Tech Wraps Up Two-Game Road Trip in Lincoln
November 02, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech women's volleyball team will end its two-game road trip with a stop in Lincoln, Neb., to take on the No.3 Nebraska Cornhuskers in a 7 p.m. match up on Wed., Nov.3. The Red Raiders (8-11, 4-9 Big 12) are coming off a hard loss against the Colorado Buffaloes on the road, but look to have a solid performance against the Huskers (19-1, 13-0 Big 12) who remain unbeaten in conference play.
Tech's loss against the Buffaloes came at the hands of three-consecutive games that were decided by two points. Tech lost the first game 30-19 before just being edged out 32-30 in the second. Tech turned the tables in game three to save the sweep behind a 30-28 victory. That same score would be its downfall in the fourth game as the score board switched in the Red Raiders 30-28 loss. Senior Kelly Johnson and freshman Amy Charlebois led the Red Raider effort with 27 and 13 kills, respectively.
On the season, Johnson leads the Red Raiders and is in the top five of the conference standings in kills with 318 on the season and 243 in conference. Johnson's kill mark ranks third in the league in kills per match with 4.76. Junior Desiree Batista leads the defensive effort for the Red Raiders posting 3.67 digs per-game, ranking ninth in the conference. Batista's 25 service aces in league play also ranks the junior third in the conference with a game average of .49.
The Huskers are coming off a three-game sweep of the Iowa State Cyclones on the road. In the match Jennifer Saleaumua led the Huskers with 8 kills and 28 digs in the winning effort. Dani Mancuso tabbed 3 aces while Melissa Elmer posted 10 total blocks in the Huskers quick 30-19, 30-16, 30-20 game wins.
In the two teams last match up in Lubbock, Texas, the Red Raiders were able to give the Huskers a close opening game. Nebraska was able to use a balanced offense, combined with their solid defense to pull out a 32-30 victory in game one. Game two went to the Huskers who went on a late game surge to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-23 victory in game two. The deflated Tech offense, which only posted 31 kills to the Huskers 51, was unable to rally in the third to force a fourth game with a 30-11 game three loss, and a 3-0 loss in the match.
The Red Raiders, who currently rank sixth in the conference with 15.65 digs per-game, were unable to overcome the strong Nebraska offense that posted a team .274 hitting efficiency. The Huskers also out-dug the Red Raiders by a margin of 13 with 51 total team digs. The Huskers, who have prided themselves on its ability to shutdown an offense at the net, posted as a team 16.0 blocks in the game versus Tech's 6.5 to give NU the overall upper hand in the match.
Tech trails the Huskers in the two team's 25-year history 21-1. The Huskers have been very dominant over the Red Raiders at home, allowing only one game to slip away from them on their home ground. That loss came 1996, the same year Tech posted its only victory over the Huskers in its 3-2 win at home.
The two team's second and final regular season match up against each other is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Nebraska Coliseum this Wed., Nov.3.
