2013 Texas Tech Volleyball AVCA TOP 25 POLL Rk. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
School Texas (44) Penn State (12) Washington (4) Southern California Florida Stanford Minnesota Hawai’i San Diego Michigan State Missouri Colorado State Nebraska North Carolina Kentucky Wisconsin Michigan Florida State BYU Oregon Purdue Kansas Duke Ohio State Arizona
SETTING THE PIPE(R)
(OCT. 21)
Pts. 1471 1440 1383 1300 1201 1181 1129 1090 950 932 860 831 804 729 622 581 568 443 424 364 280 246 202 108 89
Rec. 13-2 16-2 15-1 17-2 18-2 13-4 18-3 16-2 15-3 17-3 23-0 17-0 13-4 18-1 13-4 16-4 13-6 14-5 16-3 12-6 13-6 17-4 16-3 14-6 15-5
LW 3 4 6 1 2 7 10 9 11 5 18 12 8 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 25 23 24 17 NR
Receiving Votes: Creighton 63; Arizona State 50; Oklahoma 44; UCLA 26; California 20; Cal State Northridge 10; Illinois 9; Western Kentucky 9; Ohio 8; Miami (FL) 7; Northwestern 7; St. Mary’s (CA) 6; Iowa State 4
RECORD BOOK WATCH CAREER HITTING PERCENTAGE (Minimum 900 career attacks) 1. Philister Sang (2005-06)______________________ .441 2. Lori Garber (1998-1999)______________________ .323 3. Jill Burness (1995-1996)______________________ .319 4. Sonia Moric (1995-1998)_____________________ .299 5. Alicia Ostmeyer (2006-2007)__________________ .265 6. Colleen Smith (1999-2000)____________________ .265 7. Brande Brown (1993-97)_____________________ .262 8. Erica Ruegg (1990-93)_______________________ .256 9. Lisa Hilgers (1995-98)________________________ .247 10. Courtney Putnam (1996-98)__________________ .244 Approaching: Aubree Piper (2010-Present)__________________ .254
SINGLE-SEASON DIGS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Rachel Brummitt (2012)______________________ Melissa McGehee (2000)_____________________ Ann Romjue (2000)__________________________ Desiree Batista (2005)________________________ Lisa Hilgers (1997)__________________________ Rachel Brummitt (2013)______________________ Sheila Solomon (1989)_______________________ Erica Ruegg (2011)__________________________ Tory Vaughan (2011)________________________ Sheila Solomon (1990)_______________________ Sabrina Zenon (1989)________________________
510 448 445 444 442 422 421 419 409 399 398
If the start of the 2013 campaign is any indication, Aubree Piper’s senior season could be a special one. The lone senior on the Texas Tech roster, Piper, who has battled several injuries throughout her career, is Tech’s second-leading offensive player so far this year, totaling 218 kills at a 2.72 per set rate. With 10 matches still remaining in the season, Piper has already surpassed her career high in kills as she topped the 156 from her 2012 junior year just a few weeks ago. Her presence in the middle has not just been felt offensively, though, as she has also recorded 44 blocks while adding 14 service aces. The Amarillo, Texas native has posted a team-high .281 hitting percentage that ranks just outside the top 10 in the Big 12 entering this week. She is currently on pace to enter the Tech career record book at the end of the season with a .254 hitting percentage over four seasons.
O’CANADA - SEASON TWO
For as much balance as Texas Tech has shown this year offensively, much of the credit belongs to Emily Ruetter. Tech’s first Canadian volleyball athlete since 2007 heads into this week ranked third in the Big 12 and 72nd nationally with a 10.42 assists per set average that is a full assist more than her average from her 2012 freshman season. Ruetter has totaled 823 assists through 22 of 32 regular season matches, putting her on pace to potentially become just the fifth Red Raider setter to record more than 1,200 assists. No Tech setter has reached the mark since Laura Grote in 2003 when she dished out 1,276 assists. Ruetter, who has also recorded nine service aces and 23 blocks, is Tech’s first Canadian-born player since current director of volleyball operations Amy Gandy (2004-07).
