Texas Tech Athletics
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Baylor
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Kanas has career night, Tech drops match to No. 11 Baylor
November 02, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
LUBBOCK, Texas – Fifth-year senior Brooke Kanas had a career night after reaching the 300-block milestone and now ranks sixth all-time in program history with 1,049 career kills as the Red Raiders fell just short of the No. 11 Baylor Bears, 17-25, 20-25, 25-16, 23-25, on Wednesday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Kanas totaled 11 slams on 28 attacks for a .214 hitting clip, while adding an ace, a career-high tying four digs and seven blocks on the night. Kenna Sauer posted her 13th double-double of the season after collecting a team-leading 19 kills and 12 digs. Sauer also posted three blocks and hit for .351 against the Bears.
Reagan Cooper joined Kanas with 11 kills of her own after recording a .346 hitting clip and three digs. Karrington Jones put together a strong performance after going for six kills on 15 attacks (.333) and adding four blocks.
In her first game back since Kansas on October 15, Reese Rhodes was able to tally 38 assists and nine digs. KJ Adams, like Sauer, added 12 more digs for the Red Raiders while Alex Torres had eight of her own. As a team, the Red Raiders collected 49 kills, 43 assists, five aces, 57 digs and 11.0 blocks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
Baylor went out to an early lead in the set after going up 10-5. Tech got a point back on a Baylor error, but the Bears scored three in a row to take a 13-6 advantage. Sauer was able to end the run with a kill of her own, but Baylor would win the next two points. Tech won two-straight when Sauer, Jones, Kanas and Caitlin Dugan put together back-to-back blocks. With Baylor leading 20-11, the Red Raiders won four-consecutive points when Cooper tallied two kills and Jones added another to make it 20-15, Baylor. The Bears would close it out, though, to win the first set by a score of 25-17.
Set Two
The Bears were off to a hot start after taking an 8-1 lead. The Red Raiders didn't bow out and would win four-straight points, highlighted by a kill from Sauer and two-consecutive blocks from Kanas, Maddie O'Brien and Sauer. After the Bears went ahead 12-8, Tech would answer with five points in a row on slams from Kanas and Jones, a block by Cooper and Jones and an ace from Kanas to take a 13-12 lead. Baylor would win five of the next six points, then go on another 3-0 run to lead 21-16. The Red Raiders got two more points back on an ace from O'Brien and a block assist from O'Brien and Kanas, but Baylor eventually took the set, 25-20.
Set Three
The third set was all Red Raiders after going up by a 10-4 score. In the run, Tech was able to get kills from Jones, Sauer and Dugan and used Baylor's attack errors to their advantage. Baylor clawed its way back, however, cutting into Tech's lead at 12-10. But, the Red Raiders got a kill from Cooper and an ace from Rhodes to keep their advantage. The Red Raiders followed by winning nine of the next 11 points to take a commanding 23-13 lead. Then, Kanas put down a kill to give Tech a 25-16 third-set victory.
Set Four
Baylor was out to another early lead after going up 6-2 in the fourth set. The Red Raiders punched back and went on a 6-0 run as Sauer and Kanas collected kills, Dugan added a service ace and Kanas and Sauer blocked some Baylor attacks. The Bears followed with a 3-0 run to lead 9-8 before Tech answered with four-straight points on a Baylor error and three kills from Cooper. The Bears and Red Raiders went back-and-forth in the set, before Baylor pulled away at 21-18. Tech fought its way back in it, though, cutting into the Baylor lead at 24-23 on a block from Dugan and Jones. But, the Bears would come away with the match after putting down a kill to win the set, 25-23.
NOTABLES
- Brooke Kanas is now sixth all-time in kills in Texas Tech volleyball history with 1,049 while also tying her season high in blocks with seven to put her up over 300 career blocks for the Red Raiders.
- Kenna Sauer had her team-leading 13th double-double of the season with 19 kills & 12 digs.
- Alex Torres made her first start of the season at libero in the first set of the match.
- Dugan recorded her first multiple-ace game of the season and the second of her career giving her a total of four service aces on the year.
- Maddie O'Brien recorded her 37th service ace of the year ranking her at second in the Big 12.
QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Tony Graystone
Opening statement…
"Tough result. Not very happy with the first set and a half with how we played, but then the second half of the match was good. Our serves and blocks were good all the way through, keeping us in it. Still, it's the first touch piece for us… We're struggling to get into system and the sideout game struggles from time to time. So offensively, when we were in system, we saw good results and put ourselves in a position to extend it to five but came up short in the end."
On having Reese Rhodes back in lineup…
"We can put up a real lineup out there and we are playing on equal footing with who we are playing up against. We spent about two weeks waiting and running in place, not being able to go anywhere, but it was nice to have [Reese] back for sure."
On going into the next game…
"The emphasis right now is the defense on our side. Teams get physical. We are really good if we can get a block touch and we can dig just about anything. When attackers get around our block, we struggle. Part of it is positioning; part of it is we need to get a better touch. You think about TCU, and that is really their game. They are physical. It is really going to come back to the serve-piece and the block-piece, and then can we defend and get back in position. It is going to be a really good match. Everything is pretty even for us at this point forward. We are going to be in a lot of matches like tonight."
#21 Middle Blocker Brooke Kanas
On how she felt during the game and what was something strong her team did…
"We definitely came out a little slower than we wanted to. I did like our fight after a set and a half. We brought a little fight back and figured out a little groove. I wish we could've kept that going longer, but I am proud of us for not just falling back and taking the hit. We did bring something back and pushed back."
On what they can bring to the next game to start off on a good foot…
"I'm excited that we play on Saturday, so we don't have to wait too long to do that. Just talking as a team on how we can prepare, so that we come out in the first set like we did in the third to help us out a little bit and figure that out together."
Up Next
The Red Raiders continue their homestand with a match on Saturday, November 5 against the TCU Horned Frogs at 1 p.m. at the United Supermarkets Arena.
