Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Volleyball Set To Host Chinese National Champions
October 20, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
LUBBOCK, Texas --The Texas Tech volleyball team will deviate from the normal conference schedule and host the professional volleyball team from Zhejiang, China, in an exhibition match on Tuesday night, at the United Supermarkets Arena. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Zhejiang professional team is on a tour of the United States. Tuesday's match is the first of the tour. They will play Wayland Baptist (Oct. 22), TCU (Oct. 24), Texas (Oct. 27 & 28) and Long Beach State (Oct. 30).
Zhejiang plays in Group A (The highest level) of the Chinese Volleyball league, and is the defending national champion. They also took third place in the 2012-13 season.
The Zhejiang squad, founded in 1958, has a storied history of success, including players who have gone on to win national championships and world championships. Zhejiang has won the Chinese National Championship five times, including last year, and has been honored twice by the provincial government for its exploits.
Zhejiang's players have an average age of 21, and though they will be missing three key players for this swing of games in the U.S., they promise to do everything they can to win each of these international matches, as to not disappoint their fans at home.
Texas Tech is coming off arguably one of its biggest wins under head coach Don Flora, coming from behind to defeat Iowa State in five sets. The win marked Tech's first victory over the Cyclones since 2006, and guaranteed the Red Raiders their first winning season since 2001.
The Red Raiders are led by Breeann David and Jenna Allen, who combined for 57 kills in Tech's two matches last week. On the defensive end, Tech is led by Rachel Brummitt, who leads the Big 12 with 375 digs, and ranks 23rd in the NCAA, averaging 5.14 digs per set, along with Mikia Mills and Lauren Douglass who lead Texas Tech with 1.07 blocks per set.
Tuesday's match will be streamed on texastech.tv, and broadcast on KTXT, 88.1 FM.
Additional information about Zhejiang can be found here.
Texas Tech's next Big 12 match will be on Saturday, as the Red Raiders will travel to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. That match is set to begin at 1 p.m., and can be seen on both ESPN3.com and the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
