Texas Tech University Athletics
Volleyball on the Road Against No.21 Kansas
September 21, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech volleyball team (5-3, 1-1 Big 12) begins a two-match road trip on Wed., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., as they take on the 21st-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan. The match against the Jayhawks (9-1, 0-1 Big 12) will be the 18th meeting between the two teams, with Tech holding the edge at 12-5.
The Red Raiders are coming off a loss at home against the No.8 Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-0. The Red Raiders just missed taking the first game from the Huskers 32-30, before Nebraska turned up the heat to take both games two and three 30-23, 30-11.
Kansas is coming off its first loss of the season against the No.12 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday. KU bounced back from their early conference loss to defeat North Dakota State 3-0, Sunday. The Jayhawks remain unbeaten at home at 4-0, and seek to defend their national ranking after entering the polls for the first time in school history at No.24 two weeks ago.
Tech is looking for its first win against the Jayhawks since 2002 as Kansas won both of the team's meetings in 2003. The last time out Kansas swept Tech for only the third time in the team's history 3-0 in Lawrence. The Red Raiders are looking for their first win against a Top 25 team since Oct. 5, 2002 when the Raiders upended the 21st-ranked Missouri Tigers 3-1.
Leading the way for the Red Raiders is senior Kelly Johnson with 97 kills on the season while junior college transfer Desiree Batista owns the service line for Tech with 17 aces thus far. Batista ranks first in the Big 12 with .71 aces per-game in conference play and sixth with 3.46 digs per-game. Junior college transfer Brianna Florus, Tech's offensive stopper, posts 1.14 blocks per-game while senior Laura Grote commands the Tech offense with 8.15 assists per-game.
The match can be followed on gametracker found on the Texas Tech's website at www.texastech.com. The match will start at 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence.The Red Raiders will wrap-up their two-game road trip at the Hilton Coliseum Sat., Sept.25, at 7 p.m. in Ames, Iowa, against the Iowa State Cyclones.
