Texas freshman middle blocker Khat Bell is out for the remainder of the year after sustaining a season-ending ACL injury in the match against Kansas on Saturday.

“It’s very tough, especially for a freshman that was so excited to get into NCAA postseason play and especially with the way that she was playing,” said head coach Jerritt Elliott. “She had 34 kills on her last 38 attempts with no errors. She was quickly turning into one of the best middle blockers in the country.”

Bell had a stellar freshman campaign, averaging 2.67 points a set while playing in every single match for the Longhorns. Bell was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week three times this year. She made a huge impact in the middle for Texas since her move there earlier in the year from outside hitter, giving them a balance that was missing for much of the year.
Despite being a freshman, Bell was the team’s vocal leader, bringing unbridled enthusiasm and energy to the court and her teammates.

“This team has been through it last year,” Elliott said. “We went through the injury bug and fortunately, up to this point, we’ve been pretty good about staying healthy. We still have a very talented group. There are players that are ready to step up and play at a very high level, and we are still very much in the national championship picture."

Printed on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 as: Bell lost for rest of 2011 season after suffering severe knee injury