Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Hosts No. 2 Nebraska and Kansas This Week
September 30, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LUBBOCK, Texas -
The Week Ahead
Texas Tech volleyball (5-10, 0-4) has two tough home matches this week as it hosts No. 2 Nebraska (12-0, 4-0) on Wed., Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. and play Kansas (7-6, 1-3) on Sat., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. The matches will be streamed through Raider Vision All-Access and fans can listen to the match by tuning into KJDL 1420 AM. The first 150 fans who attend the Nebraska match will receive free Schlotsky's sandwiches and fans who attend Saturday's match will have the opportunity to buy one ticket and get one free.
Last Week
In the first match of the week against Missouri, the Red Raiders were unable to find a rhythm as they lost in three sets (25-18, 26-24, 25-15). Tech had a .183 hitting percentage for the match and was plagued by nine service errors. Amanda Dowdy led the team with 13 kills and Jenn Harrell had 11 digs. The second match of the week saw Tech battle into five sets with Oklahoma for the season series on the line. The Red Raiders went into the fourth set with a 2-1 lead but couldn't stop Oklahoma's momentum losing the match in five sets (22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-10, 15-10). Tech was led by Dowdy who had 16 kills for the match.
Scouting Nebraska
No. 2 Nebraska comes into the match with a 12-0 overall record and 4-0 in the Big 12. The Cornhuskers are coached by John Cook and return seven letterwinners from a year ago. Jordan Larson leads the team with 151 kills and Sydney Anderson who has 37 kills, 460 assists, 15 aces and 86 digs. They have beaten Stanford, USC and Texas all in the top 25. Nebraska has also beaten Kansas State, Texas, Kansas and Iowa State in Big 12 play. Nebraska leads the all-time series 28-1. The only Tech win came back in 1996.
Scouting Kansas
Kansas has a 7-6 overall record and a 1-3 conference record. The Jayhawks are coached by Ray Bechard and return 11 letterwinner from a year ago. Kansas is led by Karina Garlington with 197 kills and 18 aces. Kansas beat Iowa State in Big 12 play but lost to Colorado, Nebraska and Texas. The Red Raiders lead the overall series with Kansas 15-10, with the last win coming back in 2006.
Season Highs
Middle blocker Amanda Dowdy leads the team with 162 kills and is sixth in the Big 12 with a .350 hitting percentage. Setter Caroline Witte leads the team with 20 aces and is currently sixth in the Big 12. Libero Jenn Harrell is the team leader with 151 digs and middle blocker is the leader in total blocks with 50.
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 729 digs for her three year career so far and is 156 from being 15th on the all-time career list.
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 .
