Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Volleyball Hosts No. 10 Kansas on Pink Night
October 06, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas - Red Raider volleyball begins a two-match home stand on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as they host No. 10 Kansas at 6 p.m. at the United Supermarkets Arena in the annual "Pink Match," which is aimed at aiding the fight against breast cancer.
All fans who wear pink will receive $1 tickets to the match.
It will be the second home televised contest for the Red Raiders this season, broadcast live on FOX Sports Southwest with Robert Giovannetti and Andy Penney on the call.
The Big 12 and the Big Ten are the only two conferences in the NCAA that utilize the instant replay and coaching challenges. Coaches will be permitted three challenges per match, and those challenges will have no effect on the number of allowed timeouts a team has remaining. The challenge must be lodged immediately following the rally and before the first referee's arm is extended to start the service for the next point. Only one challenge per rally will be allowed. Coaches will be allowed to request instant replay challenges only to review these instances:
-If the ball landed in or out
-If the ball made contact with a player
-If a net violation occurred
-Foot faults on a serve
This will be the 40th meeting between the Red Raiders and the Jayhawks. Kansas leads the all-time series, 23-16, with the Red Raiders looking for their first victory over their conference foe since a 3-2 home win in 2010.
SWINGING WITH FIRE
Junior Lauren Douglass is in the midst of a special season donning the Scarlet and Black, sitting at No. 12 in the country in hitting percentage at .432. It's the fifth-straight week she's been inside the top 15 in the NCAA, as well as the leader in the Big 12. In half of her matches this season (8-16), Douglass has posted at least 10 kills, including 17 (Oklahoma) and 11 (Iowa State) in two of the three conference contests. She also set a career-high with 20 kills against Portland State on Sept. 18. Douglass owns the top three single-match hitting percentages in the conference this season, her top is a .688 clip against Columbia on Sept. 4.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
As the main distributor of the Red Raider offense, junior Marguerite Grubb didn't waste any time picking up where she left off last season. Grubb has put together an average of 10.95 assists per set, as she matched a season-high 52 against Oklahoma on Sept. 23. Her marks place her second in the conference and No. 37 in the country with a total of 624 assists. She has tallied 40+ assists in seven matches this season.
NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND
2015 is the first season the Big 12 utilized the video replay system and coaching challenges. Against OU, head coach Don Flora went two-for-three in challenges, including a pivotal overturned call in the fifth set, which gave Tech a 9-5 lead late in the match. At Iowa State, Flora was one-for-two, overturning the original call of a no-touch by a Cyclone defender. This season, Flora is three-for-six overall on challenges, after dropping his lone challenge at Baylor last week.
SETTING THE TONE
The Red Raiders are 9-0 this season when winning the first set of a match. In those sets, Texas Tech has averaged an attack percentage of .336, with a season-high of .800 against Northeastern. The Red Raiders put up 13 kills on 15 attacks and only one error in that set on Sept. 5. Tech is 49-13 under coach Flora when claiming the first frame.
TWICE AS NICE
Senior Carlie Foust racked up her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week award of the season on Sept. 28. The Amarillo native opened up conference play with back-to-back 20+ dig performances, including 29 in the victory over Oklahoma on Sept. 23, matching a career-high set earlier in the season. Her total is tied for the fourth most in a match this season in the Big 12. After two weeks of Big 12 play, she sits at second on the conference leaderboard in total digs (284) and digs per set (4.98). Earning her first accolade on Aug. 31, she became the second Red Raider in program history to win the award multiple times in the same season, as Rachel Brummitt accomplished the feat in 2012 and 2014.
NEXT ON THE AGENDA
The Red Raiders remain at home this weekend, as they welcome in TCU on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11 a.m. The match is "Fan Appreciation Day," where all fans will receive complimentary admission; however, there will not be a live stream of the match. Texas Tech has taken three of the last four meetings with the Horned Frogs, splitting last year's series. The Red Raiders are 4-2 against TCU at home and lead the all-time series, 6-5.
