Texas Tech University Athletics
Weekly Volleyball Release
September 20, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 20, 1999
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech opens Big 12 Conference competition with the beginning of its fourth week of the 1999 season. The Red Raiders will host Nebraska on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Coronado High School
Texas Tech completed its third week of play with a 10-2 overall record after defeating New Mexico and UTEP and losing to No. 25 Loyola Marymount in the Dominoes' Pizza New Mexico Tournament.
The next home match is next week against Nebraska on Sept. 24 at 7:30 at Coronado High School. With the United Spirit Arena nearing completion, Texas Tech will play in various venues in Lubbock including the Civic Center, Coronado High School and the Coliseum. The new arena is scheduled for a probable Nov. 8 opening and the first Texas Tech volleyball game to played there is scheduled for Nov. 13 against Colorado.
Lubbock Coronado High School, located on 34th Street in Lubbock will be Tech's home for the next five scheduled matches.
TEXAS TECH TO PLAY FOUR RANKED TEAMS OVER NEXT FIVE MATCHES
Texas Tech is currently in a stretch of its season where the Red Raiders will play four ranked teams in the next five matches. Tech already played No. 25 Loyola Marymount on Saturday. With a victory against New Mexico on Saturday, the Red Raiders will face Nebraska (Friday, Sept. 24), Kansas State (Saturday, Sept. 25) and Texas A&M (Wednesday, Sept. 29).
BAYLOR MATCH IN WACO MOVES TO OCT. 12
Originally scheduled for an October 13 match, the Texas Tech at Baylor match has been moved to Tuesday, October 12 in Waco, Texas. Match time is 7 p.m.
TECH DEFEATS NEW MEXICO 3-1...Colleen Smith, Lori Garber earn all tournament honors
Texas Tech battled back from a game one loss to defeat New Mexico 9-15, 15-4, 15-8, 15-11 Saturday evening at New Mexico's University Center. The win improves Texas Tech to 10-2 overall and drops New Mexico to 4-8 on the season.
Tech finished 2-1 in the New Mexico Dominoes Pizza Volleyball Tournament. Loyola Marymount won the tourney with an undefeated 3-0 record followed by New Mexico at 1-2 and UTEP at 0-4.
Senior Lori Garber and junior Colleen Smith both earned all tournament honors. Both played key roles in defeating the host Lobos. Smith led the Red Raiders with 17 kills in 28 attempts. She hit .500 with five blocks and five digs. Garber finished the match with 14 kills in 33 attempts and five blocks.
Junior Janelle Jones added nine kills, .438 hitting and a match-high six blocks, freshman Ann Romjue finished with nine kills and a match-high 21 digs while setter Skydra Orzen contributed 49 assists adn 12 digs. Freshman Melissa McGehee notched a career-high 14 digs to go with four kills.
NO. 25 LIONS DEFEAT TEXAS TECH...Red Raiders drop 15-9, 15-13, 16-14 decision to No. 25 Loyola Marymount
No. 25 Loyola Marymount handed Texas Tech a 15-9, 15-13, 16-14 defeat Saturday in game two of the New Mexico Domino's Pizza volleyball tournament Saturday at UNM's University Center. The loss drops Texas Tech to 9-2 on the season and improves No. 25 Loyola Marymount to 7-2.
The defeat also broke a five-match Texas Tech win streak. The Red Raiders held leads in each of the three games. Tech led 4-1 in game one before Loyola Marymount grabbed a lead and eventually went up 12-7 on three straight points. Tech started off game two with an 8-1 lead only to see it disappear as Loyola Marymount scored six unanswered points to take game two 15-13. The Red Raiders then jumped out to an 8-0 lead in game three but the Lions battled back to tie at 9-9 and went on to win 16-14 and the match.
Senior Lori Garber led Texas Tech with 18 kills in 35 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. Junior Colleen Smith added eight kills. Tech placed three players in double-digit digs- Jenny Donohoo (11), Ann Romjue (11) and Skydra Orzen (10).
Loyola Marymount outblocked Tech 9-7, outdug the Red Raiders 74-58 and out hit them .250-.174. All America Sarah McFarland led Loyola Marymount with 26 kills and a .308 hitting percentage.
TEXAS TECH DEFEATS UTEP...Red Raiders down UTEP 15-6, 18-16, 15-12 in New Mexico Tournament debut
Texas Tech opened the New Mexico Domino's Pizza Tournament with a 15-6, 18-16, 15-12 victory against UTEP Friday evening at the University of New Mexico's University Center. The win improved Texas Tech 9-1 on the season and dropped UTEP to 2-8.
