For Immediate Release: Friday, August 30, 2002
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Director of Athletic Media Relations, (956) 381-2240

LADY BRONCS FALL TO SAN DIEGO, TEXAS

AUSTIN, TX-A loss is rarely satisfying. However, Head Coach Dave Thorn of The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team preferred to look at how much better his team played at the end of the day on the first day of the 2002 season.

The Lady Broncs fell to San Diego Friday evening, 30-15-, 30-19 and 30-21 after losing to Texas Friday morning, 30-14, 30-11 and 30-14 at the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational at Gregory Gym on the UT campus.

Junior outside hitter Jaclyn Muszynski (Walnut, CA/Walnut HS) had five kills and hit .625 in the third game of the USD match, and led Texas-Pan American with nine kills overall. Sophomore outside hitter Cathi Netemeyer (Los Fresnos, TX/Los Fresnos HS/Iowa) and freshman middle blocker Danielle Holthe (Covina, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial HS) added six kills apiece, while freshman setter Katie Burke (Georgetown, TX/Georgetown HS) had 19 assists and four blocks.

“While you can tell we have a young team, we’re getting better every time we play,” said Thorn. “We played one of the top teams in the Big 12 and a top team from the Big West, which is one of the top volleyball conferences in the country. We outblocked San Diego, and that was a real positive sign. In the third game, we had 15 digs and hit .294, and we cut down on our hitting errors and our reception errors. Jaclyn came on strong in the San Diego match, and Katie Burke had four blocks. We would have had a few more blocks, but San Diego played such great defense that they covered some balls that should have gone down. Against Texas, we had our moments, we kept battling, and we gave it a good effort. We knew going in that it was going to be a tough match, since Texas is a very good team, and we played hard right to the end.”

Noel Frohman had 16 kills and Debra Robertson had 13 for the Toreros, who also got 50 assists from Holly Olmsted and 15 digs from Katie Kahlweiss. For Texas, Bethany Howden had 16 kills and Kathy Hahn added 10.  Muszynski and Netemeyer had six kills each for UTPA against Texas, while Burke contributed 14 assists.

The Lady Broncs dropped to 0-2, while Texas and San Diego each improved to 1-0. UT Pan American will conclude tournament action when they play Virginia Saturday.

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