RECAP: No. 2 Longhorns outlast Red Raiders in four sets

Friday, November 26

Lubbock, TX

6:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

17-11,7-8Big 12

Texas

23-1,14-1Big 12

Texas

Texas Tech

RECAP: No. 2 Longhorns outlast Red Raiders in four sets

November 26, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Texas Tech ended No. 2 Texas' 13-set win streak in the loss, winning the second set 25-22.

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech dropped a four-set match to No. 2-ranked Texas on Friday night at the United Supermarkets Arena. The two teams will conclude the series with the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Red Raiders will recognize seven seniors following the conclusion of Saturday's match.

The Red Raiders (17-11, 7-8) fell 25-17, 22-25, 25-16, 25-17 to the Longhorns (23-1, 14-1) who have now won five in a row after dropping their only match of the season three weeks ago at Baylor. Tech's set two win ended the Longhorn's streak of 13 consecutive sets won, dating back to Nov. 6 in Texas' lone loss to Baylor.

Three Red Raiders recorded double-digit kills. Karrington Jones led the Red Raiders with 12 kills and a .364 hitting clip in the match, while Kenna Sauer added 11 kills and Reagan Cooper had 10. Alex Kirby orchestrated the offense with 41 assists, moving her into ninth place in program history in assists with 2,442. Sauer finished the night with a team-high nine digs while KJ Adams added eight digs and reached the 1,000-dig mark in her career. Brooke Kanas and Sauer had three blocks each. Tech finished the match hitting .246, the fourth highest mark for the Red Raiders in Big 12 play this season.

Logan Eggleston led Texas with 19 kills, nine digs and four blocks in the match, while Jhenna Gabriel led the team with 40 assists and also contributed seven digs. The Longhorns finished the night with a .328 hitting clip and tallied 13 service aces paced by Melanie Parra with four.

Texas took the 1-0 advantage with a 25-17 lead in the first set. Cooper led the Red Raiders with three kills in the opening set, while Kirby had eight assists and Adams contributed four digs.

Tech won the second set 25-22 with Jones leading the team with five kills in a set where the Red Raiders hit .516 with 18 kills and only two errors. Kanas added four kills, while Sauer and Cooper had three kills each in the frame. Kirby finished the set with 15 assists and a service ace to lead the offense and defensively Torres and Sauer had five digs each. Tech took a 13-12 lead in the second set on Kirby's ace and then went 3-0 run to lead 19-16 with two kills by Jones. Maddie O'Brien would give Tech a 23-21 lead followed by kills from Cooper and Kanas for a 24-22 advantage. The 25-22 win was sealed on an attacking error by the Longhorns their fifth of the set.

Jones would tie the third set at 7-7 before Texas took command where it took a 13-8 lead on an Eggleston ace, forcing Tech to use its first timeout. Another kill from Eggleston made it 20-12, Longhorns, their largest lead of the set. The Red Raiders fought off a couple of set points before Eggleston finished it at 25-16 with another kill.

Jones had a kill off an assist from Kirby in the fourth set to take it to 9-9 before Texas went on a 5-0 run to swing momentum in its favor. Sauer provided the kill that stopped the Longhorn run, but the score grew to 16-12 after a 4-0 run capped off by a kill from Parra. The Longhorns took a 20-15 advantage on Eggleston's 19th kill of the night and closed the match with a kill from Skylar Fields.

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders wrap up the regular season against the Longhorns Saturday night and then turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday with hopes of earning their first tournament berth in 20 years.