FORT COLLINS, Colo. – No. 3 Texas used 20 kills from Ebony Nwanebu to defeat Wichita State 3-1 at the Rams Volleyball Classic. The Longhorns won by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-21.
 
Jody Larson led the Shockers with 19 kills, while Abbie Lehman had 13 kills and hit .650. Emily Hiebert had 50 assists, 11 digs and six kills, while Giorgia Civita had 19 digs.
 
The two teams traded points early in the first set until a kill by Jody Larson and a service ace by Tabitha Brown put the Shockers up 12-10. Texas scored three-straight to take a 13-12 lead and then used a 5-0 run to increase the lead to 22-17. UT went on to win the set 25-20.
 
The Shockers used a couple blocks and kills from Ltehman and Hiebert to take a 5-2 lead in the second set. The Longhorns answered with a 6-0 run to go in front 8-5 and they increased the lead to 16-9 after a Shocker ball handling error. WSU responded with two kills from Mikaela Raudsepp and a block from Larson to pull within 16-12. A kill by Brown cut the lead to 21-17, but UT won the set 25-22.
 
A Hiebert kill gave WSU an early 8-4 lead in the third set, but the Longhorns used a 5-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. The two teams traded points until two-straight kills from Raudsepp gave WSU a 15-13 lead. A Lehman kill increased the lead to 20-17, but UT scored five-straight to take a 22-20 lead. WSU tied it at 22 on a block by Raudsepp and Hiebert and went in front 23-22 on a kill by Larson. WSU won the set 25-23 after kills from Hiebert and Larson.
 
The fourth set went back and forth until UT used a 3-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Kills from Larson, Hiebert and Brown pulled WSU within 16-15 and a Hiebert service ace tied it at 16. Three-straight Longhorn kills gave UT a 21-17 lead and they reached match point at 24-20. UT won the set 25-21.
 
The Shockers are next in action on Sun., Sept. 11 against Samford at 1 p.m. (Central).