TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL honored with a Big 12 weekly recipient 12 times with the most recent being Amanda Dowdy in 2008. That all changed in 2011, though, as the Red Raiders picked up three conference weekly awards en route to a 15-17 season that marked the most wins since 2001. Tech has picked up right where last season left off as well as the Red Raiders are 11-3 and have already received four weekly accolades from the league, giving Flora seven in a little over a season. EHRLE BECOMES LATEST RED RAIDER TO EARN A BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARD Emily Ehrle joined Rachel Brummitt and Emily Ruetter as Big 12 weekly award recipients on Sept. 10 as she was named the conference Rookie of the Week for her play at the Montana Tournament. The freshman totaled 46 kills over four matches, including double digit totals over the final two contests against Furman and Montana. She hit .293 over 14 sets, including a .432 mark against Furman where she connected on a careerhigh 23 kills. The performance marked the first time a Tech player had reached the 20-kill mark this season and was also the most kills since Amanda Dowdy recorded 26 on Sept. 26 last year at New Mexico. The selection marked the third-straight week a Red Raider had earned a conference award, a first in school history. TOWSON SNAPS TEXAS TECH’S SEASON-OPENING WINNING STREAK Texas Tech’s loss to Towson to start the Montana tournament snapped an eight-match winning streak to start the season for the Red Raiders, who were off to their best start since 2003. The Red Raiders had started a season with eight-straight victories only seven times previously in school history. Tech also opened the 2011 season with a solid start as the Red Raiders were 13-1 with the only loss coming in the season opener at TCU. BRUMMITT REPEATS AT BIG 12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rachel Brummitt became the first Tech player to earn a Big 12 weekly in consecutive weeks on Sept. 4 when the sophomore was named the conference Defensive Player of the Week. Brummitt, who took the award after the opening weekend of the season as well, snapped the Tech school record for most digs in a three-set match against San Jose State as she finished with 27, topping the previous record of 24 that was set by Sheila Solomon on Nov. 16, 1990, against Houston. The Plano, Texas native was named to last weekend’s Lonestar Showdown all-tournament team as she finished with a team-high 60 digs to go along with four aces. RUETTER ALSO HONORED AS CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Just like Rachel Brummitt, freshman Emily Ruetter was also honored by the Big 12 on Sept. 4 as she was named the conference Rookie of the Week. Since taking over the setter role at the beginning of the season, Ruetter has led a balanced Tech attack as she is sixth in the Big 12 with a 9.60 assists per set average that also ranks second in the league among freshman setters. She finished with 111 assists to go along with 21 digs and seven blocks during the Lonestar Showdown en route to becoming the first Tech setter to earn a conference weekly award since Lisa Hilgers on Nov. 16, 1998. RED RAIDERS WIN LONESTAR SHOWDOWN CROWN Texas Tech’s success in tournament formats continued this past weekend as the Red Raiders defended their home floor to win the Lonestar Showdown title after sweeping both Texas-Pan American and San Jose State before holding off Northwestern State with a 3-1 victory in the finale. The Red Raiders are 38-9 during the Big 12 in home tournaments and 6-0 under head coach Don Flora, who has led Tech to its five tournament titles already in his two-year tenure. Tech is 21-4 when playing in a tournament setting under Flora. DAVID SHINES IN FRONT OF HOME CROWD Breeann David led the Red Raiders with 31 kills and 18 blocks