On Friday, Texas Tech volleyball was down two sets to none against Houston Christian after hitting a rough .021 with 27 kills and 25 errors.
Down 11-7 in the third set, they found a way to claw back and take the set 27-25, and from there, it felt like the Red Raiders flipped a switch.
They won the next two sets to complete the reverse sweep of Houston Christian and then beat Wichita State, Notre Dame and Abilene Christian over the weekend to win 12 of their last 15 sets and go 4-0 at the Under Armour Challenge at the United Supermarkets Arena.
“We went into this wanting to go 4-0, and we did,” Tech head coach Tony Graystone said. “It wasn’t always a straight line to get there, but I was really happy with how we made adjustments throughout the weekend and fought through sloppy moments and just got it done.”
Texas Tech beat Houston Christian in five sets on Friday in the reverse sweep, then came back that night to defeat Wichita State in four sets, dropping a rough third set but otherwise running through the Shockers. They defeated a young Notre Dame team in four sets Saturday night, including a second set where they hit .400, and took down Abilene Christian in four sets Sunday afternoon.
Tech was the only team to play four games in three days. Houston Christian and Wichita State played three games over two days, while Notre Dame and Abilene Christian played just two games.
Lot of new players, new roles for Texas Tech
After having just 17 kills in a small role as a freshman last year, sophomore Brynn Williams led the Red Raiders in kills in each match, including 22 kills in the comeback win over Houston Christian and 20 kills in the 4-set win over Notre Dame.
“Obviously, it’s a big role to take on, but if you take it down head-first, the sky’s the limit. I’m really excited for the season. I’m really happy to be with the people that I’m with here, obviously playing with Mr. G [Graystone],” Williams said as she pointed to Graystone on her right, “…it could be nerve-wracking a little bit, but honestly, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Compared to last year’s season opener against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, there were five different starters in 2023’s season opener after Kenna Sauer transferred to Houston; Brooke Kanas, Karrington Jones and KJ Adams graduated; and Maddie O’Brien hasn’t played yet in 2023, still dealing with a chronic injury she’s had for two years according to Graystone. That doesn’t include Reagan Cooper, who was second on Tech last year in kills, transferring to Kansas.
Multiple freshmen started over the weekend, with middle blockers Reagan Engler and Kate Hansen being fixtures in the starting rotation every single game, and defensive specialist Abby Dickinson had a huge role in all four games, starting the first one against Houston Christian. Freshman setter Katelyn Cochran started the second game for Tech against Wichita State after being subbed in and helping to get the reverse sweep against Houston Christian.
Hansen had 10 blocks against Houston Christian and eight against Wichita State, while Engler had seven blocks, six kills and hit .462 against Wichita State, then followed it with six kills on a .667 clip against Notre Dame.
Dickinson rotated with super-senior Caitlin Dugan throughout the game depending on whether the rotation put them in the back or front. She hit five aces, including three against Notre Dame, and she even led the team in digs with 27 of them against Houston Christian.
Graystone said the move to put Cochran in was impulsive, but it worked as they stuck with it for Wichita State before going back to Rhodes against Notre Dame and Abilene Christian.
In addition, Emily Merrick started three of the four games as a super-senior transfer from Tennessee, and after two games with a negative hitting percentage, she turned it around Saturday and Sunday with 17 kills and just three errors in the last two games.
Still some familiar faces
There are two players who started both the 2022 and 2023 season openers: senior setter Reese Rhodes and junior libero Maddie Correa.
Rhodes got benched against Houston Christian and through the Wichita State game, but she started against Notre Dame and Abilene Christian, finding her rhythm again, picking up 78 assists, 26 digs, seven blocks and six kills in the last two games.
Graystone said Correa, who had at least 19 digs in three of the four games, and Dickinson have pushed each other through practice, and they work really well together. He continued to speak about the defense in general.
“If we’re going to identify one true thing that’s really improved between this team and last year’s team, it’s our first touch,” Graystone said. “And so, we sided out at a really high rate today, our passing has been very good, and we put a little bigger block in front of the defenders, and our defense is really doing a nice job.”
One big story is the super-senior Dugan, who had a career high in points (23.5) and kills (21) against Houston Christian.
Dugan was Second Team All-Big 12 in 2020, but she had an ankle injury last year that she came back from, but she never really looked the same, hitting just 57 kills at a .041 rate through 33 sets.
She’s already close to surpassing that with 48 kills over the weekend and hitting .232. Graystone said he loves Dugan, and she’s always been good about doing different things, but last year was difficult as the injury took her out and she never got back on track in 2022.
“Once she was really able to recover and get through it and then start over in the spring, and then we started seeing a lot of changes in the roster, and that’s when we saw her voice take over and her, really influence as a returning fifth-year,” Graystone said. “And I would look at this as hers and Reese’s and Maddie O’Brien’s team completely right now, and she’s been a big part of that, and then her game just took off.
“It’s easy to forget that Caitlin was an All-Big 12 player a couple years ago, and she’s playing back at that level right now.”
What’s next
Graystone said this team is younger and the energy has improved from last year. Injuries really hurt them last season, such as Rhodes being in concussion protocol and then backup setter Ellie Baumert getting hurt, leaving them without any setters for multiple games.
They’ll have three games over two days when they host the Red Raider Classic on Friday and Saturday. They’ll play Wyoming on Friday at 7 p.m. and Texas A&M-Commerce and Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday. All three games will be broadcast on The Raider 88.1.
Going forward, Graystone said it’s a different group with this young team.
“I love young teams, and they’re going to do dumb things sometimes and make young mistakes. We saw a lot of that today [against Abilene Christian], but it’s just part of the process,” Graystone said. “And, you know, check back with us in a month and see how much cleaner we play and more in system we are, and you’re going to see a whole different level.”
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