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For Immediate
Release: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 LADY BRONCS READY FOR INDEPENDENT TOURNAMENT EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team will travel to the NCAA Division I Independent Tournament this weekend in Corpus Christi. The Lady Broncs will open the tournament with a match against Centenary at 1:00 pm. Friday. Heading into the tournament, Texas-Pan American has won nine of their last 11 matches, including a team-record nine match winning streak. The 2001 squad closed the season with nine consecutive wins to set the record. UT Pan American has posted a 2-1 record against the tournament field, which includes Centenary, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lipscomb and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. In October, the Lady Broncs swept Centenary, and defeated TAMU-CC in four games, but fell to the Islanders last week in five games. UTPA has never played IPFW. "We played two of the four teams already, so there won't be many surprises," said UTPA Head Coach Dave Thorn. "Lipscomb should be pretty much like last year, they are an aggressive team that plays good defense. We've never played Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. We'll need to come out aggressive against them, and limit what they do. They are aggressive and quick on defense." Freshman Stephanie Redd (Seguin, TX/Seguin HS) has been UTPA's leading hitter against the tournament field this season, hitting .383 with 30 kills in 60 attempts. Redd also led the team in those matches with 11 blocks. Sophomore Cathi Netemeyer (Los Fresnos, TX/University of Iowa/Los Fresnos HS) has hit .364 with six blocks, while Winker Cruz has hit .353 with five blocks. Freshman setter Katie Burke (Georgetown, TX/Georgetown HS) has also turned in strong performances, averaging 13.42 assists per game in the three matches. "Stephanie has been improving," said Thorn. "She has really come on in the past month or so. Cathi played a good match for us against Corpus Christi." The Lady Broncs out hit Centenary and TAMU-CC .294 to .151, and have averaged 15.7 kills per game, compared to the opposition's 12.9 kills per game. Texas-Pan American will play again Friday against IPFW at 5:00 pm. The Lady Broncs will play the host Islanders at 11 a.m. Saturday, and then finish tournament action against Lipscomb at 3:00 pm.
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