First Set Surge, Does in Texas Tech
By: Matt Dowdy - Texas Tech University
Updated: October 17, 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas - Oklahoma
survived a close first set and carried that momentum into a 3-0 (27-25,
25-20, 25-21) sweep of Texas Tech Wednesday night in front
of a season-high 1,090 fans at the United Spirit Arena.
The
Red Raiders (12-11; 1-6) led 23-22 in the opening frame before Oklahoma
(16-6; 5-2) tied the set at 25 and then won the last two points. The
Sooners hit .265 as
a team during the first set alone.
Tech
could not recover from there as the Sooners took early leads in both
the second and third sets en route to their 11th sweep of the season.
"I
think the first set was key tonight," Tech head coach Don Flora said.
"We have to continue to learn to play point-to-point and if we can do
that, the results will
begin to show. We've proven we can compete with the top teams in this
conference but we have to do that each and every point."
Sallie
McLaurin connected on a match-high 16 kills to lead the Sooners, who
finished with a .271 hitting percentage as a team. The middle blocker
hit .467 in the match
with just two errors off 30 attempts while also adding three blocks at
the net.
The
Sooners out-blocked Tech, 9-6, overall as Morgan Reynolds stuffed five
attacks to go along with her seven kills while Tara Dunn also added nine
kills and three
blocks as well.
"Give
Oklahoma credit for going on the road and finding a way to win the
match," said Flora, whose Red Raiders fell to 4-4 at home this year.
"They took advantage
of that first set and gave us troubles the rest of the way. I think this
will be another good learning experience for our young team as we
continue to grow."
Tech
finished with 24 attacking errors overall to close with a .110 hitting
percentage. The Red Raiders hit .182 in the opening set but failed to
hit above .100 during
either of the final two frames.
Miara
Cave boosted the Tech attack with 10 kills while Mikia Mills added
seven of her own along with a team-high four blocks. Emily Ehrle and
Breeann David notched
six kills as well from the outside.
Tory
Vaughan recorded a match-high 14 digs to anchor the back row as she and
Rachel Brummitt accounted for 24 of Tech's 37 digs in the match.
Oklahoma finished with
42 digs thanks to Maria Fernanda's team-leading 13.
The
Red Raiders will look to recover quickly this weekend when they travel
to Manhattan, Kan. Saturday to face No. 14 Kansas State. First serve is
slated for 3 p.m.
in Ahearn Fieldhouse.
