Tournament capsules for the teams at the NCAA volleyball regional at Qwest Center Omaha.
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TEXAS
Record: 26-1; 19-1 Big 12 (first place)
Coach: Jerritt Elliott (ninth season)
NCAA seed and national rank: Both No. 2
NCAA appearance: 26th
Top terminators: Destinee Hooker (4.88 kills per set); Juliann Faucette (3.20 kps); Ashley Engle (1.86 kps).
Top blockers: Jennifer Doris (1.13 blocks per set); Rachael Adams (1.12 bps); Hooker (0.83 bps).
Top diggers: Heather Kisner (4.09 digs per set); Hooker (2.36 dps); Sydney Yogi (1.93 dps).
The setters: Engle (8.96 assists per set); Michelle Kocher (6.18 aps)
Standout stats: The Longhorns lead the Big 12 and rank second in the NCAA in team hitting percentage (.339). They’re also fourth in the country in blocks per set (3.04).
Road to the regional: Def. Texas State 3-0; def. TCU 3-0.
Against the Omaha field: 2-0 vs. Texas A&M; 1-1 vs. Iowa State; 2-0 vs. Nebraska
Honor roll: Hooker became UT’s first Big 12 player of the year in five seasons, and the three-time NCAA high-jump champ is a top candidate for AVCA national player of the year honors.
Coachspeak: “Obviously, we are not going to be very well-liked there. But it is a way for these girls to wipe off a really bad memory that they have.” — Elliott, whose Longhorns lost to Stanford in last year’s NCAA semifinals at Qwest Center Omaha.
IOWA STATE
Record: 27-4; 17-3 Big 12 (second place)
Coach: Christy Johnson-Lynch (fifth season)
NCAA seed and national rank: No. 7 and No. 5
NCAA appearance: Fifth
Top terminators: Victoria Henson (4.13 kps); Rachel Hockaday (3.23 kps); Debbie Stadick (2.37 kps); Jamie Straube (2.16 kps); Kelsey Petersen (2.04 kps).
Top blockers: Straube (1.13 bps); Stadick (1.02 bps); Petersen (0.70 bps).
Top diggers: Ashley Mass (5.51 dps); Kaylee Manns (3.25 dps); Henson (3.05 dps); Hockaday (2.99 dps); Caitlin Mahoney (2.23 dps).
The setter: Manns (12.22 aps).
Standout stats: Manns, a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a senior, is the first player in league history with 5,500 assists, 1,000 digs, 300 kills and 300 blocks in a career.
Road to the regional: Def. George Mason 3-0; def. Wichita State 3-0.
Against the Omaha field: 1-1 vs. Nebraska; 1-1 vs. Texas; 2-0 vs. Texas A&M.
Honor roll: Mass not only was the Big 12’s libero of the year, she’s the first libero in conference history to be named first-team all-conference.
Coachspeak: “It helps our confidence, at least a little bit, that all three of the teams we could see this weekend we’ve beaten. I don’t know that it means much more than that, but at least we know we can do it.” — Johnson-Lynch, whose Cyclones this year got their first win ever over NU and handed Texas its only loss.
NEBRASKA
Record: 25-6; 16-4 (3rd place) Big 12
Coach: John Cook (10th season)
NCAA seed and national rank: No. 10 and No. 7
NCAA appearance: 28th
Top terminators: Hannah Werth (3.20 kps), Tara Mueller (3.01 kps), Lindsey Licht (2.82 kps), Kori Cooper (2.46 kps), Brooke Delano (2.33 kps).
Top blockers: Delano (1.14 bps), Licht (0.94 bps), Cooper (0.86 bps).
Top diggers: Kayla Banwarth (4.91 dps), Werth (3.02 dps), Mueller (2.64 dps), Sydney Anderson (2.45 dps).
The setter: Anderson (11.48 aps).
Standout stats: Banwarth averaged an eye-popping 7.17 digs per set through NU’s first two postseason matches, the most for any player whose team is still alive in the tournament. Nebraska is the only program in the nation to make the round of 16 every year since the 64-team bracket began in 1998.
Road to the regional: Def. Coastal Carolina 3-0; def. No. 20 Northern Iowa 3-0.
Against the Omaha field: 1-1 vs. Iowa State; 1-1 vs. Texas A&M; 0-2 vs. Texas.
Honor roll: Werth is the Big 12 freshman of the year, the Central Region freshman of the year and a top candidate for AVCA national freshman of the year.
Coachspeak: “You’re playing the same teams. We know what they’re going to do, they know what we’re going to do. So now it’s going to come down to execution, what team is going to impose its will the most, and what team has invested the most to this point.” — Cook, on Omaha’s all-Big 12 regional.
TEXAS A&M
Record: 20-10; 11-9 Big 12 (tied fourth place)
Coach: Laurie Corbelli (17th season)
NCAA appearance: 18th
Top terminators: Sarah Ammerman (4.28 kps); Jennifer Banse (3.40 kps); Mary Batis (2.96 kps).
Top blockers: Lindsey Miller (0.85 bps); Alisia Kastmo (0.65 bps).
Top diggers: Tori Mellinger (3.32 dps); Batis (3.36 dps); Ammerman (2.97 dps); Banse (2.96 dps); Kristen Schevikhoven (2.68 dps).
The setters: Schevikhoven (11.29 aps); Jola Kelner (7.21 aps).
Standout stats: A&M enters the weekend leading the nation in both assists (14.25) and kills (15.08) per set. The Aggies also rank among the top 25 in the NCAA with 17.10 digs per set.
Road to the regional: Def. No. 19 Arizona 3-1; def. No. 18 LSU 3-2.
Against the Omaha field: 0-2 vs. Texas; 0-2 vs. Iowa State; 1-1 vs. Nebraska.
Honor roll: Seniors Ammerman and Banse both were first-team All-Big 12 picks, the first time A&M has had multiple league selections since 2004.
Coachspeak: “We’re happy to always get a shot at the best. When we play great teams, it brings out the best in us. That’s what I’m looking forward to.” — Corbelli, whose Aggies aim to snap an 11-match losing string against Texas.
— Chad Purcell
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