Texas Tech University Athletics
Volleyball Preview: SMU Tournament
September 01, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech football team is not the only program on campus with SMU on its mind. The Red Raider volleyball program, in the midst of its second of three non-conference tournaments to start the season, travels to Dallas this weekend for the SMU Tournament to face the host Mustangs, along with UC Davis and Texas State.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 3
UC Davis vs. Texas State - 11 a.m.
Texas Tech at SMU - 1:30 p.m.
UC Davis vs. Texas Tech - 5 p.m.
Texas State at SMU - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 4
Texas State vs. Texas Tech - Noon
UC Davis at SMU - 2:30 p.m.
WWW.TEXASTECH.COM
Fans can get up-to-date information on Texas Tech Volleyball throughout the season on the athletics department official website, www.texastech.com. Fans unable to make it to the United Spirit Arena can watch every home match for free via Red Raider All-Access. The site will also contain updated video and editorial content on a weekly basis.
SMU MATCH TO BE STREAMED LIVE
The SMU Athletic Department will stream the Friday match between SMU and Tech on www.smumustangs.com. There will be a fee to watch the match. Fans can access the link by going to the schedule page on the SMU Volleyball page.
THE SERIES
While Tech will be facing UC Davis for the first time in either program's history, the Red Raiders hold the all-time advantage against both SMU and Texas State.
- Despite losing the last meeting between the two schools, Tech has historically dominated SMU with a 6-1 all-time advantage. The Mustangs won the previous meeting, 3-1, in 2007.
- Tech and UC Davis will be facing each other for the first time in either program's history.
- Saturday's finale will be the 21st all-time meeting between Tech and Texas State. The Red Raiders have controlled the series historically with a 16-4 advantage, but the Bobcats have won two of the three meetings this decade.
THE RED RAIDERS
Texas Tech returns 10 letterwinners off last season's squad who went 2-27 in the first season under head coach Trish Knight. Despite struggles during her first season, Knight has a talented group still on the bench in juniors Amanda Dowdy and Karlyn Meyers along with seniors Jackie Vincent, Barbara Conceicao, Alexxa Roberts, and Caroline Courtney. Sophomores Miara Cave, Tory Vaughan and Aleah Hayes add to a talented group of freshman and transfer athletes to give Knight more depth in her second season.
SCOUTING SMU
The Mustangs are coming off a successful weekend at Baylor's Tournament where SMU finished 3-0, defeating the host Bears along with Butler and Stephen F. Austin. Baylor had been receiving votes by both the American Volleyball Coaches Association and Molton Volleyball Magazine in both organization's preseason poll. For their success last week, the Mustangs swept the Conference USA weekly awards as Dana Powell, Kelli Becerra and Sidney Stewart all received individual honors. Powell led the way on offense with 41 total kills due primarily to the help of Stewart who posted 131 assists and 38 digs on the weekend. Becerra dug 62 balls and added seven assists.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
UC Davis will be looking for its first win of the season this weekend after dropping both matches at the Utah Tournament. The Aggies were dropped, 3-1, by Utah and swept by Utah State. Only seven players played in both matches last weekend with Kayla Varney and Katie Denny leading the way with 21 kills each. Setter Jenny Woolway has 82 assists through the two matches, while on the defensive end, Varney and Kaitlyn Plum have posted 26 and 27 digs respectively. The Aggies are coached by Jamie Holmes who is 32-29 in her third season.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
Coming off an NCAA Championship berth a year ago, Texas State began its 2010 campaign 2-1 last weekend in Long Island, N.Y. for the Hofstra Invitational. The Bobcats fell in five sets to Missouri State in the opener before closing with consecutive sweeps over Hofstra and Canisius College. Matti Schumacher leads four players with over 20 kills, while setter Caleig McCorquodale has posted 79 saves so far. On the defensive end, Jennifer Neice has dug 49 balls, while the Bobcats as a team have blocked 26.5 attempts. Texas State is led by Karen Chisum, who in her 31st season is the NCAA's seventh-winningest active coach with 699 career wins.
RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND
Tech began its season with a 1-2 finish at the Rice Tournament last weekend, which was good enough for a third place finish in the four-team field. The Red Raiders fell to Rice and Ole Miss before wrapping the tournament with a win over UTSA. Ole Miss claimed the tournament title after defeating Rice in the tournament finale as both schools finished 2-1. The Rebels only loss came at the hands of UTSA.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Raiders get their last non-conference test prior to Big 12 play next weekend at the Colorado State Tournament. Tech faces the host Rams on Sept. 10 and follows up with matches against Illinois State and Northeastern on Sept. 11.
ABILITY TO "BOUNCE" BACK
After opening the tournament with two-straight losses, one of the prouder moments for head coach Trish Knight was seeing her squad respond so well against UTSA. The Red Raiders, who spent the preseason discussing resiliency and determination with Knight, looked like a different team than the one who played Ole Miss in the morning en route to a 3-1 victory over the Roadrunners.
FALLS RETURNS TO ALMA MATER
Beth Falls will be facing her alma mater this weekend when Tech faces SMU. Falls starred for the Mustangs from 2001-04 at outside hitter and earned All-WAC honors three times over her career, including first team accolades her senior year. A native of Caldwell, Texas, Falls played for SMU head coach Lisa Seifert, who prior to being hired in Dallas, was an assistant coach at Texas Tech for six seasons.
DOWDY NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Following her stellar performance last weekend, junior Amanda Dowdy was named to the all-tournament team by Rice officials. Dowdy led all Tech players with 38 kills, while adding 24 digs.
MEYERS SERVES UP CAREER HIGH
With Tech needing a win to close its weekend, Karlyn Meyers stepped up with one of her best performances of her career, matching her previous season high for assists with 45, while also posting 14 digs, five more than her previous career high.
YOUNG ACCURATE AGAINST UTSA
Justine Young had possibly her best match of her young Tech career against UTSA as the junior was effective in the middle with eight blocks while adding 11 kills and a team-leading .429 hitting percentage. The Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year also added six digs in the match.
SEEBO TOUGH ON THE BLOCK
Despite only playing in two matches last weekend thanks to a sore shoulder, Barbara "Seebo" Conceicao made the most of her court time with 15 kills and a team-leading .333 hitting percentage. The senior also leads the team with 10 total blocks, averaging 1.43 blocks per set.
NEILL ADDS BOOST VERSUS RICE
Playing in her hometown, Candice Neill came off the bench against Rice and immediately provided a boost to a Tech squad already trailing by two sets. Neill posted a career-high six digs in the final set, earning the start the following day against Ole Miss.
ROAD TESTED
The Red Raiders got a good taste of what life in the Big 12 will be like when they faced Rice last weekend. The Owls packed 1,044 fans into Tudor Fieldhouse with part of that crowd being students, who were seated directly behind Tech's bench during the first and third set.
