Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
14-4,3-2Big 12
Oklahoma
11-6,1-4Big 12
Dugan shines in win over Oklahoma
October 12, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Red Raiders held Oklahoma to a .177 hitting clip as they defeated the Sooners, 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, on Wednesday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) had four players – Reagan Cooper (16), Kenna Sauer (14), Caitlin Dugan (13) and Brooke Kanas (12) – finish with double-digit kills. Sauer also picked up her 11th double-double of the 2022 campaign and Dugan posted a season-high in kills with 13.
In addition to their double-digit kills, Cooper (.412), Kanas (.321) and Dugan (.320) each brandished hitting percentages over .300. Reese Rhodes also collected a double-double, her eighth on the season, with 52 assists and 11 digs.
Defensively, Texas Tech had two players - Dugan and Karrington Jones – record at least five blocks, as Dugan tied her career-high with eight blocks and Jones with five rejections. Texas Tech also had four players collect double-digit digs as Maddie Correa posted a team-high 16, KJ Adams tallied 13, Rhodes totaled 11, and Sauer added 10 digs.
As a team tonight, Texas Tech recorded 62 kills on 151 attacks (.291) for the second most slams this season and most in four sets. It was also the Red Raiders' seventh time this season recording 10 or more blocks after putting up 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead in the set going up 5-1 before Sauer could stop the run with a timely kill, propelling the Red Raiders into a run of their own to storm ahead 8-5. Coming out of the timeout, the Sooners were able to tighten the game up to a two-point deficit before the Red Raiders, again, began to pull away at 17-12 forcing another Sooner timeout. Texas Tech came out of the timeout putting up four of the next six points before they went on a final run to close out the set with a 25-17 victory thanks to a Cooper kill.
Set Two
In this back-and-forth set, there were three lead changes and eight ties as the Red Raiders were able to snatch the set by a score of 25-23 to take a 2-0 lead. Oklahoma again started fast and got out to a quick 6-1 lead until Rhodes, Sauer and Kanas all recorded kills in the next four points to bring Tech to within two, 7-5. The set proceeded to be nip and tuck with both sides struggling to take control until the end. Eventually, the Red Raiders found themselves tied at 23-all after Sauer and Kanas delivered back-to-back kills, giving Tech its final push to close out the second set.
Set Three
For the third-consecutive set, Oklahoma came out firing on all cylinders to put the Red Raiders in another early deficit, this time taking a 9-4 lead. The Red Raiders charged back to get the game within one, 10-9, before Oklahoma went on a four-point run of their own to swell the score to a five-point lead forcing a Texas Tech timeout. Coming out of the timeout, it was all Texas Tech as they climbed back to tie the game at 14-14 with a quick string of offensive output, but it was short lived as Oklahoma closed the door on the Red Raiders late in the third set to take it, 25-22.
Set Four
Texas Tech took the opening lead for the first time of the night leaping to a slim, 2-0 advantage fueled by a pair of kills from Sauer and Kanas before Oklahoma responded evening the score 6-6. Tech was able to pull away before the media timeout to command a 15-10 advantage thanks to a timely kill by Cooper. Buoyed by huge, fourth-set performances from Kanas and Sauer, Texas Tech was able to control the lead moving forward to close out Oklahoma, 25-18, in the night's final set.
Notables
- With her 52 assists on the night, Reese Rhodes now has 949 career assists.
- Rhodes also tallied her third performance of the season with 50-plus assists after dishing out 52 against the Sooners.
- Caitlin Dugan put up a season high 13 kills and career-high tying eight blocks against OU, pushing her career total to 193 blocks.
- After collecting 12 kills in the game, Brooke Kanas now ranks eighth all-time in program history with 1,019 slams.
- Texas Tech held the Sooners to just a .184 hitting clip, making it the 10th time this season holding an opponent to under .200 hitting.
QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Tony Graystone
Opening statement…
"Big win tonight, this was the bounce back that we were looking for. We dropped two in a row, and we got back home and needed to take care of this match. So, I'm really happy with how we executed the game plan tonight – the serving piece, the blocking – and how we started out with the offensive balanced. This was a solid match for us."
On the message to the team after dropping the third set…
"It was the same message as the first three sets. We recognized that we were off to a slow start, we just got away with it in the first two sets. It's hard to go down five to one, or six to one to come back to win. I think that's why the second set was so close since we were down so big. The third set was it was the same thing, Oklahoma played well from start to finish, but they didn't give us a window to bounce all the way back. The fourth set really was about the start, and I thought that we did a really nice job with that."
#3 Outside Hitter Caitlin Dugan
On coming back from an injury…
"It's always great getting to play on this team. I love everyone, so anytime I can get on that court, I just feel grateful. I'm just happy to be here."
On the chemistry the team has…
"When our offense is balanced and we can set everybody, we are unstoppable… Which is why we won tonight. Reese [Rhodes] has been working really hard with us to connect with everybody, and I think that really showed tonight with all five of us hitting."
Up Next
The Red Raiders travel to Lawrence, Kansas for a match against the Kansas Jayhawks on Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.
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