LUBBOCK, Texas. – The Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-0) travel to Athens, Ga. For the Bulldog Classic, the College of Charleston, Charlotte and the University of Georgia will travel to Stegeman Coliseum on September 2-3.
Tech will face the College of Charleston on Friday, September 2 at 2:30 pm, then the Red Raiders will play two games on Saturday, September 3 against Charlotte and Georgia at 11:30 and 6:30 pm. Central Standard Time.
This past weekend, the Red Raiders opened the season at the Irish Invitational in South Bend, Ind., beating both the host team, Notre Dame and Milwaukee, dropping just one set.
On Tuesday, Tech returned to Lubbock for its home opener against Tarleton State and completed the Texans’ streak to move to 3-0 on the season. In the game, the Red Raiders had 47 kills on 107 attacks (hitting .252), 43 assists, 42 digs and 10.0 blocks. Tarleton held the Texans to a .071 batting average after striking out 29 on 99 at-bats.
As a team, Tech has 146 kills (14.6 q/s), 136 assists (13.6 a/s), 153 digs (15.3 d/s) and 27.0 blocks (2.7 b/s). In the nation, the Red Raiders rank 20th in kills per set, 22nd in assists per set and 28th in hitting percentage.
High Kenna Sauer Leads team with 36 kills and 41.5 points; Jr Reese Rhodes Leads with 111 assists, fifth-year senior Brooke Kanas With a .452 hitting clip, the sophomore ranks first on the team Maddie Correa A team-best 49 digs and a fifth-year high Carrington Jones Leads with 14.0 blocks.
Looking for opponents
Friday marks just the second time in school history that the Red Raiders have faced the College of Charleston in a playoff game, with their last game ending on Sept. 5, 2003, in a 3-1 Tech victory. The Cougars are 2-1 on the year with wins over Fresno State and The Citadel, as well as losses to Rutgers. The College of Charleston totaled 159 kills, 148 assists, 24 aces, 162 digs and 19.0 blocks. Offensively led by Gabby Bailey who had 43 kills and 48 points. Defensively, Emma Falk had the most digs with 10.0 and Tinley Smeltzer with 47.
Tech has a matchup against the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday morning, making it the second week the Red Raiders will play an opponent for the first time in program history. The 49ers suffered a 4-0 loss at the Charlotte Invitational after picking up wins over Morgan State, Wofford, Campbell and Syracuse. Charlotte is led offensively by junior outside hitter Imani Foster, who ranks first in the nation with 72 kills, 180 attacks and 81.5 points. The 49ers are tied for third in the nation with 179 assists and 187 kills.
Both Texas Tech and Georgia are looking for bragging rights as the two teams have 3-3, all-time records. The last time they faced each other in On August 31, 2018, the Bulldogs went 3-0. Georgia has also won the last two meetings against the Red Raiders. The Bulldogs are 3-0 against Troy, Chattanooga and Santa Clara. As a team, UGA tallied 118 kills, 113 assists, 23 aces, 100 digs and 27 blocks. Last week, junior middle Sophie Fisher averaged 2.14 blocks per set and collected 15 blocks to help the Bulldogs hit opponents just .058 and was named the SEC Player of the Year.
Follow along
Follow TexasTechVB on Twitter for all the latest updates, including how to watch the game and follow live stats. Live stats for all games this weekend are available here , with the Georgia matchup airing on SEC Network+.
