Red Raiders Roll Texas Southern for Fifth Straight Win

Saturday, September 15

Edinburg, TX

10 AM

Texas Tech Athletics

11-3

Texas Southern

1-10

Texas Tech

Texas Southern

Red Raiders Roll Texas Southern for Fifth Straight Win

September 15, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

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Young lineup takes care of the Lady Tigers to sweep the UTRGV Tournament.

By: Ty Parker, Texas Tech Athletics Communications

EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas Tech volleyball team defeated Texas Southern in straight sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) Saturday morning to finish a perfect 3-0 at the UTRGV Tournament in Edinburg, Texas.

Head coach Tony Graystone inserted three freshmen into the starting lineup and rotated several more young players into the rotation throughout the match as Tech limited TSU (1-10) to .010 hitting, the lowest mark for an opponent since South Dakota State hit .000 in September of 2015.

The Red Raiders (11-3) have now won five straight matches as they look ahead to Big 12 play next week. Junior Emily Hill was named tournament MVP, while sophomores Allison White and Emerson Solano received all-tournament nods.

"It was a good weekend overall," Graystone said. "We played really good on Friday. That was nice to see us put everything together and beat a good team in their gym. It was nice to get everybody on the court and work through some stuff. Overall, this was a positive weekend. We ended things the right way, and now we'll turn our attention to the Big 12."

Hill capped off a strong weekend with 10 kills and 16 digs for her third double-double in as many games. She led Tech in kills all three matches, and Saturday, she rallied Tech in the third set with six on 14 swings.

White finished with nine kills on .333 hitting Saturday to wrap up another efficient weekend. The Agryle, Texas, native totaled 25 kills with a .422 clip over the weekend to bring her hitting percentage to .443 entering conference play.

Solano matched her career high with 22 digs in the tournament opener against Houston Baptist before eclipsing that with 25 at UTRGV. The libero added a pair of aces and eight assists in spearheading a defense that limited opponents to a .157 hitting percentage over the weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Texas Tech rolled out three freshman starters with setter Alex Kirby and middle Karrington Jones receiving their first career starts. Jones's first career kill gave Tech a 10-5 lead. Sophomore Haley Harman extended it to seven at 14-7, and a TSU setting error gave Tech its biggest lead at 21-12. Kirby finished with 13 assists in the frame to six different Red Raiders as Tech closed the set outhitting the Lady Tigers .300 to .034 for the 25-18 victory.

The Red Raiders closed the second set on a 9-0 run to take a 25-15 victory. A strong service game helped limit the Lady Tigers to .000 hitting in the frame while Tech finished with five aces for the set. Freshmen Kiari Gier and Audrey Smith recorded the first aces of their careers, combining for three. White had four kills to lead all players with seven through two frames.

Tech got off to a slow start in the third and trailed by as many as six at 13-7. Hill helped the Red Raiders climb back with six kills in the frame, and she delivered her third ace of the match to regain the lead at 21-20. The Red Raiders finished the set on a 12-2 run, and White polished off the match.

NOTEWORTHY

The Red Raiders improved to 7-0 in the state of Texas
Tech has now won five in a row for its longest streak of the season
Head Coach Tony Graystone now owns a winning record at Texas Tech (40-39)
Tech is now 1-0 all-time against Texas Southern
Redshirt freshman Hannah Allison and true freshman Karrington Jones recorded their first kills as Red Raiders
Freshmen Kiari Gier and Audrey Smith recorded their first aces as Red Raiders

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders open Big 12 play Wednesday, Sept. 19, at No. 18 Baylor. First serve in Waco is set for 7 p.m.

Be sure to follow the Red Raiders on Twitter and Instagram (@TexasTechVB).