Volleyball back on the road

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Red Raiders (2-1) remain on the road as they head to Athens, Georgia to take on Duke, Georgia and Alabama State in their second tournament of the year. Tech is coming off a 2-1 weekend in Boca Raton last weekend and will look to build off the two wins that they closed out FAU's Tournament with.

Tech will face Duke on Wednesday at 5 p.m. followed by its match against host-team Georgia on Thursday at 6 p.m. and finally closing out the tournament against Alabama State at 11 a.m. on Friday. All times listed are central time.

Duke enters the weekend 1-2 after defeating Bryant in its first match of the season before losing to Houston and FIU. Georgia is 2-0 after sweeps of Troy and Samford last weekend and Alabama State is 0-3, falling to Arizona, Fresno State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Red Raiders will be playing Alabama State for the first time in program history and is 0-3 against Duke and 2-2 against Georgia all-time. The Bulldogs took the last matchup against Tech 3-0 back in 2018.

Quick Recap:
Graystone is now 22-4 in opening weekends after the Red Raiders 2-1 weekend that got off to a rocky start but ended on a high note as Tech took a 3-0 win over host team Florida Atlantic and a 3-1 win over a scrappy Kent State team. Reagan Engler and Peyton Dunn had stand out performances in Boca Raton as they were both named to the FAU All-Tournament Team, Engler being awarded MVP.

Quick Notes:
Engler = MVP
Reagan Engler was a star. The junior has moved to outside hitter this offseason in an effort to convert her to a six-rotation player, something she's never done in her career. In her first match in this new role she recorded her first career double-double and notched career highs in kills (16) and digs (10). Engler was named the MVP of the FAU Tournament after totaling 42 kills, 24 digs and 5.0 blocks. Her impact was felt both in her play and leadership as she was vocal in correcting her teammates when needed and also praising them when they made the adjustments.

Dunn Ain't Done
Graduate senior Peyton Dunn was also a bright spot for Tony Graystone's squad. Dunn recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the Red Raiders wins over FAU and Kent State. She led the team with 70 assists and also recorded 28 digs and 3.0 blocks. The Decatur, Texas native joined Engler on the FAU All-Tournament Team as she looked very comfortable in her school colors.

Unique Roster
The Red Raiders are the only team in the country to have at least nine freshmen while also having zero true seniors. Tech has three graduate seniors and are one of just four teams in the country that has zero true seniors joining Princeton, Villanova and Memphis in this unique feat. Tech's nine freshmen are also the second most in the country behind St. Mary's, Pacific, Holy Cross and Wichita St. who all have 10.

Back to Basics
Head coach Tony Graystone enters his 10th season with Texas Tech volleyball. He has the third-most wins in program history (132) and led Tech to an appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He did that because of the recruiting class he got in 2018 that he was able to develop and build around and after a few seasons of using the portal to fill holes in the roster, Graystone went back to what he does best this season - developing talent. The Red Raiders will have nine freshmen on their roster - the most in Graystone's tenure - who he expects to be the core of the team for years to come to get them back to the postseason.

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Players Mentioned

Peyton Dunn

Reagan Engler