Texas Tech University Athletics
Volleyball Travels East for SMU Tournament
August 31, 2005 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2005
Lubbock, Texas- Texas Tech volleyball will travel to Dallas, Texas, this weekend for the SMU Tournament. The Red Raiders are slated to face Oral Roberts and Stony Brook, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, on Friday. Tech will end the weekend with a match-up against SMU at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Last time out, Texas Tech volleyball dropped its' season opener to Wichita State, 3-0, by scores of 30-14, 30-19 and 30-24, at the University of Houston tournament. The starting line-up included seniors Desiree Batista and Brianna Florus, juniors Kiley Lyons, Jamye Pauley and Philister Sang and sophomore Emily Ziegler.
Sang led the Red Raider offense with 16 kills and, on defense, notched six digs. Lyons was second on the team in kills with five, while tallying five digs. Florus had a block solo and a block assist and posted two service aces. Ziegler chipped in with 20 assists and one service ace. Defensively, Batista led the way with seven digs.
Tech then went on to drop a 3-1 decision to Houston, by scores of 16-30, 28-30, 30-28 and 20-30. Junior Philister Sang led the way for the Red Raiders, posting her first double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Defensively, Desiree Batista chipped in with 22 digs. Freshman Holly Hicks tallied 37 assists in her second appearance as a Red Raider.
The last meeting between Texas Tech and Oral Roberts was Sept. 11, 1998, in Lubbock. Tech won the match, 3-0, by scores of 16-14, 15-12, 15-3. The Golden Eagles volleyball team has been picked to finish second during the 2005 Mid-Continent Conference campaign. Junior outside hitter Ori Zuzic will lead the way for ORU after setting a new conference single-season record with 626 kills in 2004. She also ranked 20th nationally with a 5.13 kills per game average.
The Stony Brook volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the 2005 America East Preseason Poll. The Seawolves welcome back nine letterwinners and two starters from a 2004 squad that missed the four-team America East Championship by just one game. This will be the first meeting between the Seawolves of Stony Brook and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The last meeting between Tech and SMU was Sept. 3, 1999, in Lubbock. Tech defeated the Mustangs, 3-0, by scores of 15-15, 15-10, 15-8. The Mustangs were picked to finish fourth in the C-USA Preseason Poll and claimed their first consecutive .500 season with a 37-21 record over the last two seasons. Senior middle blocker Kelly Larkan is one of SMU's three returning starters, averaging 2.43 kills per game and hitting .269 in 2004.
For complete details of Texas Tech volleyball, visit www.texastech.com.
