Red Raiders Rout UTEP in Home Opener

Monday, September 5

Lubbock, Texas

6:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

5-2

UTEP

2-5

UTEP

Texas Tech

September 05, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Douglass’s 15 kills power Texas Tech to fifth straight win.

| @TTUVBall

LUBBOCK, Texas –Texas Tech Volleyball picked up its fifth-consecutive win with a commanding 3-0 victory over UTEP Monday night in its home opener inside the practice gym at United Supermarkets Arena.

Senior Lauren Douglass led a stout Red Raider attack, posting her third consecutive match of 15 kills or more and hitting at a .577 clip. She also added five blocks for a Red Raider defense that posted a season-high 16 blocks to help Texas Tech (5-2) grab a 25-16, 25-15, 25-23 win.

"I think we really wanted to make a good impression with it being our first home match, so we came out a little tight because we wanted to play so well," head coach Tony Graystone said. "We recovered and put them away in those first two games. I really liked how we finished. We were down 23-21, I called a couple of timeouts, they did exactly what we asked them to do and we stole it from them at the end."

The Red Raiders hit .254 as a team as sophomore Katy Keenan pitched in seven kills and junior Courtney Ensch and freshman Toni McDougald added five each.

Senior Marguerite Grubb led the Red Raiders with 29 assists in the contest and added six digs, while sophomore Reyn Akiu recorded a team-high 16 digs and freshman Maggie Sagers compiled eight of her own to help the Red Raiders hold UTEP to a .109 hitting percentage.

Texas Tech used a 7-0 run in the first set to take a 9-4 lead early on. With the Red Raiders up 13-12, Keenan provided her first kill of the night to spark a 6-0 run that would extend the lead to 19-12. Following a UTEP timeout, Texas Tech was able to close out the opening set, 25-16.

In the second set, Texas Tech again jumped out early behind its strong defense, taking a 13-4 lead that force a Miner timeout. Freshman Kylie Rittimann delivered an ace to push the lead to 16-4 before UTEP battled back to make it 21-12. Douglass slammed seven kills in the frame as Texas Tech closed out the set, 25-15.

UTEP kept things close throughout the third set thanks to an improved defensive effort. The Miners took a 23-21 lead, before three straight kills from freshman Chandler Atwood, Grubb and Keenan allowed Texas Tech to surge in front and take the set, 25-23.