Tech Volleyball Hosts Missouri
November 17, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech hosts Missouri during the mid-week Big 12 match and then heads to College Station for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Aggies. Wednesday's match begins at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena, while Sunday's event is slated for 3 p.m.
Please Note: Wednesday's match features a time shift to accommodate a local television broadcast of the contest.
The match will air on "FOX34 News Now" channel 34.2 and Suddenlink cable channel 9 and will feature the video feed from the United Spirit Arena with audio provided by Matt Driskill and Harley Chambliss who broadcast all home matches from courtside and who sometimes knock monitors over to the amazement of staff seated across the floor.
Mizzou (17-11, 8-8 Big 12)
Missouri is seeking their first three-match win streak in Big 12 play this season on Wednesday. A win would also put the Tigers at 9-8 in league play and would be head coaches' Wayne and Susan Kreklow's 200th victory during their tenure at the helm of the Tigers. Mizzou cracked the Big 12's top six after topping Colorado on Saturday, which fares well for the team as the last three times that Mizzou finished the season in sixth-place--2003, 2006 and 2007--it earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Paola Ampudia leads the squad with 204 kills in her last 12 matches which are 121 more than the next closest Tiger and are tops in the Big 12 over that span.
Tech is 11-17 all-time versus Mizzou, including a sweep by the Tigers in Columbia in October.
Texas A&M (14-10, 7-9 Big 12 heading into Wednesday's match at Oklahoma)
The Aggies, who have received votes in the top-25 this season, slipped into a 7th-place tie with Kansas after dropping a match to No. 9 Nebraska, 3-1, on Saturday. Led by Sarah Ammerman's 4.30 kps, the team features two other regular players who average more than 2.5 kps and make for a dynamic offense.
Head Coach Laurie Corbelli is in her 17th season guiding the Aggies, with a 357-168 record over that span. Tech is 29-49 all-time with Texas A&M, including losing its home-opener this season at the Aggie's hands.
Texas Tech (2-23, 0-16 Big 12)
Shaking things up in the match with K-State, head coach Trish Knight went with a youth movement, and the first-year head coach stayed with that trend last week. A significant highlight for the season was Tech's first-set win over No. 2 Texas in Austin (the only team to pull off such a feat this season) utilizing that youth movement.
Tech is led by Dowdy's 3.28 kills per set and Karlyn Meyers' .266 hitting efficiency. Barbara Conceicao, Miara Cave and Hayley Ball each adds 1.96, 1.63 and 0.95 kps, respectively to an offense which is directed by setter Meyers (8.09 assists per set). Errors in the attack have plagued the Red Raiders who as a team hit .127.
Defensively, Tech gets 2.33 digs per set from Jenn Goehry, Dowdy adds 1.74 dps to the defensive effort and Aleah Hayes adds 1.53.The blocking game, led by Conceicao's 1.28 bps--which is good enough for second in the Big 12--and Meyers' 0.78 bps has been the statistical highlight of the 2009 squad.
