DALLAS – Two Red Raiders hit above .400 on Sunday afternoon as Texas Tech defeated the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, 26-28, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22, at the Moody Coliseum in the final day of the SMU Invitational.
Both Caitlin Dugan and Emily Merrick collected 14 kills while hitting .464 and .480, respectively. Brynn Williams was right behind with nine kills and a team-best 11 digs. Reese Rhodes recorded a double-double in the match after totaling 40 assists and 10 digs, while Courtney O’Brien added 10 digs as well.
Kate Hansen once again led the team in blocks after tallying three solo and four block assists. Freshman Reagan Engler had a great match after she put down eight kills on 20 attacks (.250) and collected five blocks. As a team, the Red Raiders hit .314 with 57 total kills on 137 attacks.
The first set started close as both teams tied things up three times before getting to 5-5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on a 6-1 run to increase its lead to 11-6 before a kill from Williams ended the run. An ace from Rhodes evened up the score at 12-all, but the Islanders earned the next two points to retake the lead, 14-12. With TAMU-CC having set point in hand at 24-20, the Red Raiders won four-consecutive points, highlighted by blocks by Hansen and Dugan, to make it 24-24. Both teams traded points until the Islanders claimed the final two and win it, 28-26.
The second set began like the first as Tech and TAMU-CC went back-and-forth until the Red Raiders took a 7-5 lead on a solo block from Hansen. The Islanders answered back with a 4-0 run of their own but a service error would stop it. Even at 14-all, Dugan would slam down a kill to give Tech the advantage heading into the media timeout, 15-14. Tech won four of the next five points thanks to blocks from Rhodes, Hansen and Merrick to force a TAMU-CC timeout. Tech took a 22-16 lead until the Islanders won six of the next seven points to make it 23-22. But a kill from Merrick and an attack error on the Islanders would give the Red Raiders the set, 25-22.
TAMU-CC took a 5-3 lead to start the third set, but the Red Raiders answered back with a 3-0 run on kills from Williams, Dugan and Engler to hold the 6-5 advantage. A block assist from Williams and Engler followed by another slam from Engler gave Tech the 14-10 lead, then the Red Raiders would go up 19-11 after winning five-straight points. Holding on to that momentum, Tech closed out the set with a solo block from Hansen and a kill from Merrick to win it, 25-14.
The Islanders got off to a good start in the fourth set after taking a 6-3 lead. TAMU-CC remained ahead for the majority of the set even as Tech tried to cut into their lead. Down by three at 15-12, Tech would get an ace from Courtney O’Brien and kills from Engler, Rhodes and Williams to tie the set at 17-17. Then, the Red Raiders took the lead at 19-18 on a slam from Hansen. The Islanders tied the set back up at 19-19, but Tech would go on to win the next four points for the 23-19 advantage thanks to a kill by Merrick. The Islanders tried to rally back, but the Red Raiders would win the match with a 25-22 score on an Engler slam.
UP NEXT
Tech will begin Big 12 play next week as the Red Raiders welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to the United Supermarkets Arena for two matches on Sept. 22-23.
