Tech Volleyball Hosts Iowa State This Weekend
November 12, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - Senior Laura Grote and Kelly Johnson will take the Texas Tech women's volleyball team into the match up with the Iowa State Cyclones this weekend in hopes of ending Tech's four-match losing streak. Tech (8-14, 4-14 Big 12) will play host to the Cyclones (8-17, 1-15 Big 12) who currently sit at the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
Tech is coming off a marathon of a match against the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, where the Red Raiders left the contest with their fourth straight loss of the season. The close match marks the third five-game match the Red Raiders have lost this season, and one of many matches that the Raiders lost by a two-point margin.
Oklahoma came out strong in the opening game taking it by two at 30-28 before Tech returned the favor in the second game with a 33-31 victory. Tech would close out the third game with a score of 31-29 before the Sooners would push in the end to close out the match with scores of 30-28 and 15-8.
Johnson led the charge with 25 kills while freshman Amy Charlebois and sophomore Kiley Lyons pounded down 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Senior Laura Grote dished out 55 assists, a season high, while Johnson and junior Desiree Batista combined to serve up seven aces in the match. As a team, the Red Raiders set a season-high 15 aces in the match against the Sooners.
On the season Johnson continues to pace the offense with 4.79 kills per-game in league play. Johnson's mark ranks her second in the conference in kills per-game as the senior has pounded down 377 kills on the year.
Junior Desiree Batista, from the backcourt, has tallied 296 digs on the season while averaging 3.75 digs per-game in Big 12 play. Batista holds the ninth place spot in her respective defensive position, while ranking fourth in the conference with .46 aces per-game.
Iowa State is entering the match after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Missouri Tigers. Ashlie McWee led the Cyclones with seven kills in the match followed by Meghan Ferrie and Erin Boeve with six apiece. Brittany Dalager led the defensive effort for ISU with 16 digs and three assists. Iowa State's only win in conference came against Oklahoma, as the Cyclones were able to pull out a 3-1 victory on the road against the Sooners.
Tech was able to take care of the Cyclones in the two team's first meeting this year in Ames, as the Red Raiders walked away with a 3-1 victory under their belts. Tech opened the match with a 30-28 win before the Cyclones sent the Raiders to intermission with a 30-28 loss on their minds. Tech closed out the match behind the arms of Johnson and Lyons with 20 and 11 kills, respectively.
In the win Grote posted 29 assists and 20 digs to pace the Red Raiders to the victory. Tech out hit the Cyclones in the match 64 to 59 on the night, but the story of the match up was the defensive show both teams put on as the Cyclones posted 102 to Tech's 99-digs.
Tech leads the overall series against ISU 18-2, with one of Tech's losses against the Cyclones coming last year in a 3-1 loss on Tech's home court. Tech is currently 15-1 against the Cyclones since the inception of the Big 12.
The two team's second and final regular season match up is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena on Saturday.