WRAPPING UP THE TCU VICTORY • Marked Texas Tech’s first Big 12 Conference win of the season. • Marked Texas Tech’s first Big 12 road win since defeating West Virginia, 3-1, on Oct. 13 last year in Morgantown. • Marked Texas Tech’s first five-set conference road victory since topping Colorado on Nov. 20, 2010, in Boulder. • Marked the earliest Big 12 win for Tech since 2010 when the Red Raiders edged Kansas, 3-2, in their fifth league match. • Evened the all-time series with TCU at 4-4 entering the Nov. 30 season finale between the two schools in Lubbock. • Tech’s .217 attacking percentage was its highest in a Big 12 match since also hitting .217 on Nov. 14 last year at Texas. • Tech’s 89 digs marked a season high and the fourth-most by a Big 12 team so far this season. • Tech’s 89 digs were its most against a Big 12 foe since totaling 97 in a 3-2 victory over Baylor on Oct. 26, 2011. • Tech had five different players in double figures for digs, led by Rachel Brummitt with a match-high 26 from back row. • Emily Ruetter and Jenna Allen posted double-doubles, their seventh and third ones already this season. • Defeated the Horned Frogs despite Texas Tech’s leading attacker, Breeann David, being limited in the match. WRIGHT STEPS UP IN TRIP TO INCARNATE WORD, TEXAS STATE
Faced with a depleted bench, Texas Tech head coach Don Flora turned to sophomore Emily Wright to fill a void on the outside as the usual defensive specialist turned into a six-rotation player in both matches against Incarnate Word and Texas State. The effort did not go unnoticed, either, as Wright recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs Monday against the Cardinals before coming back the next night to post a career-high 14 digs against Texas State. The Cypress, Texas native returned to being a full-time defensive specialist last week at Oklahoma.
FLORA PICKS UP CAREER WIN NO. 300 ON OPENING WEEKEND
Texas Tech head coach Don Flora earned his 300th career victory at the collegiate level during opening weekend when the Red Raiders dropped Grand Canyon in four sets at the Wildcat invitational. The Red Raiders are now 8-12 on the year, improving Flora’s overall record to 306-108 in 13-plus seasons at both the University of La Verne in California as well as Texas Tech. Flora, arguably one of the winningest active coaches at the Division-I level, led Tech to 29 victories over his first two seasons after inheriting a program that totaled just 30 wins in the five seasons prior to his arrival. The California native currently ranks tied for fifth among Big 12 Conference coaches in career victories, trailing only Ray Bechard (Kansas), Jerritt Elliott (Texas) and Jim Barnes (Baylor) and Santiago Restrepo (Oklahoma). All four coaches have longer career tenures than Flora, who arrived in Lubbock after two seasons as an assistant at New Mexico State and 11 years as the head coach of his alma mater in La Verne where he amassed a 269-59 record (.820 winning percentage) and led the Leopards to the 2001 NCAA Division III National Championship. BIG 12 CONFERENCE COACHES BY CAREER VICTORIES Coach, School Wins Seasons Ray Bechard, Kansas 979 29th Season Jerritt Elliott, Texas 357 15th Season Jim Barnes, Baylor 327 18th Season Santiago Restrepo, Oklahoma 308 16th Season Don Flora, Texas Tech 306 14th Season
FOUR MATCHES ADDED TO TEXAS TECH’S TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Texas Tech added to its 2013 television schedule earlier this month as four Big 12 matches will be broadcast through FOX Sports platforms, beginning Oct. 2 with Iowa State. The Red Raiders, who were already scheduled to face Iowa State (Oct. 30) on ESPNU as part of the Big 12 television schedule, will also face Kansas (Oct. 16), Kansas State (Nov. 6) and Oklahoma (Nov. 20) in FOX broadcasts that are part of Texas Tech’s third-tier rights agreement with the network. 2013 TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE Date Opponent TV Oct. 2 Iowa State FOX Sports Southwest Oct. 16 Kansas FOX Sports Southwest-Plus Oct. 30 at Iowa State ESPNU Nov. 6 Kansas State FOX Sports Southwest Nov. 20 Oklahoma FOX College Sports
MILLS, BRUMMITT NAMED TO WILDCAT INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Rachel Brummitt and Mikia Mills also earned a selection to the Wildcat Invitational all-tournament team after the two juniors helped lead the Red Raiders to a 3-1 showing in the event. Brummitt totaled a team-high 75 digs from the back row, averaging 5.36 per set which ranks third in the Big 12 after one weekend. She ended the tournament with a match-high 26 digs against host Weber State, marking the ninth time in her Tech career where she has reached the 20-dig mark. Mills, meanwhile, connected on 39 kills, second-most on the team, while adding nine digs and 11 blocks to collect her first alltournament honor of her career. The middle blocker delivered 25 kills over the final two matches, including a career-high 13 in Tech’s four-set victory over Grand Canyon. Teammate Breeann David shared Most Valuable Player honors as well.
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