Baumert leads Red Raiders past West Virginia

Saturday, September 24

Morgantown, WV

12:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

12-2,1-0Big 12

West Virginia

6-7,0-1Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Texas Tech	25	22	25	26	15	3
West Virginia	27	25	22	24	10	2

Box Score (PDF)

Baumert leads Red Raiders past West Virginia

September 24, 2022 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Casey Montalvo

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Behind a career-high 32 assists from freshman Ellie Baumert, the Texas Tech Red Raider volleyball team earned its first conference win against the West Virginia Mountaineers, 25-27, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-10, at WVU Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

Baumert came into the match in the middle of the second set and was a catalyst to helping the Red Raiders (12-2, 1-0 Big 12) reverse sweep the Mountaineers. In the match, Baumert totaled 32 assists, four digs and three blocks, including a huge block to force a fifth set.

Senior Kenna Sauer posted her seventh double-double of the season with 16 kills and a career-high of 22 digs. She also added four blocks against WVU.

Three more players tallied double-digit kill performances – Brooke Kanas (13), Reagan Cooper (12) and Maddie O'Brien (10). O'Brien almost posted her first double-double after totaling eight digs and four blocks. Both Kanas and Karrington Jones also added four blocks on the day.

Tech had an impressive defensive effort as three Red Raiders collected double-digit digs and the team totaled 14.0 blocks. Sauer led with 22 digs, KJ Adams collected a season-high 19 digs and Maddie Correa added 17 more. Adams also had a multi-ace day after getting two against WVU.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
The Red Raiders took an early 2-0 lead on a block from Sauer and an attack error by the Mountaineers. West Virginia, however, went on a 4-0 run to take a 4-2 advantage. That run was stopped by O'Brien when she put down a kill followed by a Sauer slam to tie it up. West Virginia took an 8-7 lead, but Tech went on a 7-1 run to hold a 14-9 advantage. Correa was able to extend the Red Raiders' lead when she served up an ace, 18-14. Tech was up 24-19 when West Virginia won six straight points to lead, 25-24. Then, WVU would win two of the next three points to claim the first set, 27-25.

Set Two
West Virginia kept their momentum from the first set and got off to a 9-4 lead. Tech chipped away, eventually going on a 4-0 run to cut into WVU's lead at 15-11. WVU would score a point on a kill, but the Red Raiders went on yet another 4-0 run to get just behind WVU at 16-15. With the Mountaineers leading 21-16, Tech took the next five points on back-to-back blocks from the Red Raiders and an ace from Adams. But, WVU won four of the next five points to jump to a 2-0 lead, 25-22.

Set Three
The third set went back-and-forth at the start, with the WVU leading 5-4 early. Tech would then go on a 4-0 run thanks to kills from Cooper, Jones and O'Brien. Down 14-13, the Red Raiders would tie the match with a slam from O'Brien. More back-and-forth play ensued, but with a 22-20 lead, the Red Raiders would get their next three points on errors from WVU and kills by Jones and Kanas, claiming the third set by a score of 25-22.

Set Four
Just like last set, the Mountaineers were off to a good start as they took a 4-2 lead to begin. The Red Raiders were able to tie it at 4-4 on a WVU error and a Kanas kill. West Virginia came back to lead 10-8, but Tech won five-straight points to hold a 13-10 advantage and force a WVU timeout. With Tech holding a 17-13 lead, the Mountaineers would close the gap and tie it at 19-19. The Red Raiders would come out of their timeout and win back-to-back points to force another West Virginia timeout. The Mountaineers were able to tie the match at 24-24, but the Red Raiders fought back to win it on a big block from Baumert, 26-24.

Set Five
The Red Raiders took a 2-0 lead to start the fifth set thanks to a kill from Cooper and an attack error by WVU. The Mountaineers clawed back and scored four points in a row for a 4-2 advantage. Tech answered with three-consecutive points on a kill from Jones and back-to-back blocks by O'Brien and Jones. With a WVU lead, Tech would go on another 3-0 run, highlighted by kills from Sauer and Kanas and an ace from Adams, to go ahead 8-6. The Red Raiders kept the lead for the remainder of the match and totaled three more blocks in the last nine points to close out the set, 15-10.

Notables

Tech moves to 14-9 all-time against the Mountaineers.
The Red Raiders are 1-0 in conference play.
Freshman Ellie Baumert totaled a career-high 32 assists.
Kenna Sauer tallied a career-high 22 digs.
Four Red Raiders posted double-digit kills and three Red Raiders collected double-digit digs.
Sauer also earned her seventh double-double of the year.