What UT fans also saw last season was the emergence of Kathy Tilson, a 6-0 junior outside hitter from Austin Westlake High School. Tilson was not a highly recruited player, but after a promising freshman campaign, she had what some would call a breakthrough season last fall. Tilson earned All-Big 12 acclaim as she became only the fourth player in UT history to record more than 400 kills in a season. Her 425 was second to Aldrich's 470 for the year. Nobody knew her name two years ago.
Some players are great early, but peak and never improve.
I was not all that outstanding in high school. But I had always worked real hard at getting better, and I kept working hard when I got to Texas. I hit the weight room my freshman year and got physically stronger. And that made me mentally stronger as well. Then I guess everything just fell into place last year.