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For Immediate
Release: Friday, November 15, 2002 LADY BRONCS SPLIT AT INDEPENDENT CHAMPIONSHIPS CORPUS CHRISTI, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team got a record-setting performance from freshman setter Katie Burke (Georgetown, TX/Georgetown HS) en route to a split on the first day of action at the Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Southern Independent Championships at Moody Gym on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi campus Friday. Burke had 78 assists in the Lady Broncs' two matches to set a single-season mark for assists as Texas-Pan American defeated Centenary, 30-15, 30-17 and 30-21 before losing to Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 30-25, 30-28 and 30-14. Texas-Pan American recorded its best hitting percentage of the season against the Ladies, out-hitting Centenary .473 to .099. The Lady Broncs' .473 hitting percentage was the second best ever by a UT Pan American team, second only to the mark of .478, set against Texas Southern in September, 2000. Sophomore outside hitter Cathi Netemeyer (Los Fresnos, TX/University of Iowa/Los Fresnos HS) had 11 kills and a .667 hitting percentage, tying her for the fifth best single-game percentage in Lady Broncs' history. Burke brought her season assist total to 1,118. The previous mark of 1,073 assists was set by Lorena Lopez in 2000. UT Pan American lost big leads twice against the Mastodons. They took a 13-4 lead in the first game, and were up, 24-20 in the second game, only to have IPFW come from behind twice. Against Centenary, junior outside hitter Jaclyn Muszynski (Walnut, CA/Walnut HS) had 14 kills for UTPA, while junior outside hitter Winker Cruz (Harlingen, TX/Harlingen South HS) added 11. Burke and junior Jena Rae Rosales (McAllen, TX/McAllen HS) each had 10 digs. Tracee Byrd led Centenary with seven kills and a .417 hitting percentage, while Lauren Sledge had 18 assists for the Ladies. Muszynski had 17 kills and 18 digs against IPFW. Netemeyer had 11 digs, and Burke added 10. Fabiana Souza had 19 kills for the Mastodons, Janelle Pollard added 15 and Kirsta Solberg added 12. "We played solidly throughout the match against Centenary, "said UTPA Head Coach Dave Thorn. "We made no major mistakes. We came out ready to play, and executed on offense and defense. Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne was one of the tougher defensive teams we've played. They out dug us, touched everything, and won it on defense. It was nice to see Katie break the record. She's been improving all year, and for her to do this in her first year just shows her potential." With the split, UTPA is now 14-15. Centenary dropped to 12-28, while IPFW improved to 14-18. The Lady Broncs will conclude tournament action Saturday when they play the host Islanders at 11 a.m; and then meet Lipscomb at 3:00 pm.
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