VB Overpowers Eagles to Sweep Clemson Challenge

Saturday, September 16

Clemson, S.C.

3 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

11-2

Georgia Southern

2-7

Georgia Southern

Texas Tech

VB Overpowers Eagles to Sweep Clemson Challenge

September 16, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Tech surpasses 2016 win total with 11th win of the season leading into Big 12 play next week

CLEMSON, S.C. – Texas Tech volleyball put a stamp on its non-conference slate with a 3-0 sweep of Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Jervey Gym in its finale at the Clemson Challenge.

With the quick 25-17, 25-16, 25-14 win, the Red Raiders claim the Clemson Challenge crown posting a perfect 3-0 mark at the event, including wins over Clemson and South Carolina. Tech improves to 11-2 on the year, already surpassing their win total from 2016.

"This is what we wanted to come out here for," head coach Tony Graystone said about taking the crown. "We wanted to get three wins and finish out preparation for conference play, and we feel like we got it done."

"It was good to see us get off to the start we wanted ," Graystone said of this afternoon's win. "Katy (Keenan) was pretty dominant. It was about the best we have seen her play for a good stretch of time. Hopefully she has grown as a player and has that confidence to go into conference play and do the same thing."

Junior Katy Keenan was named the tournament MVP after hitting a team-leading .475 in Clemson. She recorded nine kills on .500 hitting in Tech's win over Clemson, eight kills against South Carolina and another seven kills at a .875 clip against Georgia Southern. She also averaged .55 blocks per set to go with three total services aces.

"Our ball control made it easy for me to be an option," Keenan said. "It's easy for me to be good on offense when we are in system that much. Our offense was very well distributed. Any hitter could have gotten a kill at any moment, and that's a testament to how good Missy (Owens) is and our ball control."

Juniors Sarah Redding and Missy Owens received nods to the all-tournament team. Over the course of three games, Redding averaged 3.40 kills per set to lead the team, including a .406 hitting percentage. Owens, meanwhile, averaged a stellar 11.18 assists per set to engineer an offense that hit .256 overall at the event.

The Red Raiders took control of each set early on, grabbing leads of 12-5 in the first, 11-5 in the second and 15-8 in the third.

Senior Kate Klepetka made her first appearance as the team's libero in the straight-set win over the Eagles. The graduate transfer filled in nicely with 23 digs and eight assists, both season highs.

A balanced offensive attack saw five Red Raiders record between six and nine kills against the Eagles with sophomore Chandler Atwood's nine leading the way. Redding recorded eight while Keenan and sophomore Emily Hill had seven each. Freshman Allison White had six to go with a pair of blocks.

NEXT UP
Texas Tech begins Big 12 play this week with a Wednesday trip to Baylor. First serve in Waco between the Red Raiders and Bears at is set for 6 p.m. on FOX Sports Southwest.

POST-GAME NOTES

Tech finished 3-0 at the Clemson Challenge to capture its second tournament title of 2017 in three events
The sweep is Tech's seventh of the season
Tech improves to 2-0 all-time against Georgia Southern
Graystone improves to 461-183 as a head coach and 21-23 at Texas Tech
Senior Kate Klepetka started as libero for the first time this season
Sophomore Taylor Martinez recorded her first career ace in the first set

MORE FROM GRAYSTONE
On defeating South Carolina
"We were really backed up into a corner (against South Carolina). We dropped that first set and were down 9-4 in the second set. I was real proud of us to fight back like that. Once we decided to be a lot more aggressive and take the match across the net things started to change."

For complete coverage of Texas Tech volleyball, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at @TexasTechVB and find the Red Raiders on Facebook and YouTube. As always, stay tuned to www.TexasTech.com for all updates on Texas Tech.