Texas Tech University Athletics
TECH FACES TOUGH TASK AT NO. 4 TEXAS
November 11, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2008
LUBBOCK, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The Week Ahead
The Texas Tech volleyball squad starts a tough stretch ahead as it goes on the road to face No. 4 Texas in Austin. The Red Raiders get a Saturday off as Saturday's scheduled match with Oklahoma was played during the Red Raider Round Up.
Last Week
The Texas Tech volleyball team was led by Hayley Ball's 11 kills but fell in straight sets to Iowa State (25-14, 25-23, 25-22) last Wednesday. The Red Raiders struggled on the road at Kansas on Saturday, despite receiving eight kills from middle blocker Amanda Dowdy, as the Jayhawks swept the match (25-10, 25-15, 25-22).
Scouting Texas
The Longhorns have a record of 19-3 on the season and 12-2 in Big 12 play. Destinee Hooker leads the team with 330 kills and has been named Big 12 Player of the Week three times. Texas won the first match up in Lubbock 3-0 behind a .460 hitting percentage. Texas leads the overall series 65-9-2.
Live Stats
Red Raider fans can follow the action live on Saturday by going to www.texassports.com.
Tough Stretch
Tech faces a tough road ahead as three of the next six matches are ranked in the AVCA top 25. No. 4 Texas is first on the list with a trip to Austin. No. 3 Nebraska is another road trip before facing No. 15 Kansas State at the United Spirit Arena. Tech also has the second-ranked strength of schedule in the Big 12. The Red Raiders next five opponents have a combined winning percentage of .671.
Approaching 1000
Libero Jen Harrell is about to enter elite company in Tech history. She has 995 career digs and with five more she will become the 14th player in program history to reach 1000 digs.
Ace in the Hole
Tech sits fifth in the Big 12 hitting 1.27 service aces per set. The 1.27 is above last season's average of 1.10. Caroline Witte leads the team with 30 aces and is fourth in the Big 12 at .34 per set.
Starting
Three Red Raiders have started every match that Tech has played. Freshman Amanda Dowdy junior Hayley Ball and junior Jenn Harrell have started all 26 matches during the season.
Valuable Experience
The young class of freshman have received valuable playing time during the 2008 season. Middle blocker Amanda Dowdy has started all 25 of the teams matches and setter Karlyn Meyers has started 22 matches. Brooke Smith has seen action in 25 matches and Tyler Elley has played in 17 matches during the season.
Match Highs
The highest percentage a Tech player has hit in a match is by middle blocker Amanda Dowdy when she hit .571 against Louisiana-Lafayette and has the team high for kills when she finished with 20 against Oklahoma. Setter Caroline Witte recorded 47 assists in a match versus Colorado and Jenn Harrell has the match high for digs with 23 against Kansas. Witte also has the match highs in aces with four against Louisiana-Lafayette and total blocks with 10 versus TCU.
Season Highs
Middle blocker Amanda Dowdy leads the team with 239 kills. Setter Caroline Witte leads the team with 29 aces. Libero Jenn Harrell is the team leader with 182 digs. Middle Blocker Brandi Hood is 10th in the Big 12 hitting. 097 blocks per set.
Defensive Highlight
Libero Jenn Harrell has a season high 23 digs against Kansas. It is her fifth-career match with 20 or more digs. It is Harrell's 14th match that she has had 10 or more digs.
Big 12 Rookie of the Week
Freshman Amanda Dowdy earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for the first time in her career for the week of September 15th. She had 51 kills and a .420 attack percentage during the Red Raider Round Up. In Tech's Big 12 opener against Oklahoma she had a team-high 20 kills and a .421 attack percentage.
All-Time Wins
A look at volleyball teams that have the most wins all-time will give Red Raider fans reason to boast. Texas Tech is the 26th winningest program with 743 wins in NCAA history. The most wins in a season was in 1976 when the team won 56 matches. Four other Big 12 schools made the list as Nebraska is second, Texas is eighth and Texas A&M is 18th. UCLA leads all programs in wins.
Superlatives
Several Red Raiders were able to reach new career numbers during the Mean Green Classic. Michelle Flores reached 400 kills for her career. Jenn Harrell has recorded 900 digs for her three year career so far and is 156 from being 15th on the all-time career list.
Tourney Win
The Mean Green Classic title is he first tournament win since the 2006 USF Smoothie King Invitational.
Connections
Freshman Amanda Dowdy is a cousin of senior Texas Tech golfer Megan Dowdy.
Seasoned Returners
Three of the returners for this year's squad played in over 100 sets last season. Brandi Hood played in 102, Michelle Flores played in 104 and Jenn Harrell was apart of 101 sets.
Newcomers
Tech has seven new faces for the 2008 season. Two JUCO transfers and four freshmen are looking to contribute. Blinn JC transfers Hayley Ball and Caroline Witte come in with experience playing on two consecutive fifth place NJCAA tournament teams. Amanda Dowdy and Karlyn Meyers were both top 100 recruits coming out of high school. Tyler Elley, Michelle Ogbeide and Brooke Smith will get valuable playing time throughout the season as well.
Rule Changes
A few changes have been made from last season when it comes to the rules of volleyball. On of the biggest changes will be the name. Instead of being called games, they should be referred to as sets. Another rule variation will be the number of points to win a set. In prior seasons a team had to score 30 points to win a set that has now been changed to 25 points.
