Graystone earns 100th career win at Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) - In an exciting match to close out the Red Raider Classic tournament, head coach Tony Graystone won his 100th career game in the Scarlet & Black with a reverse sweep of the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros, 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13, on Saturday afternoon at the United Supermarkets Arena.

Earning all-tournament honors for Texas Tech (11-2) were Brooke Kanas, Reagan Cooper and Maddie O’Brien, with Kanas claiming the MVP accolade. In the match, the fifth-year middle blocker recorded 10 kills on 17 attacks for a hitting clip of .588. Kanas was also one block away from a career-high when she posted a team-leading seven blocks.

O’Brien continued impress after collecting eight kills, two aces, five digs and five blocks. In the Red Raider Classic, O’Brien led the Red Raiders with 12 aces, pushing her season total to 28. Cooper was also one kill away from tying her career-high when she slammed down 17 kills on 43 attacks (.302) while also collecting her first ace of the season and adding two blocks.

Junior setter Reese Rhodes had a career day after dishing out 54 assists and totaling four blocks. She also recorded her sixth double-double of the year after adding 11 digs. Kenna Sauer joins Rhodes with her sixth double-double after putting up 14 kills and 11 digs.

Fifth-year senior Karrington Jones tallied a career-high of 14 kills on 26 attacks (.423) and added six blocks. Defensively, sophomore Maddie Correa led the team with 13 digs in the match and KJ Adams followed with nine of her own. The Red Raiders totaled a season-high of 65 kills and 14 blocks against the Vaqueros.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One

UTRGV took an early 3-1 lead in the first set, but Tech got a kill from Sauer and used an attack error by the Vaqueros to tie it up at 3-3. UTRGV went on a run to lead 7-4 at one point, but the Red Raiders came back and tied it at 10-all thanks to a Cooper kill. Cooper then gave Tech the lead, 12-11, on her first ace of the season. The Red Raiders then went on a 6-2 run, but the Vaqueros kept chipping away until they claimed the first set by a close, 25-23, score.

Set Two

Tech jumped out to a 3-1 lead on a kill from Jones and a solo block from Cooper. Both teams went back-and-forth after that to tie it up at 9-9. Tech went ahead 11-10 before UTRGV used a 3-0 run to have a 13-11 advantage. With the Vaqueros leading 15-12, the Red Raiders would get a kill from Kanas and a block from Kanas and O’Brien to tie things up at 15-all. Tech went on another run, this time earning four-straight points, to tie 20-20. UTRGV would go on to win six of the next 10 points, however, to end the set in their favor, 26-24.

Set Three

The third set went back-and-forth to start before UTRGV took a 6-4 lead. The Red Raiders battled back and scored four-consecutive points on three errors by the Vaqueros and an ace from O’Brien to have an 8-6 advantage. Tied at 9-9, Tech again went on a 4-0 run, this time getting kills from Sauer, Kanas and Rhodes for a 13-9 score. UTRGV chipped away and eventually led 17-16 on an 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 on slams from O’Brien and Cooper to claim the set, 25-22.

Set Four

UTRGV went 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 win four points in a row on kills from Kanas and O’Brien, an ace from Sauer and a block from the Kanas/O’Brien duo. The Red Raiders would take the lead on yet another ace from O’Brien with a score of 19-18, then continued to carry out that advantage until the Red Raiders forced a fifth set with a 25-21 score.

Set Five

The Vaqueros continued with their hot start, this time going on a 3-0 run to begin the fifth set. Tech would get kills from Sauer and Cooper and a block from Kanas and O’Brien to cut into the lead, 4-3. UTRGV then went on another 3-0 run to take a 7-3 lead and force a Texas Tech timeout. There was no quit in the Red Raiders as they came back to tie it at 12-12 with a solo block from Jones. The Red Raiders earned three of the last four points to reverse sweep the Vaqueros as Cooper sealed the match with a kill, 15-13.

Notables

Kenna Sauer recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Reese Rhodes also earned her sixth double-double of the season with 54 assists and 11 digs and claimed a career-high in assists and blocks (4).
Reagan Cooper reached her season-high count in kills with 17 slams, earned her first ace of the season and tallied a season-high 19.5 points.
Karrington Jones had a career day with 14 kills and tied her career-high in points at 17.5.
Brooke Kanas tallied season-highs in digs (3) and blocks (7).
Maddie O’Brien left all cards on the court with a total of 12 aces through the Red Raider Classic.
Alex Torres posted a season-high of six digs.
Freshman Paige Mooney set her career high in digs with 7 seven.
Coach Tony Graystone finishes the Red Raider Classic with his 100th career win at Texas Tech.
The team achieved a season-high in blocks with 14.
The Red Raiders capped off their weekend with their first win in five sets.

Red Raider Classic All-Tournament Team