Allison Enjoys Success

Former Lady Panther Helps Texas

Hannah Allison, a former Siloam Springs standout, has helped lead the Texas Longhorns volleyball team to the Final Four. Allison and the Longhorns will take on Michigan tonight in the the first of two national semifinals.
Hannah Allison, a former Siloam Springs standout, has helped lead the Texas Longhorns volleyball team to the Final Four. Allison and the Longhorns will take on Michigan tonight in the the first of two national semifinals.

Hannah Allison said it was a “miracle” Texas’ volleyball team made the Final Four when she was a freshman in 2010.

She and the Longhorns are back in familiar territory this season, but the team has a very different feeling, Allison said.

Texas (27-4) will take on Michigan in the first national semifinal at 6 p.m. tonight in Louisville, Ky. The match will be televised on ESPN2.

The Longhorns have dropped just one set in four NCAA Tournament matches, including sweeps of No. 15 Florida and No. 4 USC in last weekend’s Austin Regional.

Profile

Hannah Allison

School: Texas

Class: Junior

Height: 5-11

Position: Setter

Notable: Named to the All-Region team for the Austin Regional last weekend. ... Earned All-Big 12 Academic honors and All-Big 12 honorable mention as a sophomore. ... Started 57 of 61 matches at setter for the Longhorns over the past two seasons. ... Became the 11th Texas player to top 2,000 assists in their career earlier this season and ranks 8th all-time. ... Helped the U.S. Junior Women’s national team take fourth place at the FIVB World Championships in 2011. ... Was a two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and led Siloam Springs to four straight state titles.

“We get along well and we do feel confident,” said Allison, who was a two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and led Siloam Springs to four straight state titles.

“This year we’re a lot more focused. We expected to be here, but we have business to care of.”

In 2010, Allison was a freshman setter on a team that was plagued by injuries. Even she admitted the Longhorns were “just happy” to be in the Final Four and lost to eventual national champion Penn State.

They’re looking for more this season.

Allison, a 5-foot-11 junior and team captain, is at the controls of one of the nation’s top offenses as the No. 3 Longhorns lead the country in hitting efficiency. She’s the quarterback of Texas’ 5-1 offense, which changed from a two-setter attack during the middle of this season.

“We’ve really been able to come together and play well together,” Allison said. “It isn’t always true. Sometimes it doesn’t flow, but it’s really been fun.”

Having some of the nation’s top hitters makes Allison’s job easier. But she said she also had to develop more confidence in her middle hitters with the change to a 5-1 offense.

“We needed more balance, and our middles have gotten so much better,” Allison said. “The trade-off is with a 6-2 you always have three hitters on the front row. The risk in the 5-1 is them camping on our outsides. But the middles have done well.

“We really had to build that confidence. We had drills in practice where I could only set the middles. It was going to be perfect overnight, but it developed and by now we feel confident.”

Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said Allison’s development as a setter and a leader have both had an impact on the Longhorns’ success this season.

“Hannah’s become very stable and comfortable running our offense,” Elliott said. “She’s a huge piece of our success, leading and making the right decisions. She’s developed into one of the top setters in the conference and become a great leader for our program.

“She’s definitely earned that spot as our setter. We have such a young team, too. Some of them look to her, and she’s a great role model.”

Allison’s understanding of the offense and maturation on the floor has also come along, Elliott said.

“She’s become easier to coach,” Elliott said. “She understands the defensive matchups and finding the people who are one-on-one. She’s just so confident in what she’s doing now.

“She’s always been solid, but she had so many nerves and anxiety of wanting to be perfection and always wanting to win. But she’s done a really good job of understanding that about herself.”

Allison admitted she hates to lose, but a five-set loss to Iowa State right before the NCAA Tournament may have been just what the Longhorns needed.

“It opened our eyes to some things,” Allison said. “But we took the good from it and moved on. We knew the tournament was about to start.”

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