Texas Tech Volleyball takes on No. 20 Kansas State
November 18, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech volleyball team will travel to Manhattan, Kan., to take on the No. 20 Kansas State Wildcats at 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 20, at the Ahearn Field House. The Red Raiders will look to avenge a 3-0 loss from Oct. 16 at the hands of the Wildcats.
Tech (9-14, 5-12 Big 12) will head into the match against Kansas State (17-8, 11-5 Big 12) after a 3-0 victory over Iowa State in Lubbock. Kansas State, fresh off a 3-0 sweep of Oklahoma in Manhattan, is riding a three-match winning streak. Tech is looking for its first consecutive wins in the Big 12 conference.
Last time out, Texas Tech completed the season sweep of Iowa State with a win at the United Spirit Arena. Game one was a struggle for both teams with neither hitting over .040, but the Red Raiders finished off the game 31-29. Tech improved its' offensive numbers and held the Cyclones off with wins in game two (30-27) and game three (30-25) to close out the match. Senior Kelly Johnson and sophomore Kiley Lyons led the Red Raider attack with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Senior setter Laura Grote dished out 43 assists. Defensively, junior Desiree Batista continued her consistent play with 21 digs. Sophomore Nina Miller finished the match with five total blocks.
On the year, Johnson leads the Red and Black offensive attack with 4.83 kills per-game, which is second in the conference. Lyons is second on the team with a 2.65 average. Batista ranks third in the Big 12 with 0.48 aces per-game with 32 during conference play. She is also seventh in the conference with 3.89 digs per-game. Junior Brianna Florus is the leading blocker for Tech with 1.19 per conference game.
For the Wildcats, senior Vali Hejjas puts down 3.92 kills per-game, which is ninth in the Big 12. She is also ranked No. 5 in the conference with 0.46 services aces per-game. Libero Angie Lastra leads the Big 12 with 35 aces, an average of 0.57 per game. The freshman also averages 3.93 digs per-game, good enough for sixth in the league. Senior Gabby Guerre is seventh in the conference with 11.31 assists per-game. At the net, senior Lisa Martin and sophomore Joy Hamlin share the fifth-place position in the Big 12 with an identical 1.40 blocks per-game.
When the two teams played Oct. 16 in Lubbock, then-No. 16 Kansas State walked away with a 30-28, 30-16, 30-24 victory. The Red Raider offense was never able to get on track against the Wildcat defense; Tech hit -.016 for the match. Johnson led the way with 14 kills and eight digs. Freshman Amy Charlebois added eight kills and led the team with a .227 hitting percentage. Grote finished the match with 25 assists and seven digs. Batista chipped in seven digs on the night. Florus led the Red Raiders at the net with seven total blocks.
Texas Tech trails the all-time series 7-14 against the Kansas State Wildcats. The Red Raiders have lost six in a row to the Wildcats and have never won in Manhattan. Since the inception of the Big 12, Tech has won just five of the 17 match-ups. Texas Tech's last victory against Kansas State came on Sept. 22, 2001, at home. Tech won the match 3-1.
After the match, the Red Raiders will return home for their final home match of the season when they take on the Kansas Jayhawks. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start Wed., Nov. 24 at the United Spirit Arena.
