Texas Tech University Athletics
Saturday, November 12
Norman, Okla.
6:00 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
at
Oklahoma
Texas Tech Travels to Face Oklahoma Saturday
November 10, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Red Raiders have taken three of their last five matches to five sets.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech volleyball hits the road for one of four remaining regular season contests as it heads to Norman to take on Oklahoma Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at McCasland Field House.
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The Red Raiders (10-17, 0-12) are coming off a tough five-set home loss to Iowa State last Saturday, but are encouraged with their recent performances during the back half of Big 12 play. Tech, which has won seven sets in the last five matches, looks to get its first Big 12 win of the season against Oklahoma (13-12, 4-8), who escaped with a tight 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-17) win over the Red Raiders in Lubbock on Oct. 12.
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"This team feels pretty good," assistant coach Morgan Thomas said. "Winning is hard in this league. It's hard for this team to know that they're doing the right thing, implementing the game plan and not finishing. I know that they're ready for Saturday. The momentum is good coming off the past couple of conference matches. It will be a good matchup."
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The match will be streamed on SoonerSports.tv (premium subscription required) with live stats available at Oklahoma.Statbroadcast.com.
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THE SOONERS
Oklahoma (13-12, 4-8) is coming off a midweek home loss to Iowa State by the score of 3-1. The Sooners have struggled as of late, dropping five of their last six matches since sweeping Texas Tech in Lubbock on Oct. 12. The Sooners, which have been without the services of one of their key offensive weapons in senior Madison Ward, remain second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .251, but ahead of only Texas Tech in opponent hitting percentage at .224. Senior Micaela Spann and junior Marion Hazelwood pick up the slack on offense, hitting at clips of .362 and .316, which rank second and seventh in the conference, respectively, while sophomore Alyssa Enneking leads the team with 234 kills.
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INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas Tech leads the all-time series with Oklahoma, 35-34, but fell to the Sooners in a tight 0-3 battle earlier this season at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders earned a split in the series last season. Texas Tech's 3-2 win in 2015 snapped a 19-match losing streak to the sooners at the time. The Red Raiders are 13-18 against the Sooners in Norman and face a 13 match losing streak with the last win road win for the Red Raiders coming in 2002. The series between the two teams dates back to 1976 with Texas Tech winning 19 of the 28 contests prior to the formation of the Big 12.
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LAST TIME OUT
For the third time in five matches, the Red Raiders again pushed the match into five sets, but ending up falling to Iowa State 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12). For the second time in three matches, Tech held a 1-0 lead after the first set, but the Cyclones rebounded with the second and third sets before Tech managed to send it to a fifth with a 25-23 fourth-set victory. Tech led 8-6 in the fifth set, but the Cyclones closed on a 9-3 run to win the match. Sophomore Sarah Redding led the Red Raiders with 16 kills while sophomore Katy Keenan and senior Lauren Douglass added 12 and 11, respectively. The trio also combined for 11 blocks defensively, while sophomore Reyn Akiu tallied 24 digs and setter Marguerite Grubb recorded 45 assists.
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HAWAIIAN DEFENDER
Libero Reyn Akiu has burst onto the scene during her sophomore season and become the team's most consistent defensive performer. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native posted a career-high 33 digs in a week ago against Baylor, moving her up to fourth on the school's single-season digs list. Akiu now has 478 for the season and is just 33 away from claiming the No. 2 spot on the list.
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The Red Raiders (10-17, 0-12) are coming off a tough five-set home loss to Iowa State last Saturday, but are encouraged with their recent performances during the back half of Big 12 play. Tech, which has won seven sets in the last five matches, looks to get its first Big 12 win of the season against Oklahoma (13-12, 4-8), who escaped with a tight 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-17) win over the Red Raiders in Lubbock on Oct. 12.
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"This team feels pretty good," assistant coach Morgan Thomas said. "Winning is hard in this league. It's hard for this team to know that they're doing the right thing, implementing the game plan and not finishing. I know that they're ready for Saturday. The momentum is good coming off the past couple of conference matches. It will be a good matchup."
Â
The match will be streamed on SoonerSports.tv (premium subscription required) with live stats available at Oklahoma.Statbroadcast.com.
Â
THE SOONERS
Oklahoma (13-12, 4-8) is coming off a midweek home loss to Iowa State by the score of 3-1. The Sooners have struggled as of late, dropping five of their last six matches since sweeping Texas Tech in Lubbock on Oct. 12. The Sooners, which have been without the services of one of their key offensive weapons in senior Madison Ward, remain second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .251, but ahead of only Texas Tech in opponent hitting percentage at .224. Senior Micaela Spann and junior Marion Hazelwood pick up the slack on offense, hitting at clips of .362 and .316, which rank second and seventh in the conference, respectively, while sophomore Alyssa Enneking leads the team with 234 kills.
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INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas Tech leads the all-time series with Oklahoma, 35-34, but fell to the Sooners in a tight 0-3 battle earlier this season at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders earned a split in the series last season. Texas Tech's 3-2 win in 2015 snapped a 19-match losing streak to the sooners at the time. The Red Raiders are 13-18 against the Sooners in Norman and face a 13 match losing streak with the last win road win for the Red Raiders coming in 2002. The series between the two teams dates back to 1976 with Texas Tech winning 19 of the 28 contests prior to the formation of the Big 12.
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LAST TIME OUT
For the third time in five matches, the Red Raiders again pushed the match into five sets, but ending up falling to Iowa State 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12). For the second time in three matches, Tech held a 1-0 lead after the first set, but the Cyclones rebounded with the second and third sets before Tech managed to send it to a fifth with a 25-23 fourth-set victory. Tech led 8-6 in the fifth set, but the Cyclones closed on a 9-3 run to win the match. Sophomore Sarah Redding led the Red Raiders with 16 kills while sophomore Katy Keenan and senior Lauren Douglass added 12 and 11, respectively. The trio also combined for 11 blocks defensively, while sophomore Reyn Akiu tallied 24 digs and setter Marguerite Grubb recorded 45 assists.
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HAWAIIAN DEFENDER
Libero Reyn Akiu has burst onto the scene during her sophomore season and become the team's most consistent defensive performer. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native posted a career-high 33 digs in a week ago against Baylor, moving her up to fourth on the school's single-season digs list. Akiu now has 478 for the season and is just 33 away from claiming the No. 2 spot on the list.
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COMING ON STRONG
After missing much of the nonconference portion of the schedule recovering from injury, sophomore Sarah Redding has come on strong to provide even more balance to the Texas Tech offense. Redding has posted double-digit kills in four of the last five matches, highlighted by a career-high 17 kills against No. 2 Texas. She has tied or led the team in kills in three of the team's last five outings with the aforementioned 17 kills against Texas, 13 at West Virginia and 16 in Tech's most recent outing against Iowa State.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
SET
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
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