Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
West Virginia
Red Raiders back in action this weekend
September 30, 2026 | Women's Volleyball
Tech hosts West Virginia Friday before going on the road to Arizona
LUBBOCK, Texas โ Texas Tech (8-6, 0-2) will host West Virginia on Friday night at 6 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena before heading to Tucson to face Arizona on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
The Mountaineers (8-4, 1-1) come into Lubbock after a successful opening weekend in which they took down No. 9 Arizona State at home to open Big 12 play. They hosted another top-15 opponent in No. 11 TCU, a match they lost, taking on two of the tougher teams in the conference and holding their own.
The Wildcats (5-7, 0-1) opened conference play against No. 21 Colorado and took the Buffaloes to five sets on the road but fell short. They will face Iowa State on Friday before hosting the Red Raiders and look to get their first Big 12 win of the season.
The Red Raiders are 18-10 against West Virginia all-time and have won seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams. Arizona, on the other hand, has Tech's number, boasting an 8-1-2 record against the Red Raiders. However, Tech's first win against the Wildcats came last season.
Quick Hits:
Texas Tech's Sara Bowcutt and Elia Dinsmore have already shown flashes of brilliance in their short careers. The freshmen duo rank first and third on the team in points, respectively. They both recorded their first career double-doubles against St. Thomas in the second match of the season, and Bowcutt became the first Red Raider this season to record 20 kills in a match when she did so in Tech's win over St. Mary's (9/3). She recorded two more 20-kill performances in wins over UTRGV (9/10) and Prairie View A&M (9/10).
Sophomores Kenna McKenzie and Shelby Ignash are taking the step forward that everyone hoped they would after finishing their freshman campaigns so strongly last year. Ignash recorded a career-high eight blocks against St. Mary's and then tied her career high for kills in back-to-back matches with nine against Sacramento State (9/4) and Nevada (9/5).
Cochran has had a career year so far, already breaking her career high for assists three separate times, including a 63-assist performance against Iowa State (9/25), the first by a Red Raider since 2022 to record 60 assists in a match. Cochran ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists per set (9.53), and her 486 total assists rank first in the league.
Tatum Johnson has come into her own recently. Against Nevada, she recorded a career-high 10 kills and tied her career high for blocks with four. She followed that up with another career performance against Tarleton, recording 16 kills while hitting over .600. Johnson currently leads the team in hitting percentage at an efficient .338 clip.
Texas Tech's Emily Contreras, who is in her fourth year with the program, ranks ninth in the Big 12 in digs per set (3.56), and her 203 digs are second-most overall. Bowcutt ranks in the top 10 in kills and points per set, and her total kills are tied for second in the league while also ranking second in the Big 12 in total points.
