Texas Tech University Athletics
Piece by Piece
September 05, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Don Flora has his Red Raider volleyball team on a roll heading into their second road trip of the season.
September 5, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
There is a bridge in San Antonio that Don Flora can see his team crossing one day.
On one side, is the past, the stigma that has been so long associated with the program he inherited on Jan. 7. The adversity, the futility, all culminating with an infamous 64-match Big 12 losing streak that spanned three seasons before ending in 2010.
But the other side of that bridge is where Flora so confidently envisions this team--and it's no coincidence that the city of San Antonio hosts the women's volleyball Final Four this year.
"Everyday is a piece," Flora says as he speaks confidently in a genuine sense of optimism about his program. "Every match is a piece to a complete bridge. That bridge leads us to the hope of being an NCAA caliber team. That's where we are heading."
Six matches into his inaugural season in Lubbock, that bridge already has several pieces well in place.
 | "This is their program. It is starting to really happen. What we want in building a program is bigger than all of us." - Don Flora |
And so it's clear that Flora is certainly building something inside the United Spirit Arena. At the foundation of it all is a refreshed approach by each of his players, including 12 newcomers, to each match.
"This is their program," Flora said. "It is starting to really happen. What we want in building a program is bigger than all of us."
The Red Raiders went on to win the Texas Tech Invitational on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Morehead State. The win pushed Red Raiders' winning streak to five matches--their longest winning streak in five years.
"It's been a complete blast," senior Karlyn Meyers said. "Our whole mentality, and the fact that we are playing for fun. We are playing for a purpose to do our best every game."
The team motto heading into this season reads `A new era. A new beginning.' It's pasted on the front of the team's media notes, and it's certainly the approach that the Red Raiders are bringing to the floor each match.
But there is still plenty of work left to do for Flora and his team. It's only September, and the season, as this team and this program certainly understands from years past, is a grind of a journey. Big 12 play has yet to begin and for now, each day is just another step to building that bridge these Red Raiders hope to one day cross together.
"The deal is there is so much work ahead of us. This is a journey." Flora said. "Our journey is so much bigger than just wins and losses, it's not just about wins and losses, it's about how we do it. I think the more important thing for us is to take this and grow and develop."
They will certainly get that opportunity. The biggest test for this volleyball squad begins this week as Flora and his team set out on a eight-match road trip that begins with a match against Texas Pan-Am on Tuesday and winds it way through Louisiana, Arlington and Denton before returning to Lubbock where Big 12 play will kick off on Sept. 24.
But Flora, as is his nature, is optimistic about both his team's start and what the future holds for his program this year.
Soon, as he sees it, his squad will have a complete bridge to walk over, leaving whatever may linger in the past, long behind them.
"Personally it's huge," Flora said "This is why I came here. I came here to build this."
