Tigers rebound to beat Texas Tech

MU volleyball beat the Red Raiders in four sets.

By Evan Glantz

Published Nov. 3, 2008

After dropping two straight matches on the road, MU's volleyball team returned home Saturday to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Tigers beat their opponent in four games and dominated virtually every aspect of play.

Texas Tech is last place in the Big 12 and is still searching for a conference victory this season. They fell to 0-13 in the Big 12 following Saturday's loss. The Tigers, however, were still wary of the Red Raiders.

"It's easier right now for us to prepare for a match like this, because we're not in the position that we can afford to be overlooking people," coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We knew that we were going to have to come out and execute. While the records and scores are important, the primary focus is doing things well. No matter who we're playing, we've got to try to continue to get better at doing things on the court."

MU's confidence on Saturday was quickly apparent. But the team also had extra incentive to beat Texas Tech.

"Tech had put an article online, and it was talking a little trash about us," sophomore outside hitter Julianna Klein said. "That, 'Missouri is a really good team to play right now if we need a win.' We were really angry about that, so I think that we came out and just used that anger to crush them."

The team wasted no time in setting the tone for the match. With the first game tied at two, MU scored six unanswered points. Texas Tech closed the score to 11-8, but the Tigers buried the Red Raiders with another 6-0 run and never looked back. MU won the game 25-15.

"We really needed this win, but they needed it, too," freshman defensive specialist Priscilla Armendariz said. "They were talking like they were going to win this game, so that just gave us a big motivation to come out and kick their butts."

MU slipped a little in the second set, falling to Texas Tech by a score of 25-21. Following a 5-0 run, the Red Raiders led MU, 17-11. Even while playing catch-up throughout the entire game, the Tigers continued to fight, narrowing the score to 20-19. But they could not finish off the rally with a win.

The Tigers rebounded quickly, though, and took the third game, 25-15. Texas Tech started off well, carrying some confidence from the previous set. MU, however, went on a 5-0 run, and took the lead for good.

"Even though Tech hasn't won a match in the conference yet, I still think this was a big win," Klein said. "It helped boost our confidence again and got us going."

In the fourth and final game, MU came from behind to beat the Red Raiders. Down 10-9, the Tigers scored three straight points to lead 12-10. Texas Tech remained within striking distance, but ended up faltering, 25-17.

"For us, it always comes down to the same two things, serving and passing," Kreklow said. "In almost every match and every game we've played, you can kind of just chart how we're doing by how well we're serving and passing."