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Cooper, Sauer Reach 500 Career Kills at Bulldog Classic
September 04, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. – Highlighted by career milestones from Reagan Cooper and Kenna Sauer, the Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-0) overpowered the Charlotte 49ers and the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday at the Stegeman Coliseum to start the season 6-0 for the first time since 2014. In the matches, both Cooper and Sauer collected their 500th career kill to help the Red & Black pick up two wins on the day.
In the match against Charlotte, Sauer was on a tear as she tallied a season-high 22 kills on 41 attacks (.439 hitting), eight digs and a block in the match.
Totaling double-digit kills were Cooper and Brooke Kanas, who each added 10 apiece. Kanas also led with a .467 hitting clip. In addition, Cooper collected four blocks and Kanas had two of her own. Karrington Jones joined in on the block party with three, while also tallying nine slams on 19 attacks (.421).
Defensively, sophomore libero Maddie Correa led the team with 15 digs, followed by Sauer with eight and KJ Adams with seven digs. The team totaled 55 kills and a .357 hitting clip in the match, as well as nine aces, nine blocks, 43 digs and 51 assists.
The Red Raiders came back to Stegeman Coliseum for the night cap to take on host team, Georgia. In another tough matchup, Tech prevailed after three more Red Raiders tallied double-digit kills – Sauer (19), Cooper (15) and Kanas (12). In addition, Sauer also posted her third double-double of the season by totaling 13 digs.
Junior setter Reese Rhodes had a strong day after putting up a career-high in assists against Charlotte, then went on to collect her second double-double of the year with 45 assists and 10 digs. Correa was the third Red Raider of the match to total double-digit digs with 18, while both Maddie O'Brien, Kanas and Jones each tallied five blocks.
Tech outhit the Bulldogs .295 to .221 and also posted more digs (58), kills (58) and assists (50) than the SEC foe.
GAME 1: TTU 3, CLT 1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
The first set started close as both Tech would tie it at 5-5 when Rhodes recorded her first solo block of the season. Charlotte would pick things up and take a 10-6 lead on a kill from Lara Kretschmer. The Niners would maintain their advantage throughout the set, until the Red Raiders closed the gap at 18-17 on a KJ Adams ace. But, the 49ers stayed locked in and would win the first set by a score of 25-20.
Set Two
The Red Raiders erased the first set from their minds as they began the second set in dominant fashion, taking an early 5-2 lead. Then, Tech would win five of the next seven points to go up, 10-4, on kills from Maddie O'Brien, Brooke Kanas and Kenna Sauer. Charlotte closed the gap to make it 14-11, but Karrington Jones sparked a 4-0 run to lead 18-11. Tech only allowed the 49ers to win five more points as they claimed the second set, 25-16.
Set Three
O'Brien, the team leader in aces, gave Tech a 3-1 lead to open set three thanks to two-consecutive aces. The Red Raiders went on a 7-3 run highlighted by kills from Reagan Cooper and Jones, as well as another service ace from Jones. With a 20-11 advantage, Tech claimed its next five points on slams from Sauer and Kanas to win, 25-16.
Set Four
Tech took a 4-2 lead to start the set thanks to kills from Sauer and Jones. Charlotte would come back to tie the set at 11-all when Emani' Foster put down a kill for the Niners. Sauer then sparked a 4-1 run with a slam to give Tech a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout. The Red & Black would allow Charlotte just six more points in the set to win it on a Jones slam, 25-18.
GAME 2: TTU 3, UGA 1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
Tech started with an early 4-2 lead in the first set, but then both teams would go back-and-forth the entire time as they totaled 18 ties throughout the set. Even at 14, Sauer would put down a kill to spark a 3-0 run. But, Georgia came back to tie it up at 17-17. With another even score of 22-22, the Bulldogs collected two kills and capitalized on an attack error to claim the first set, 25-23.
Set Two
Much like set one, the second set was close to start out after Tech began with a 4-3 lead. Then, the Red Raiders went on a clutch 5-2 run to go up, 9-5, After tying it at 16-all, Tech would win four of the next five points a couple errors by the Bulldogs highlighted by two kills from Cooper. The teams evened the score once again at 22-22, but the Red Raiders only allowed Georgia to win one more point as they took set two, 25-23.
Set Three
Even though the third set went back-and-forth at the beginning, Georgia kept the slight edge with a one point lead, 8-7. Tech then went on a 4-1 run sparked by a Cooper slam to take an 11-9 lead. The Red Raiders would win eight of the next 11 points to have the 19-12 advantage. The Bulldogs tried to claw their way back, but a kill from Sauer put an end to the set in Tech's favor, 25-20.
Set Four
Georgia took an early 5-4 lead thanks to a kill from Georgia's Kacie Evans, but Texas Tech would come back to tie it at 6-all with a Cooper kill. The Red Raiders headed into the media timeout down 14-15, but would come back firing after winning three-straight points. Georgia kept cutting into Tech's lead and eventually tied it at 20-20, however, the Red & Black won five of the next eight points to close out the SEC opponent with a 25-23 score.
Notables
- Today marked the first time the Red Raiders played the Charlotte 49ers in program history.
- The Red Raiders opened the season with six-straight victories for the first time since 2014… This is also the best start for the Red & Black under head coach Tony Graystone in his seven seasons at Tech.
- Tech posted back-to-back matches hitting .357 as a team against both College of Charleston and Charlotte.
- The Red Raiders recorded a season-high 55 kills in the match against the 49ers.
- Reese Rhodes collected a career-high 47 assists during the same game.
- Kenna Sauer hit a major milestone after tallying 500 career kills with her season-high 22 slams against Charlotte.
- Reagan Cooper also recorded her 500th career kill during the Georgia match.
- Maddie Correa totaled her sixth-consecutive double-digit dig game with 18 against Georgia.
- Maddie O'Brien matched her career-high with three aces versus Charlotte to continue leading the Red Raiders in the category.
- Three Red Raiders – Sauer (22), Reagan Cooper (10) and Brooke Kanas (10) – all posted double-digit kills and hit above .300 in the Charlotte match.
- Joining O'Brien with two or more aces in the Charlotte match were Correa (2) and Karrington Jones (2) as the Red Raiders posted a season-high nine aces as a team.
Up Next
The Red Raiders travel to Houston for a tournament hosted by Rice University on Sept. 9-11 where they will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Brown and Rice.
