hit .494 as a team, the fourth-best mark in program history for a match as the Bobcats came up short in their upset bid in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament in Austin with a 3-0 (21-30, 20-30, 13-30) sweep by the Longhorns.

Texas State ends its season at 21-12 overall while the Longhorns (25-3) will take on LSU, who knocked off New Mexico State in five games, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Game one was a battle after Texas State fought back from a 6-3 hole with a 3-0 run to tie it. From there the teams tied seven times, and neither gained a lead larger than two points. The `Cats also gained their first lead of the match at 19-18 on a Brown kill.

Texas refused to drop the opener though, fighting back to tie it at 21-21. Ashley Engle then followed a kill that gave the Longhorns a 22-21 lead with a serve, never stopping until Texas' 9-0 run closed out game one 30-21.

A bid to even the match fell short after Texas started game two with a 10-4 run. The Bobcats would get no closer, trailing by double-digits for most of the game before losing 30-20.

The 2-0 deficit proved too deep a hole for the Bobcats to climb out from as another game three opened with a 17-4 Texas run. The `Cats then fell behind 21-7 and never came closer than that, with the sweep complete at 30-13.

Shelbi Irvin led the `Cats with 19 assists while adding six digs. Jessica Weynand was the top back line player for Texas State with seven digs, while Brittany Collins and Weynand each had a solo block.

The game also marked the end of senior Brandy St. Francis' career at Texas State, which included three Southland Conference Tournament titles in her five seasons in San Marcos.

Lauren Paolini and Destinee Hooker each posted 12 kills for Texas while Brandy Magee added 10, and the Longhorns outblocked Texas State 11.5-3 while holding the Bobcats to 37 kills as a team, their lowest total of the season. Texas totaled only seven errors for the entire match, with their trio in double figures combining for 34 kills and only one miscue.