Presented by Texas Tech Athletics
LUBBOCK, Texas – In a thrilling matchup to close out the Red Raider Classic, head coach Tony Greystone won his 100th career game in the Scarlet and Black with a 23-25, 24-overthrow victory over the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. 26, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13, Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena.
Earning all-tournament honors for Texas Tech (11-2) were Brock Kanas, Reagan Cooper and Maddie O’Brien, with Kanas earning MVP recognition. In the game, the fifth-year middle infielder had 10 kills on 17 hits while hitting .588. Kanas was one block shy of a career high when she posted a team-leading seven blocks.
O’Brien continued to impress as she collected eight kills, two aces, five digs and five blocks. At the Red Raider Classic, O’Brien led the Red Raiders with 12 aces, upping her season tally to 28. Cooper had 17 kills on 43 attacks and one kill. Also collecting the first female of the season and adding two blocks.
Junior setter Reese Rhodes had a career day as she dished out 54 assists and totaled four blocks. She also recorded her sixth double-double of the year after adding 11 digs. Kenna Sauer joined Rhodes with her sixth double-double after adding 14 kills and 11 digs.
Fifth-year senior Carrington Jones had a career-high 14 kills (.423) on 26 attacks and added six blocks. Defensive sophomore Maddie Correa led the team with 13 sacks and KJ Adams had nine of her own. The Red Raiders totaled a season-high 65 kills and 14 blocks against the Vaqueros.
How did it happen?
Prepare one
UTRGV took a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Tech took advantage of a Vaqueros attack error with a kill from Sauer to tie it at 3-3. UTRGV went on a run to take a 7-4 lead at one point, but the Red Raiders came back and tied it at 10-all with a Cooper kill. Cooper then gave Tech its first of the season to lead 12-11. The Red Raiders went on a 6-2 run, but continued to pull away until the Vaqueros took the first set 25-23.
Prepare two
Tech jumped out to a 3-1 lead on a kill by Jones and a solo block from Cooper. Both teams went back and forth to finish at 9-9. Tech trailed 11-10 before UTRGV used a 3-0 run to take a 13-11 advantage. With the Vaqueros leading 15-12, the Red Raiders would get kills from Kanas and defenses from Kanas and O’Brien to tie things up at 15-all. Tech went on another run, this time scoring four-straight points to tie the game at 20-20. UTRGV would go on to win six of the next 10 points, however, to end the set 26-24 in their favor.
Prepare three
The third set went back and forth before UTRGV took a 6-4 lead. The Red Raiders bounced back and scored four straight points on three errors by the Vaqueros and an 8-6 advantage from O’Brien. Tied at 9-9, Tech again went on a 4-0 run, this time with kills from Sauer, Kanas and Rhodes for a 13-9 run. UTRGV chipped away and eventually led 17-16 on ace, but Tech won two points in a row to retake the lead. At the end of the set, the Red Raiders were able to convert two-straight points off O’Brien and Cooper slams to claim the set 25-22.
Set four
UTRGV jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead in the fourth set, but the Red Raiders kept chipping away to keep themselves alive in the match. With the Vaqueros leading 16-10, Tech would go on to win four straight points on kills from Kanas and O’Brien, an ACE from Sawyer and the Kanas/O’Brien duo. The Red Raiders outscored O’Brien 19-18 until forcing a fifth set at 25-21.
Prepare five
The Vaqueros continued their hot start, going on a 3-0 run to start the fifth set. Tech gets 4-3 kills from Sauer and Cooper and Kanas and O’Brien. UTRGV then went on another 3-0 run to take a 7-3 lead and force a Texas Tech timeout. There was no stopping the Red Raiders as they came back to tie it at 12-12 with Jones’ solo block. Cooper ended the game with a 15-13 kill and scored three of the four points to unseat the Vaqueros.
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Kenna Sawyer recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Reese Rhodes had her sixth double-double of the season with 54 assists and 11 digs and tied career highs in assists and blocks (4).
Regan Cooper reached a season-high tally of 17 kills, her first hit of the season, and scored a season-high 19.5 points.
Carrington Jones had a career day with 14 kills and a career-high 17.5 points.
Brock Kanas set season highs in digs (3) and blocks (7).
Maddie O’Brien left all the cards on the court at the Red Raider Classic with a total of 12 aces.
Alex Torres posted a season-high six digs.
Freshman Paige Mooney set a career high with 7 digs.
Coach Tony Greystone completed the Red Raider Classic with his 100th career victory at Texas Tech.
The team tied a season high with 14 wins.
The Red Raiders finished the weekend with their first win in five games.
Red Raider Classic All Tournament Team
Brook Kanas, MVP (Texas Tech)
Reagan Cooper (Texas Tech)
Maddie O’Brien (Texas Tech)
Iman Isanovic (Arizona State)
Sakira Lacour (Oral Roberts)
Natalie Perdue (SMU)
Sarah Cruz (UTRGV)
Next
The Red Raiders begin Big 12 play on Saturday, September 24 when they travel to West Virginia.
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