RECAP: Texas Tech 2, Kansas State 3

Wednesday, October 27

Manhattan, KS

7:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

13-9,3-6Big 12

Kansas State

13-7,4-5Big 12

Texas Tech

Kansas St.

October 27, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Red Raiders drop a five-set match against the Wildcats to open the series.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Texas Tech (13-9, 3-6) battled back from down 2-0 to force a fifth set, but came up just short, falling to Kansas State (13-7, 4-5) in Manhattan Wednesday night. The Red Raiders faced a match point in the third set but battled back to win the next two sets to force the seventh five-set match of the season. Tech moved to 2-5 in five set matches this season.

Caitlin Dugan and Kenna Sauer led Tech with 13 kills, Sauer recorded a double-double adding 11 digs to her stat line. Reagan Cooper tallied 12 kills and four blocks to equal Dugan and Sauer's 14 points in the match. KJ Adams set a career-high with 30 digs and Alex Kirby matched her career-high with 19, adding 39 assists for her eighth double-double. Brooke Kanas led the team with six blocks.

Kansas State took a tight first set 25-23 to open the match. The Red Raiders led the set 23-21 but were unable to hang on as the Wildcats rattled off four straight points to take the opening frame.

The Wildcats took a two-set lead by winning the second set 25-20. K-State jumped out early on a 6-1 run to make it 6-3, but the Red Raiders came back to tie it at nine on a block from Kanas. The Wildcats went into the media timeout with a 15-13 advantage and pushed the lead to four to force the Red Raiders to call a timeout. Tech pulled back within a point with the help of three straight Wildcat errors to make it 18-17. The Wildcats would finish strong winning seven of the next 10 points to end the set.

The Red Raiders pulled out a gutsy performance in the third set to keep the match alive, fighting off a match point before taking the set 26-24. Tech trailed by four, 18-14, before rallying to bring the set within one. The Red Raiders took a 22-19 lead with six straight points, but the Wildcats answered with a 5-1 run to create a match point. Tech called a timeout to regroup and strung together the next three points to force a fourth set.

Tech put the pressure on early in the fourth, forcing two quick timeouts with a 9-3 lead. The Wildcats fought back within a point on a few occasions but each time the Red Raiders answered the challenge. Tech closed out the fourth set on an 8-2 run to earn a deciding set for the sixth time in conference play.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair early on as the Red Raiders took an 11-10 lead on an ace from Alex Torres. The Wildcats shut down Tech's momentum with four straight points to set up match point at 14-11. The Red Raiders took a timeout to try and find some footing and fought off one match point before a kill from Aliyah Carter gave Kansas State the match.

UP NEXT
Texas Tech looks to rebound with a win against the Wildcats Thursday night in Manhattan. The second match of the series is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum.

For the latest information on the Texas Tech volleyball team, visit TexasTech.com or follow @TexasTechVB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.