WVU Falls to Texas Tech in Lubbock

Wednesday, September 27

Lubbock, Texas

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

12-4, 1-2

Texas Tech

12-3, 1-1

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Photo by: Steven Prunty

September 27, 2017 10:11 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Ashley Bailey

LUBBOCK, Texas – Despite 56 kills from the offense, the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match to Big 12 foe Texas Tech Wednesday evening at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. The Mountaineers, who move to 12-4, 1-2 on the season, took the loss in set scores of 20-25, 27-25, 22-25 and 24-26.

"I thought we did some nice things, but I thought we dug ourselves too many holes to overcome," WVU coach Reed Sunahara said. "Texas Tech played well. We need to learn to stay aggressive, especially in close matches."

The Mountaineers hit .242 with 18 errors and 10 team blocks. Payton Caffrey finished with a team-high 12 kills to go along with 14 digs and two assists. Katie DeMeo and Natania Levak each had 11 kills, while Mia Swanegan rounded out the team in double digits with 10.

Additionally, Erin Slinde assisted on 45 kills, while Alexa Hasting lead the team with 22 digs. Lindsay Proctor also reached double-digit digs with 10 on the evening.

Levak, Caffrey and DeMeo each had a trio of kills in set one. Five in a row from the Red Raiders put them ahead, 15-11, before a ball handling error on the Raiders stopped the run. The Mountaineers within three, at 23-20, however; TTU reclaimed the momentum and took two of the last three points of the set, earning a 25-20 win for a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers racked up three in a row early in the second set for a 4-1 lead, but soon lost their momentum when Tech evened the score at 7-7. West Virginia trailed throughout most of the set, but rattled off five in a row for a late 21-20 lead. Swanegan then came up with a huge kill late in the set to finish things off, as WVU took the 27-25 triumph to even the match at 1-1.

After playing to 14 ties throughout the course of the set, Texas Tech scored five of the last seven points for a 25-22 win in the third stanza. With the match tied at 18-all, TTU's Emily Hill notched back-to-back kills to give the Red Raiders a 20-18 advantage. However, a kill from Caffrey and an attack error on Tech once again evened the score at 20-all. DeMeo came up with a huge kill, setting up Proctor for a service ace and cutting the Mountaineers deficit to one. Unfortunately, a pair of TTU kills allowed the Red Raiders to take a 2-1 advantage over the Mountaineers.

The squads kept it close for most of the fourth set before Texas Tech scored seven-of-eight points for a 17-15 lead. Following a timeout from Sunahara, WVU scored three straight points with a kill from Caffrey and a pair of attacking errors from TTU for the one-point advantage (18-17). Tech then took a 24-20 lead setting up match point, but West Virginia battled back with consecutive kills from Morgan Montgomery, racking up four straight points to tie the match at 24 apiece. However, a pair of kills gave the Red Raiders the 26-24 win, as they took the match 3-1.

Emily Hill led the Red Raiders with 26 kills, followed by Chandler Atwood with 16. The Red Raiders hit .250 with 64 kills and five team blocks.

Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will play host to No. 11 Kansas at the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. ET.