Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. -- Big 12 player of the year Destinee Hooker hammered 23 kills and the second-ranked Texas volleyball team continued its domination over Texas A&M with a three-set sweep in the NCAA Omaha Regional.
The Longhorns (27-1) needed just 90 minutes to win 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 and advance to Saturday's final against Nebraska, which beat Iowa State on Friday.
Texas has won 12 straight matches and 14 sets in a row against the Aggies (20-11).
Hooker's 23 kills on 43 swings equaled the number she had in last year's national semifinal against Stanford.
"I don't know how many of y'all would raise your hand [to] go out there and play against her," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli told reporters after the match. "That's the ninth time I've played against her, and the last. I don't know that there will ever be a player who can do the things she does."
Passing breakdowns forced Texas to go to Hooker often in the first two sets. With so much of the offense running through her early, she changed her game a bit to allow Julianne Faucette and Ashley Engle to become more involved.
"I was working more on secondary shots," Hooker said. "You don't want to kill the ball every time, and they were starting to read the goals really well, so I used the second tempo, and it worked for me."
Faucette had 11 kills on 24 swings, and Engle had six on 10 swings.
Hooker, who hit .465, accounted for 27 points and had seven digs and a hand in five blocks. The first of her three errors didn't come until late in the second set.
The Longhorns created space between themselves and the Aggies on the strength of 6-0 runs in each set.
The Aggies put up some resistance in the third set, but the Longhorns never trailed after scoring five straight points to break a 4-4 tie. Jennifer Doris produced all three of her service aces during the run.
"That's a bunch of really confident girls," the Aggies' Jennifer Banse said. "There's nothing in their heads other than beating balls and beating whoever is on the other side of the net."
The Longhorns would advance to the national final four for the second straight year with a win Saturday.
"We're really excited," Hooker said. "The veterans have been here before. We know what it feels like. We want our whole team to feel and experience what we've gone through."
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