Burnt Orange Nation, a Texas Longhorns community

"The Texas Volleyball team's three-player recruiting class, headlined by No. 2 recruit Katherine Bell, No. 5 recruit Haley Eckerman and No. 13 recruit Madelyn Hutson, has been ranked No. 1 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com. The 2011 recruiting class marks the sixth-straight season the Longhorns' class has garnered a top-five ranking." Texas will likely be ranked #2 or #3 to start the season, and will once again take part in the Murderer's Row Tournament with Florida, Stanford and PSU to start the season, this time hosted by Stanford.

... join 'em. Jerritt Elliot poached one of the nation's top assistants from Penn State a couple years back, now he's done the same from Nebraska. Although, it must be said that the Gazelles have had a pretty good run of success against the Cornshuckers the past few seasons. I hope Jerritt schedules them for an OOC match every year since we won't be facing them in the Big XII any more.

ESPN College Sports has posted a story on Juliann Faucette on the front page today. "Every top volleyball team has a "hammer," a hitter who at the most crucial moments usually finds a way to put the ball down no matter how much the defense keys on him or her. Faucette, whose father played football and whose mother was a gymnast, is that player for Texas. She's also a natural combination of leader/mediator, being the second-oldest of five daughters."

No recap yet, but it was a wild one in Ames. Hilton Coliseum is one of the toughest places to play in the Big XII, but Texas prevailed 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19. Win streak now at 14, but still only good enough for second in the Big XII and probably a national 2 seed. Selections will be announced on Sunday at 2pm, and I expect Texas to be awarded a host slot for the first and second rounds, to go along with the Regional host slot that was confirmed before the season started. Expect the Gazelles to get hosed by the NCAA again as they always do in the post-season. With 4 Pac10 schools in the Top 10 it's highly likely we will get Cal, USC or UCLA in our Regional, and our girls have struggled against Pac10 teams in the post-season. So they will need a rowdy crowd for all four rounds to make sure they get back to the Final Four this year. BTW, Senior Juliann Faucette finally seems to be rounding back into the form that won her National Freshman of the Year honors. She was recognised as National Player of the Week last week. Good time for her to get on a roll, particularly as thin as we are at the moment due to injuries.

Sorry guys. That's not Mack speaking. Nor is it Rick. That's uber-recruiter Jerritt Elliot talking about yet another monster class he's just inked for 2011. Top 3 in the country for sure, with the #3, #5 and #13 athletes in the country. With only two seniors this year, and getting Bailey Webster back from injury, next year's Gazelles will certainly be the deepest, most physical (if not the most talented) team we've ever had. The only team I think is more talented is the one that featured Destinee, Ashley and Juliann up front - last year's NC runners-up.

'Prior to Lawrence kicking the game-winning 46-yard field goal at the Big 12 Championship against Nebraska, Texas Volleyball head coach Jerritt Elliott sent text messages to all his captains. All season, the Longhorns have been motivated by a theme of "defining moments," so Elliott wrote, "This will be a defining moment for him. This is the moment we want to be in." Once the Longhorns were preparing for the NCAA Volleyball Omaha Regional, Elliott wanted the theme to continue. Football coach Mack Brown shared a Lawrence jersey that Elliott placed in the locker room before the Longhorns took on Nebraska in the regional final. "Sometimes adversity will face you, and you have to figure out what to do to be successful. The jersey was a reminder of what (Hunter) was able to do for our school," senior setter Ashley Engle said.' Jealous PB?