Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
SMU
Tech in Dallas for SMU Invitational
September 14, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-3) are back on the road after a short break as they compete in the SMU Invitational against the SMU Mustangs, LSU Tigers and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sept. 15-17 in the Moody Coliseum.
Tech is set to face host team, SMU, on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m., then take on LSU this Saturday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m., and will end the tournament with a match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m.
Texas Tech last traveled to North Texas and Abilene Christian before having a 10-day break leading up to the SMU tournament. As a team, the Red Raiders are holding opponents to a .138 hitting clip, which is 17th best in the country. Tech totals 109.0 blocks, which is ranked second nationally behind Air Force's 112.5. The Red Raiders' 3.03 blocks per set is seventh in the nation, and in addition, freshman Kate Hansen is 22nd nationally in blocks per set (1.44) and ninth with 49.0 blocks.
Tech is led in kills and points by sophomore Brynn Williams as she tallies 132 and 150.5, respectively. Senior Reese Rhodes posts a team-high 212 assists and freshman Abby Dickinson leads with nine aces. On defense, Hansen leads in blocks and junior Maddie Correa leads the team with 139 digs.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Red Raiders hold an all-time, 10-2 record over SMU, last playing in 2022 with Tech coming out on top in four sets. Tech is also currently on a four-match win streak against SMU. The Mustangs are 3-5 on the season with wins over Lipscomb, Florida State and No. 14 Baylor. Their losses come against Utah State, No. 5 Nebraska, Auburn, No. 20 Purdue and No. 21 Houston. SMU is led in kills by Natalie Perdue and Naya Shime, who both total 81. Celia Cullen leads in assists with 283, Brooke Frazier has a team-best 96 digs and Emma Clothier leads with 33.0 total blocks.
LSU holds the slight advantage as the Tigers are 8-5 all-time against the Red Raiders. It's been awhile since the two teams faced one another as Tech snapped a previous seven-match win streak on Sept. 17, 1994 with a sweep over the Tigers. LSU is 3-4 on the year, starting with a split weekend against UCLA – winning the first matchup before dropping the second in five sets. The Tigers also lost to Northern Iowa and No. 20 Creighton, but have defeated Ball State and Louisiana. Jurnee Robinson leads the Tigers with 122 kills, while Maddie Waak leads with 278 assists and 10 aces. Defensively, Erin Carmichael leads with 72 digs and Anita Anwusi has a team-high 19.0 blocks.
Tech is an undefeated, 4-0 over the Islanders in program history. Both teams played each other last season at the Rice tournament with Tech winning in a sweep. The Islanders are 5-4 overall with wins over Oral Roberts, Sam Houston, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M, and losses against UTRGV, Portland and Weber State. The Islanders are led in kills by Kyndal Payne as she totals 121, while Belle Morgan has a team-leading 286 assists. On defense, Kayla White posts a team-best 126 digs and Payne, as well as Tori Arrington, lead the team with 15.0 blocks.
LIVE VIDEO AND STATS
A live stream for the SMU match only with be available on ESPN+. Live stat will be available for all three matches on StatBroadcast.
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