Texas Tech defeated Oklahoma for the first time since 2005, snapping a 19-game skid against the conference foe.
LUBBOCK, Texas – It’s a good thing it stopped raining outside, because the Red Raiders tore a hole in the roof of the United Supermarkets Arena on Wednesday night after defeating Oklahoma, 3-2, to open Big 12 action.
The victory marked the first time since 2005 that Texas Tech has beat OU and the first time since the 1997 & 1998 seasons that the Red Raiders have won their conference opener in back-to-back seasons.
Tech and OU traded off victories in the first four sets, with Tech dropping the first set, 21-25, but responded well to take set two, 25-20. The scores almost mirrored each other after halftime, with OU claiming set three, 25-18, but Tech rallied and put up a dominant fourth frame, 25-17. The fifth set took overtime to settle, but the Red Raiders came out on top with a 19-17 win.
“I love the fact that this team is such a quality team, they battled tonight,” head coach Don Flora said. “That’s something they earned. They didn’t let somebody take it away, they took it. I loved this team before the match and I love them just a little bit more after watching them take something they wanted.”
Senior Jenna Allen put up her third-straight double-digit kill performance with a season-high of 18. She also notched 12 digs en route to her third double-double of the season and 20th of her career. Junior Lauren Douglass followed closely behind with 17 kills.
The Red Raiders had three in double-digit digs, with senior Carlie Foust matching a season-high 29, while freshman Reyn Akiu picked up 15. Junior Marguerite Grubb also tied a seasonal-best, assisting on 52 of Tech’s 65 kills.
Texas Tech didn’t hit well in the first frame, with a hitting percentage of .122 on 13 kills, falling behind early on and trying to play catch up late before falling, 25-21. Allen put up four kills in the first set.
The second was a complete opposite, tallying 15 kills with an attack percentage of .306. Douglass rattled off six kills, while Grubb put up 13 assists. Foust added nine of Tech’s 18 digs. Tech jumped out to a 17-12 lead and maintained it through for a majority of the final points to take a 25-20 win and a tie at one to the break.
The Red Raiders had one of their worst attacking sets after halftime, only putting up seven kills in a 25-18 third set loss. However, Tech returned the favor in the fourth frame, racking up a .412 hitting percentage and 17 kills. They also went 14-17 on sideout attempts (82 percent) in set four.
“We felt like we started putting some pressure on some people that we really wanted,” Flora said. “We wanted to make them play a lot of volleyball that they didn’t want to do. So, that pressure started to eat away a little bit in set four and we were able to keep it up in set five.”
For the first time this season, the Red Raiders went the distance and battled to five sets. Tech fell behind early at 1-3, but fired off five-straight points to take a 6-3 lead, holding an 8-5 advantage at the switch. It would be the last time OU would lead in the match, but it didn’t come without theatrics.
It was the first night the Red Raiders instituted replay review, which provided a pivotal point for the Red Raiders when the review overturned a “touch” call to push Tech’s lead to 9-5. Facing set point at 14-12, OU rallied to tie it up, but Tech continued to move the match to set point until finally breaking through with a kill by Allen and a block by Hinneburg and Keenan to win, 19-17.
“Replay is a big deal,” Flora said. “We welcomed the first replay ever at Texas Tech and I think it did change a couple things. In set four when they called the net on us and we got it back, that replay was important. Also, the replay in set five where we got the touch on the top.”
Flora went two-for-three on challenges on Wednesday night.
Texas Tech hits the road for Ames, Iowa, for a bout against Iowa State on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m.
–TECH–
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