Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Missouri
Tech Falls to Surging Tigers
October 06, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech volleyball ran smack into one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 Saturday and fell 3-0 (30-23, 31-29 and 30-16) to Missouri in Columbia. The Tigers have won three-straight matches after dropping their first four conference battles.
The Red Raiders fell to 7-10, 1-7 Big 12, while Mizzou improved to 10-6 and 3-4 in conference action.
For the third-straight match, Tech fell victim to a hot-hitting opponent. Missouri hit a sizzling .387 compared to the Red Raiders' .187. Mizzou committed just 12 errors and had 53 kills to 40 from Tech.
The Tigers surged out of the gates and took a 5-0 lead early. Tech battled back to cut the deficit to 9-8 before Mizzou jumped ahead to a four-point advantage. The Red Raiders continued to battle, but Missouri took advantage of .488 hitting in the game to take it 30-23.
The hot hand switched sides at the beginning of the second game as Tech rolled out to a quick 5-1 advantage to force the Tigers to take a time out. Neither team was willing budge an inch until Mizzou got to game point at 29-28. The Red Raiders got a point to even the tally before the Tigers nailed down the final two points to take the 31-29 decision.
Game three was almost all Mizzou in the early going. The Tigers jumped out to a 15-6 lead before Tech surged back to narrow it to 18-12 for Missouri. It was all Tigers from there, however, as Mizzou rode a hot hand to the 3-16 win to complete the sweep.
Michelle Flores led the way for Tech with 11 kills on a respectable .300 hitting to give her double-digit kills in 14 of the Red Raiders' 17 matches this season. Alicia Ostmeyer added eight kills from her middle blocker position, while Brandi Hood chipped in seven kills and two blocks.
Na Yang led the Tigers with 15 kills on .419 hitting, while Weiwen Wang added 13 kills on .476 hitting.
Tech will now return to Lubbock to battle Oklahoma Wednesday in the United Spirit Arena. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
