Volleyball Hosts Missouri This Weekend
November 04, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech women's volleyball will play host to the Missouri Tigers this weekend at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. The Red Raiders (8-12, 4-10 Big 12) return home after a tough two-match road trip to face the Tigers (14-6, 9-4 Big 12) who are coming off a win against Kansas.
Tech's recent loss against the Nebraska Cornhuskers topped of the second-straight loss to the Huskers this season, and the second-straight loss on the road. The Red Raiders were never able to find a groove on the road against NU who overpowered the Raider defense with a team .324 hitting efficiency, while posting 49 kills on the match. Senior Kelly Johnson with 10 kills, six digs and two total blocks led Tech in the losing effort.
On the season the senior leads the Red Raiders with a 4.69 kills per-game average in conference, while ranking third in the league with 253 total conference kills. Junior Desiree Batista remains one of the strongest servers in the league with 37 total service aces on the season while ranking fourth in the conference with a .46 service ace per-game average.
Defensive responsibilities for the Red Raiders falls on the shoulders of Batista and Johnson who average 3.57 and 2.41 digs per-game. Batista's defensive efficiency ranks tenth in the conference with 193 league digs thus far in the season.
The Tigers, who recently took care of the Kansas Jayhawks in a three-game sweep, are led by the arms of Jessica Vander Kooi with a 4.42 kills per-game average. Missouri currently holds a 3-3 conference road record and have currently lost two of its last three contests on the road. Holding the defensive load for the Tigers is Tatum Ailes with 4.09 digs per-game.
The first meeting between the two teams saw Missouri, the home team, take a 3-1 victory over the Red Raiders in Columbia, Mo. Both teams posted a solid game from every aspect of the stats sheet, but it was the Tigers who were able to elevate their play to overcome the charging Raiders. Missouri posted 73 kills on the night, complemented by its defensive effort that posted 72 digs in the contest. The Red Raiders, who posted 51 kills and 56 digs in the losing effort, were unable to overcome MU in front of a home crowd of 1,616.
Tech leads the overall series between the two teams 11-7, with Tech's last win against the Tigers coming in 2002 with a 3-1 victory at home. Tech owns a 6-2 edge over the Tigers at home, but has lost seven of the last eight match ups against the Tigers while only taking four games from Missouri in the process.
The two team's second and final regular season match up is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena on Sat., Nov.6. Tech fans are encouraged to support the Red Raiders this "Family Weekend" by showing their football ticket stubs at the entrance of the USA to receive free admission to the match. Parents who also present the free admission coupon from their family weekend brochure will also receive free admission.
