Next Match: LSU 8/29/2015 | 7:30 p.m. Longhorn Network

BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Volleyball opened its season with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-14) defeat of Rice on Friday evening at Gregory Gym in the first match of the American Campus Classic.

The win marked Head Coach Jerritt Elliott 's 400th career win and 350th at Texas in 14 seasons.

Senior Amy Neal led the Longhorns with 11 kills, nine digs and one ace, hitting .350 on 24 swings.

Senior Molly McCage also finished with double-digit kills with 10, hitting .471, while junior Paulina Prieto Cerame had nine and junior Chiaka Ogbogu and freshman Morgan Johnson each added six.

Johnson led Texas with six blocks with McCage not far behind with four.

Sophomore Cat McCoy posted 15 digs, while junior Chloe Collins led the Longhorns with 32 assists, seven digs and three aces.

As a team, Texas hit .333 and held Rice to .067 and outblocked the Owls, 10.0 to 6.0.

In the first set, Texas and Rice stayed close until the Longhorns executed a 13-2 run behind five kills from Prieto Cerame to take an 18-7 lead. Rice fired back, winning back-to-back points, but the Longhorns went on another 5-0 run to take set one, 25-12. Prieto Cerame had six kills in the set, while Collins led with nine assists and five digs.

In the second set, the Longhorns led early, jumping out to a 12-6 lead, but the Owls fired back with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to three and tied it at 16. A Neal kill spurred a 4-0 run to lead 21-17, but Rice came back once again to tie it at 22. Texas won three of the next four points to close out the second set, 25-22.

In set three, the Longhorns and Owls traded points until Texas fired off a 9-1 run to take an 18-10 lead and followed with a 3-1 run to lead, 21-12. From there, UT only allowed two more points from Rice and closed out the set, 25-14.

With the win, Texas improved to 35-7 in season openers, including a 12-3 mark under Elliott.

The Longhorns will return to the court on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 12:30 p.m. to take on UC Irvine and will close out the tournament with LSU at 7:30 p.m.

LSU and and Rice will take the court at 10 a.m. and UC Irvine and Rice will face off at 5 p.m.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Jerritt Elliot

On his overall assessment of the season opener: I thought overall we played at a pretty high level. I was really pleased. You expect some errors, and as I told the team before, I didn't expect them to be perfect tonight. I wanted to see how we responded to each point. In game two, we probably had four or five point opportunities that we didn't convert on to really give us some separation early. Then we kind of got into a tight game, which was good. I told them in the locker room that I want to get in those situations and see how we respond. They did a good job of closing that game out, and then came out and ultimately took the will out of Rice.

On what he is looking to see early: We were doing some film, so I didn't get a chance to see a lot of that first match, but I think Irvine has got two really good outside hitters. We need to be able to contain them. They've got a pretty fast offense, so it'll be a little bit different. It'll be a lot like tonight instead of so right-side heavy. They do have a quick back set as well. They're downloading the film right now, so I'll have a much better opportunity to see that tonight and obviously watch LSU tomorrow. Right now it is all about our side of the net. We've got a talented team. It's about learning how to execute and stay in a system. I'm pleased with our ball control for the most part.

On today being his 400th win: I'm old (laughs). I didn't even know that. For me, the coaching and wins and losses are important, but it's more about seeing the ladies grow and develop and do all of that. One of my players texted me today that she got engaged, so seeing them kind of grow, and the 400 means I have a lot more contact with the players that I've coached. That's the part that you've got to take away from this as a coach because it's a cruel profession and only one team wins - you can go down that road a lot. I just look back on the people that built this program and believed in what we were trying to do when we took this over when it was in bad shape. When they were 10-18 and all of the sudden we had to try to rebuild this program. There are a lot of players that had confidence in me and my staff and the University. It's why all of these great players are here now - because they built something very special.

Junior Outside Hitter, Paulina Prieto Cerame

On being involved on offense: It's a great opportunity, just being able to contribute. I think this team, this year, it's a team thing, and all of us are very involved in everything, so it has been great being a part of it.

On playing in a new position: I'll play anywhere Jerritt wants me to. I definitely think that on the outside there are more demands, so it has been great.

On staying consistent: I think it's patience and our coaches stress that a lot, with me especially. When you come in as a freshmen you kind of just want to kill every ball and you panic when you don't do that. But you learn slowly with the years that you have to be patient and sometimes it's not that you are doing the wrong thing, but every play is different.

Senior Outside Hitter, Amy Neal

On her senior season opener: I just always think to come out and expect the other team to play really well against us. I think every team is going to come out with their best game against us so just kind of focusing on our routines is what we talk about a lot. I treat it like every other game. I think you should treat it the same way.

On the team being prepared: I think our practices in the preseason have been really good and everyone has been really competitive. The freshmen are competing and pushing the upperclassmen, so I don't really think I was nervous to see the team. I think we are all grooving really well together.