Tech Drops Five-Set Battle at West Virginia

Saturday, November 11

Morgantown, W. Va.

12 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

14-12, 3-10

West Virginia

16-11,4-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Texas Tech	25	25	21	17	11	2
West Virginia	18	23	25	25	15	3

Tech Drops Five-Set Battle at West Virginia

November 11, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Sophomore Emily Hill leads the team with 17 kills and 15 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Texas Tech volleyball controlled the first two sets before falling at West Virginia, 3-2, Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, W. Va.

The Red Raiders (14-12, 3-10) limited the Mountaineers (16-11, 4-9) to .115 hitting in the first two sets, but West Virginia clawed its way back into the match and took it in five by a score of 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-11.

Sophomore Emily Hill led the Red Raiders in both kills and digs with 17 and 15 for her 14^th career double-double and ninth this season. Fellow sophomore Chandler Atwood recorded 13 kills while junior Katy Keenan added 12.

Sophomore Payton Caffrey led the Moutaineers with 25 kills, nine digs and five blocks. She kept WVU alive with six kills in the third and eight in the fourth, before catapulting them to the win with five in the deciding frame.

Defensively, Keenan tallied her second straight match with six block assists, while junior Reyn Akiu and freshman Emerson Solano posted 11 and 10, respectively. Junior Missy Owens had a solid night, finishing with 48 assists and 11 digs for her 20^th career double-double and seventh of the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Tech featured a balanced offensive attack in the first as four Red Raiders recorded two kills, including junior Sarah Redding, White, Keenan and Atwood. Tech got its block going late in the set to grab 4.0 team blocks in the frame, led by White's three, and hold the Mountaineers to .069 hitting. The Red Raiders closed the opening set with a 10-4 run that was capped by a kill on the right by Redding.

Tech found itself trailing by three midway through the second set, but dug out of the hole thanks to a pair of kills and an ace from Hill. The Red Raiders closed the set on a 4-0 run to take it 25-23. Keenan got the run started, Hill secured the next two points and then Keenan and Owens posted a block that would give Tech a 2-0 set advantage.

WVU used a 7-2 run midway through the third behind Caffrey's serve to turn an even set into an 18-13 lead. Tech fought back to narrow the gap to two at 21-19 and again at 23-21, but WVU fed Caffrey to get to set point and closed it out with Caffrey on serve.

The Mountaineers gained an early 9-5 lead in the fourth before Tech closed the gap to two at 11-9 and 15-13. Caffrey had four kills down the stretch and an attack error from Emily Hill sent it to a fifth set.

After an ace from Owens and a kill from Hill, Tech led 3-1 early in the fifth. After WVU went on a run to take an 8-4 lead, the Red Raiders fired back with a 5-0 run of their own behind the serve of Solano. Three kills from Caffrey and three Red Raider errors over the next nine points would prove too much to overcome.

POST-GAME NOTES

The Red Raiders and Mountaineers split this season series .
The all-time series is now even at 7-7.
This is Tech's second loss of the season to a Big 12 team after leading 2-0.
Junior Tita Akiu surpassed 1,000 digs for her career.
With senior Kate Klepetka in the 2,000 career-digs club, Tech is now the only school in the nation with multiple 1,000-digs club members with one of those in the 2,000-digs club.
Sophomore Emily Hill eclipsed 300 kills season for the second straight season and is over 400 digs for her career.
Setter Missy Owens is 77 assists away from back-to-back 1,000 assist seasons.

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders travel to Fort Worth for a midweek showdown at TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Tech defeated the Horned Frogs, 3-1, in Lubbock on October 14. TCU entered Saturday one match behind Tech in the Big 12 standings.