MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team (8-12, 2-7 Big 12) was bested in five-sets by Texas Tech, 3-2 on Saturday afternoon inside of the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
The Red Raiders took the win with scores of 16-25, 15-25, 25-15, 25-16 and 13-15.
West Virginia outperformed Texas Tech with 74 digs, 61 kills, and 14 blocks. The Mountaineers held Texas Tech to hit .127% throughout the match.
Senior outside hitter
Hailey Green once again led the West Virginia offense, tallying 17 kills. Redshirt junior outside hitter
Cassidy Tanton collected her 11
th double-double of the season, with 14 kills and 12 digs.
Graduate student setter
Lauren DeLo eclipsed the 2,000 career assists mark versus the Red Raiders. She notched her fourth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 14 digs, good enough for season high marks.
Graduate student libero
Sydney Reed collected a career high, with 24 digs to produce 4.80 digs per set. Additionally, junior middle blocker
Laila Ibrahim tied a career best with 11 total blocks.
Texas Tech had an early 2-1 advantage, kicking off the match in set one. The Red Raiders would hold the lead, until a TTU error tied the score at seven all. Texas Tech continued their dominance, leading by as many as six points, 17-11. A late 3-0 scoring run from the Mountaineers slowed the Red Raiders down, 22-16. TTU went on to close the first set with their own 3-0 run, 25-16.
Green chipped in a pair of kills, giving West Virginia the 2-0 lead to start the second set. Texas Tech responded with an 8-1 run, taking a large 8-3 lead. The Red Raiders went on to lead by as many as seven, 14-7 after dropping down seven straight points. The Mountaineers were held off until a late trio of points would ignite WVU, as they trailed 21-13. Texas Tech responded with two kills, making the score 23-14. The Red Raider went on to take the second set, 25-15.
A kill from sophomore middle blocker
Maddy McGath and an error from TTU gave West Virginia the 2-0 lead once again to begin set three. The set remained close, until a 3-0 West Virginia run would give the Mountaineers a 14-9 lead. Texas Tech tried to kindle an offensive run with a kill, before five straight West Virginia points made the score, 23-14. A kill from Green paired with an error from the Red Raiders gave WVU set three, 25-15.
TTU led 3-1 in set four, before a pair of kills from Green and junior opposite
Lauren Bodily would give West Virginia the 4-3 lead. The score was tied until the tenth point, when a kill from Green ignited a 7-0 West Virginia run, as the Mountaineers took over, 17-10. The Red Raiders got the score within three points, after a 4-0 run, 17-14. West Virginia once again responded with three straight kills from Green, Bodily and Tanton, 20-14. WVU went on to take set four with a 5-1 run, 25-16.
McGath struck first in the fifth and final set, as WVU led early, 1-0. Texas Tech added three straight points, letting WVU trail 4-2. As points were traded from both sides of the net, a 3-0 West Virginia run gave the Mountaineers a 9-7 lead. TTU responded, knotting the score at nine all. The score would be tied three more times, until an error from the Red Raiders gave West Virginia a 13-12 advantage at the timeout. Texas Tech went on to take the final set, 15-13 with three straight points.
Next, West Virginia will head to Manhattan, Kansas to take on Kansas State on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET, at the Morgan Family Arena. The Mountaineer will then face No. 9 Kansas in Lawerence on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m., inside of Horejsi Family Volleyball Area.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