Junior Colleen Smith continued her hot streak as the six-foot-seven outside hitter tallied a match-high 16 kills in 37 attempts (.270 percentage). Smith and Texas Tech setter Skydra Orzen were playing in front of their hometown Albuquerque crowd. Senior middle blocker Lori Garber finished with 12 kills in 24 attempts (.292 percentage) along with a match-high seven blocks (six solo blocks).
Orzen led Texas Tech with 15 digs and 37 assists while freshman Ann Romjue tallied 14 digs. Tech outhit UTEP .163-.064 even though the Miners held the majority in kills 54-47 and digs 73-72.
Texas Tech took game one with ease at 15-6. The Red Raiders trailed for the majority of game two as UTEP grabbed a 7-4 lead. Tech finally tied the game up at 9-9 on a block by Garber and Orzen. With the score 16-16, Tech used an Ann Romjue service ace and an attack error to win 18-16. Tech fended off a late comeback from UTEP in game three to win the match and game at 15-12.
NELSON REACHES VICTORY NO. 100...Ball State graduate defeats his alma mater for 100th career victory, wins 10th career tournament title
Texas Tech head coach Jeff Nelson won his 100th career volleyball match Sunday with a 3-1 victory against Ball State. Ironically, the victory came against Nelson's alma mater. He played volleyball for the Cardinals and graduated from the Muncie, Ind. school in 1986. Nelson's career record now stands at 100-44 in his five years as head coach. The victory also gave him his 10th tournament title as Texas Tech's head coach.
SMITH DOMINATES NANOOK CLASSIC
Six-foot-seven junior transfer Colleen Smith played her best volleyball of the season at the Nanook Classic. She was named to the all tournament squad after putting up outstanding numbers. Smith hit .405 (40-8-79) on the weekend. She finished with a career-high 19 kills, 10 blocks and 10 total blocks vs. Ball State on Sunday and hit a career-high .424 (16-2-33) vs. Oregon State on Friday. As Texas Tech's Big 12 Player of the Week nominee, Smith finished her week with 13 digs, 17 total blocks and 40 kills in nine games.
JANELLE JONES HAS OUTSTANDING NANOOK CLASSIC TOURNAMENT
Junior Janelle Jones finished with an outstanding Nanook Classic. The six-foot-three Jones played her best volleyball of her career notching a total of 27 kills, 18 total blocks and a .447 hitting percentage (27-6-47) in 10 games. She hit a career-high .625 (11-1-16) vs. Oregon State and threatened the school record at 8-0-8 at one point during the match.
TECH WINS NANOOK CLASSIC...Nelson wins 100th career match as Red Raiders defeat Ball State 3-0, Lori Garber, Colleen Smith named to all tournament team
Texas Tech placed five players indouble-digit kills as it defeated Ball State 15-7, 11-15, 15-7, 15-9 to win the Nanook Classic Volleyball tournament title outright Sunday at Alaska-Fairbanks' Patty Center. Tech won its 10th tournament title in the past five seasons.
The victory improves Texas Tech to 8-1 overall and drops Ball State to4-2 on the season. Tech finished the tournament with a 3-0 record, Oregon State finished second at 2-1, Ball State third at 1-2 and Alaska-Fairbanks finished last at 0-4.
The victory also gave Texas Tech head coach Jeff Nelson his 100th career victory and 10th tournament title in his five years as head coach. It came against his alma mater Ball State where he played volleyball and graduated in 1986.
Two Red Raiders were selected to the Nanook Classic seven-member all tournament squad- junior Colleen Smith and senior Lori Garber. Smith led the Red Raiders with career-highs of 19 kills and 10 blocks against Ball State while Garber finished with 12 kills, seven digs and five blocks. Junior Janelle Jones contributed 13 kills and a career-high 11 blocks, freshman Ann Romjue finished with 16 kills and 13 digs, freshman Jenny Donohoo had 12 kills and a match and career-high 18 kills and setter Skydra Orzen had 60 assists and 13 digs.
Texas Tech outhit Ball State .282-.191 on the match and outblocked the Cardinals 20-7.
GARBER NAMED MVP OF TOURNEY
Texas Tech?s Garber was named the Four Points Classic Most Valuable Player after finishing up a dominating tournament. The six-foot-three middle blocker concluded the four-match invite with a .447 hitting percentage (49-11-85) and led the tournament in kills (49), kills per game (4.08) and placed second in service aces (0.42 per game), hitting percentage (.447) and blocks per game (1.17 per game). Two other Texas Tech players were selected to the all tournament squad- freshman outside hitter Ann Romjue and sophomore setter Skydra Orzen.
