Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Take Winning Streak to UT-Arlington Invitational
September 15, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
The Red Raiders will be looking to continue their nine-match winning streak this weekend.
Sept. 15, 2011
ARLINGTON, Texas - Texas Tech begins the final haul to its nine-match road trip this weekend when it returns to the North Texas area for the UT-Arlington Hilton Invitational. The Red Raiders will face Prairie View A&M on Friday afternoon before wrapping the tournament against Louisiana-Lafayette and the host Mavericks on Saturday.
| TOURNAMENT INFORMATION | |
| Dates | Friday, September 16 - Saturday, September 17 |
| Location | Arlington, Texas (Texas Hall) |
| Tournament Schedule | Friday, Sept. 15 Texas Tech vs. Prairie View A&M - 4 p.m. | UT-Arlington vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 |
| Radio | None |
| Live Video and Audio | None |
TEXAS TECH OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2000
The Red Raiders enter this weekend's tournament boasting a 9-1 record, marking the program's best start since the 2000 squad opened the year 16-1 en route to a 24-9 record and trip to the NCAA Tournament. Tech is currently riding a nine-match winning streak, the school's longest run since 1997 when the Red Raiders won nine-straight to open the season.
THE SERIES
• Friday's match with Prairie View A&M will be the first in school history.
• Louisiana-Lafayette and Tech will be playing for only the third time in school history with the Red Raiders already maintaining a 2-0 advantage in the series. The two schools last met on Sept. 19, 2008 when Tech opened the Spike Ike Tournament in Denton with a 3-0 victory over the Rajun Cajuns.
• The Red Raiders will be renewing a longterm series with UT-Arlington as the two schools will be meeting for the 34th career time. Despite losing 10 of the last 12 meetings, UT-Arlington enters this weekend's tournament finale with a 18-15 lead in the series that has only been played twice since 2008. This will be Tech's first trip to UT-Arlington since falling, 3-0, to the Mavericks on Nov. 5, 1995.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Raiders will remain in the Arlington area following the tournament in order to face North Texas at 7 p.m. Monday evening in Denton. The match is Tech's last prior to opening Big 12 play next weekend against 12th-ranked Iowa State at the United Spirit Arena.
NOTABLES
• If Texas Tech were to defeat Prairie View A&M to extend its winning streak to 10-straight, which would be the longest run since the Red Raiders opened the 1996 season with a 15-0 record.
• During Texas Tech's nine-match winning streak, the Red Raiders have ended eight of those matches via a 3-0 sweep. The lone match to go an extra set was against Morehead State in the finale of the Texas Tech Invitational.
• Texas Tech will be looking for its third tournament title of the season this weekend, a feat that has not been accomplished since the 2000 squad won all three tournaments for that year.
• Texas Tech had not previously won two tournaments in a single-season since the 2006 season where the Red Raiders claimed both the UTPA and South Florida Invitationals.
• Texas Tech's nine wins on the season is two shy of its total from the 2008-10 seasons combined. It marks Tech's most wins in a season since going 12-17 in 2006.
• The Red Raiders' meeting with UT-Arlington will mark its fourth this year against schools from the Southland Conference. Tech has already defeated Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, and Northwestern State this season.
• Texas Tech's 3-0 homestand marked its best record at home to start a season since the 2004 squad opened the year with four-straight wins in Lubbock.
• Texas Tech opponents are only hitting .069 against the Red Raiders on the year, the lowest average among Big 12 Conference schools. Only UConn has posted a hitting percentage above .200 against the Red Raiders this season.
• The Red Raiders, meanwhile, have hit over .200 in eight of 10 matches this year with the exceptions being against TCU and Louisiana Tech.
DAVID ADDS TO WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
Breeann David became the second Texas Tech player to earn a Big 12 weekly award this week as she was named the conference Rookie of the Week on Monday. David joins teammate Aubree Piper as a weekly award winner after Piper earned Defensive Player of the Week honors a week ago. It marked the first time in school history that two different players had been honored in the same season.
RED RAIDERS IN NCAA STATS
After Tech's successful start to the season, the Red Raiders have found themselves among the nation's elite as the NCAA released its national statistic leaders this week. Here's a look at where Tech ranks:
• The Red Raiders enter this weekend ranked sixth in total team blocking as Tech is currently averaging 3.19 blocks per set.
• Mikia Mills is 23rd in blocks per set as she is averaging 1.41 per frame, while Aubree Piper is 31st with a 1.35 average.
• In the individual rankings, Amanda Dowdy ranks 50th in kills per set as the senior is averaging 4.03 per frame this year.
• Miara Cave finds herself just outside the top 50 in hitting percentage as her .373 average is five hundredths of a point from being ranked.
TEXAS TECH BOOSTS OFFENSE WITH SERVE
One of Don Flora's areas of improvement early in the season was Tech's serving ability after the Red Raiders posted double-digit error numbers twice in their first three matches. Tech seemed to resolve the issue at the Louisiana Tech Invitational with 26 aces and only 13 service errors, its best ratio of the season.