en route to earning MVP honors of the Lonestar Showdown. The sophomore also totaled a pair of aces and 29 digs as she posted her first doubledouble of the season and second of her career with 14 kills and 12 digs in the finale against Northwestern State. David also recorded a career-high seven blocks against the Lady Demons and hit a season-high .375 as well. She followed up the performance with another double-double Monday against North Texas where the Denver City native recorded 16 kills and 16 digs to help the Red Raiders overcome an early deficit and take a 3-1 victory. BRUMMITT EARNS BIG 12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AFTER IMPRESSIVE DEBUT Rachel Brummitt was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 after earning MVP honors at the Boston College Invitational. The sophomore totaled 68 digs and eight aces from the libero position, which was the most among Big 12 players that weekend in both categories. The Plano, Texas native was the first Tech player to receive a conference weekly award since Tory Vaughan was also honored as the defensive player of the week on Oct. 31 last year. PIPER, RUETTER NAMED TO BOSTON COLLEGE INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Aubree Piper and Emily Ruetter were both named to the Boston College Invitational all-tournament team after helping lead the Red Raiders to their first 4-0 start to a season since 2003. Piper was a dominating presence for the Red Raiders in the middle, finishing with 30 kills along with a team-high .397 hitting percentage to go along with 18 blocks. Ruetter, meanwhile, was Tech’s primary setter throughout the weekend, totaling 141 assists (8.81 per set) and two double-doubles after recording 32 digs. FLORA GOES WITH YOUNG LINEUP IN BOSTON Don Flora certainly was not kidding when he said prior to the season that the Red Raiders would likely use a rotation composed primarily of freshmen and sophomores. The second-year head coach proved his point at the Boston College Invitational as the Red Raiders started at least four newcomers in every match, with the Binghamton and Boston College lineups including four freshmen and a pair of sophomores.
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TEXAS TECH RECORD WHEN... At the United Spirit Arena On the road Neutral sites Big 12 Play Non-Conference At a tournament On Television
2011-12 Flora All Big 12 Era 4-4 0-4 8-11 3-5 1-2 8-15 5-2 0-0 11-2 1-6 1-6 2-21 11-5 0-0 25-7 10-3 0-0 21-4 0-1 0-1 0-5
Wearing Red uniforms Wearing White uniforms Wearing Black uniforms
3-1 4-2 5-6
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Friday Saturday
1-0 0-0 3-0 0-1 0-0 1-2 0-3 0-3 0-11 5-1 0-0 10-2 6-5 1-3 12-13
Against ranked opponents Top 5 opponents Top 10 opponents
0-2 0-0 0-1
Kills Leading Trailing Tied
7-0 1-0 20-2 5-11 0-6 7-25 0-0 0-0 0-1
Blocks Leading Trailing Tied
10-1 1-10 1-0
Digs Leading Trailing Tied
8-2 0-1 17-5 4-9 1-5 9-23 0-0 0-0 1-0
Attack Percentage Leading Trailing
12-0 0-11
1-0 26-3 0-6 1-25
Service Aces Leading Trailing Tied
4-2 7-8 1-1
0-1 15-4 1-4 10-21 0-1 2-3
Hitting Percentage Hitting .300 or better Hitting .250-.299 Hitting .200-.249 Hitting .100-.199 Hitting below .100 Opponents hitting above .300 Opponents hitting .250-.299 Opponents hitting .200-.249 Opponents hitting .100-.199 Opponents hitting below .100
2-0 4-0 5-2 1-7 0-2 0-3 2-7 2-1 7-0 1-0
0-0 0-0 1-0 0-4 0-2 0-2 0-3 0-1 1-0 0-0
In three sets In four sets In five sets
3-7 6-3 3-1
0-4 14-16 1-2 8-8 0-0 5-4
Leading 1-0 Leading 2-0 Leading 2-1 Tied 1-1 Tied 2-2 Trailing 0-1 Trailing 0-2 Trailing 1-2
8-3 3-0 7-0 7-3 3-1 4-8 1-8 2-4
0-2 0-0 1-0 1-2 0-0 1-4 0-4 0-2
22-6 15-0 10-1 10-9 5-4 5-22 1-19 3-11
TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL
5
0-0 8-5 0-1 8-6 1-3 11-15
0-1 0-0 0-1
0-7 0-0 0-3
1-1 21-7 0-5 2-20 0-0 4-1
7-0 8-0 9-6 3-20 0-4 0-7 3-14 2-3 11-4 11-0