Red Raiders drop first match of the season

Friday, August 29

Boca Raton, FL

9:00 a.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

0-1,0-0Big 12

Western Carolina

1-0,0-0SoCon

Texas Tech

Western Caro.

Red Raiders drop first match of the season

August 29, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Engler, McKenzie shine in Tech's opening match

By: Jay Strader

BOCA RATON, Florida – Texas Tech dropped its season opener to Western Carolina (1-0) on Friday morning in Boca Raton as part of the FAU Tournament. The Red Raiders (0-1) got great performances out of junior Reagan Engler and freshman Kenna McKenzie but fell 3-2 to the Catamounts.

Engler played her first match as an outside hitter after making the transition to that role in offseason. She played in all six rotations and recorded her first career double-double going for 16 kills and 10 digs. Kenna McKenzie also left her handprint all over the game going for 14 kills in her collegiate debut.

Taylor Bahnub, also making her collegiate debut after redshirting at Clemson last season, finished the match with eight kills as Addie Kanouff and Jasmine Martin each finished with seven. Katelyn Cochran led the way with 24 assists as her counterpart, Peyton Dunn, tacked on 13. Sierra Grizzle added seven assists and led the match with 24 digs.

Ashlyn Bellamy finished with 12 digs and had a match-high four aces from the service line. Aliyah McDonald added two kills but made her mark on the defensive side of the net, getting in on four blocks.

How it happened:

The Red Raiders came out the gate strong, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the Catamounts responded with a 5-0 run. The first set went back and forth until, with the game tied at 16, Western Carolina went on another 5-0 run to make it 21-16 which was enough separation to get them the win.
Tech responded well in the second set led by a barrage of McKenzie and Engler swings as they noted things up 1-1. The second set was another back-and-forth affair with the largest lead being four in favor of the Red Raiders.
Set three was dominated by the Red Raiders. Tech broke a 14-14 tie with an 8-0 run and were able to close out the set with a 25-19 win to go up 2-1.
Western Carolina responded with a dominating set of its own as they went on to win 25-17. Tied 13-13, the Catamounts went on a 7-2 run leading to their eventual win.
The Catamounts jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the deciding set and although McKenzie rattled off three-straight kills, Western Carolina held tough to secure the win.

UP NEXT: The Red Raiders will return to action later to night as they face Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. CT.