Texas Tech University Athletics
Volleyball Takes On UTEP, New Mexico State And Oklahoma
November 05, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2001
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TECH TO PLAY THREE MATCHES IN FIVE DAYS
The Texas Tech volleyball team will get a break from Big 12 play this week but the squad will be busy on the road as the Red Raiders face two non-conference foes. Texas Tech will begin a stretch of playing three matches in five days when they take on the UTEP Miners on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Haskins Center in El Paso. Following the trip to far West Texas, the Red Raiders will head north to take on the New Mexico State Roadrunners at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in Las Cruces. The Raiders close out the stretch on Saturday night with a Big 12 Conference match-up with the Oklahoma Sooners at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock.
Texas Tech is desperately needing to make a comeback as the squad dropped two crucial matches this week to Texas and Colorado. For the Red Raiders to earn back-to-back NCAA bids, Texas Tech needs to finish strong and hope that the strength of the Big 12 will be enough to get the team into the tournament. Texas Tech has key Big 12 matches left with Missouri, Nebraska, Baylor and Texas A&M.
The Red Raiders entered last weeks with hopes of beating either Texas or Colorado but were unable to capitalize in either match. Texas dropped the Red Raiders 3-2 in Austin on Halloween night while Colorado won its eighth straight match over Texas Tech on Saturday night at the United Spirit Arena.
Junior outside hitter Melissa McGehee is having another big season for the Red Raiders as she leads the team with 288 kills and is second on the team with 278 digs. Senior setter Skydra Orzen continues to not only lead the Big 12 but the nation as she tallies an impressive 1,252 assists on the season.
Texas Tech enters the week with an overall record of 13-10 and has a 6-8 mark in the Big 12 Conference.
SCOUTING UTEP
Texas Tech will get a chance to make it 2-0 against UTEP this season when the squad travels to El Paso on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. match. Texas Tech defeated UTEP 3-0 back on Sept. 7 in the Four Points Sheraton Red Raider Classic. The Miners are 9-11 on the season and have gone 6-8 since their September meeting with the Red Raiders.
The Miners are led statistically by left side hitter Jennifer Abbruzzese who tallies a team-high 276 kills and 254 digs. Abbruzzese also leads the team from the service line with 30 aces.
Texas Tech leads the all-time series with UTEP 17-3 and has a 5-2 record against the Miners in El Paso.
A LOOK AT NEW MEXICO STATE
Texas Tech will play its second non-conference match on Wednesday night as the team takes on the New Mexico State Roadrunners in Las Cruces at 7 p.m.. Texas Tech and New Mexico State have not played since the 1999 season when Tech won 3-0 in the season opener on Sept. 1. Texas Tech owns the all-time series record over New Mexico State 16-12.
The Roadrunners are 16-8 overall and have clinched the Sun Belt Conference Western Division Title. The Roadrunners have a 11-2 mark in conference play and have won five straight matches including a 3-1 win over New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 4 in New Orleans.
New Mexico State is led by Kristin Webster who has 351 kills on the season and a .396 hitting percentage.
BREAKING DOWN OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoma Sooners come to town on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. match at the United Spirit Arena. The Sooners and Red Raiders last met on Oct. 13th and Texas Tech came out victorious 3-0. Texas Tech leads the all-time series with Oklahoma 28-10 and has won seven straight matches over the Sooners.
Oklahoma is led statistically by Logan Pierce who has 277 kills and 219 digs.
RAIDERS RANK NATIONALLY
Texas Tech features one player ranked in the latest NCAA national statistics released on Oct. 28th As a team, Texas Tech ranks in three categories.
Senior setter Skydra Orzen is the leading setter in the nation as she tallies 1,116 assists and a 14.13 assist-per-game average.
As a team, Texas Tech ranks 7th in total assists with 1,369, 28th in digs with 1521 and is in 15th place in kills with 1,485.
THIS AND THAT
- Texas Tech is a 9-4 at home this season and 22-6 all-time at the United Spirit Arena. Texas Tech i s currently on a two-match losing streak after falling to Texas and Colorado this past week.
- Head Coach Jeff Nelson is three wins away from earning his 150th career win as a head coach.
- Texas Tech has four players who total 200+ kills on the season (Angela Mooney - 204, Kelly Johnson - 273, Melissa McGehee - 288, Heather Hughes-Justice - 250).
- Junior outside hitter Melissa McGehee is just 12 kills away from the 300 mark this season. McGehee will top the 300 mark in back-to-back seasons as she finished the 2000 season with 473. McGehee is also 22 digs away from the 300 mark.
- Freshman outside hitter Kelly Johnson needs 27 more kills to get to the 300 mark.
- Texas Tech has committed a conference leading 674 errors compared to 544 by its opponents.
