Tech volleyball plays last road match against KU

Setter Karlyn Meyers is quick to note the Texas Tech volleyball team has had more struggles at home compared to being on the road.

So a match against Kansas at 6:30 p.m. today in Lawrence, Kan., in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center may be a good thing for the Red Raiders.

“I don’t know why it’s harder for us to play at home,” Meyers said. “On the road we don’t know anybody, so we’re just playing for ourselves. We’re not nervous, and that’s how we need to be playing all the time. We just got to go in there and play hard.”

Tech (2-25, 0-18 in Big 12 Conference play) was swept by Texas A&M Sunday, which gave the team only one day to rest before today’s match.

Today’s match also is the Red Raiders’ final one on the road before they face Kansas State at 11:45 a.m. Saturday in the United Spirit Arena. That match also will be Senior Day.

Tech’s senior class consists of outsider hitters Hayley Ball and Caroline Witte along with defensive specialist and libero Jenn Goehry.

Despite little time between the matches, limited rest is something the Red Raiders have seemed to feed off in past weeks.

After being swept by Colorado earlier in the year, Tech had the misfortune of traveling to Kansas State the next day. The result was another loss, but the Red Raiders still won a set.

Three days later, Tech took the opening set from a No. 2 Texas team that had not surrendered a set at home all season prior to that.

The Red Raiders have yet to win a set at home in Big 12 play this season

Meyers said the scarce amount of free time is another obstacle the team has to overcome.

“We can’t let it affect us,” Meyers said. “We know that we have one day and so we need to work at what we need to fix and be ready for Kansas. Every team is going to have some sort of adversity and right now this is ours. It’s just something we have to deal with.”
Kansas (15-13, 7-11) is a team Tech players and coaches say can be defeated.

The last time the two teams played each other, the Jayhawks did more than just sweep the Red Raiders.

KU held Tech to only 29 kills and a measly .050 hitting percentage, while the Jayhawks tallied 45 kills along with 57 digs. Kansas dominated the match and left the Red Raiders searching for answers.

Although her team has made large strides in the right direction, Tech coach Trish Knight said her team still is looking for ways to put together a win.

“I think that once you play them you know how they’ll do things and we’ll have a better game plan,” she said. “We know what to do against teams, we just can’t do it right now. It’s one of those things where we don’t have the strength to do some things we need to carry out.”

Tech’s two remaining matches means time is running out to put an end to a 57-match losing streak to conference opponents. Knight said putting a win together is going to require reliability and consistency from her players.

“It’s a matter of kids showing up and me being able to count on them,” she said. “If I knew they were going to show up to play every time it would be a lot easier.”

9 comments

ctdy

Fri Nov 27 2009 16:39

Seniors? Who do you think has been holding this team together for the past 3 years? Our seniors are the talent on our team, despite your low consideration for them. Maybe if the coach had let them play this year to their full potential, our win column might have looked different. This "rebuilding year" is an insult to us all, with the coach's sideline tirades, poor student attendance, uninvolved band and her game lineups.

Texas Tech VB Fan

Fri Nov 27 2009 16:36

Tech VB Fan - you are so wrong! All three seniors on the Tech VB team are excellent players, however, Coach Knight hasn't utilized them this year, at all! There is so much talent on the team, but their hearts aren't in the game! I know some of these girls personally, and I know what they have gone through with the new coach. I do hope for all returning players that next year will be better!

Tech VB Fan

Wed Nov 25 2009 15:58

The comments made by some on this sight must be that of, the players FAT LITTLE BOYFRIENDS. This team despite
the record, is better than last years group. After watching the girls play against the Big 12 the past two years there are
only 3 or 4 members of this years bunch that would even see the floor on any of the other Big 12 teams, and none of the
seniors would be in that group. The talent level at Tech was at all time low the past few years, and as the saying goes,
"you can't make Chicken Salad, from Chicken Crap. (Cleaning it up for you who complain of foul language) The girls
play hard for this coaching staff, and for the most part have accepted the fact that they will get better, but time will be the
telling factor. It would have been easy for the coach to clean house after coming in last winter, by getting rid of all the
previous coaches players and starting from square one. A couple of last years team members did not have their
scholarships renewed and one of them was a Lubbock girl. That may be where some of this bitterness toward the
new coach comes from. They will get better, and as a fan I hope that those who can sit by the sideline and throw
darts now, will sit by the sideline and throw roses when the program does return to the upper half of the Big 12.

Red Raider

Wed Nov 25 2009 13:09

It is like the old "Ames and Andy" show. I constant shout. She should watch the other coaches of the Big Twelve .She would see that no one else anywhere acts with so low reguard for their players. She could learn and get a little class to her act. It is very embrassing to us the fans, the players and the whole unverisity, on the way she down grades the players. Perhaps, she should go to classes for temper management, or get tested to see just what her problem is. I sure wouldn't want any of my children learning from a individual that has so little control, that cusses likes a sailor, and that has such low respect for another person.. I quess her show is her way of getting good recruits for the school. If I was a parent watching the game with a high school student who was considering to go to college here, you , Tech, would never get a second thought their attending here. I am wondering if the atheletic department head approves of this conduct. If so, Raiders; we need help, and it's time to upgrade the whole department

A TT FAN

Tue Nov 24 2009 19:42

You are right! I am so tired of watching the "coaches" yell at the players on the court. Several times we have missed the play because the coaches were to busy yelling at the players. Our seniors are some of the best volleyball players on the floor, so what does coach do? Sidelines them in favor of playing younger players to get ready for next year. Isn't that what preseason practice is for? Has coach Kn\ight brougt in the fans? NO. Has she even brought us a win? NO. Has her style of yelling/coaching helped us at all? NO. I feel for the girls having to labor under the iron fist of Knight.

Texas Tech Red Raider Fan

Tue Nov 24 2009 17:32

Tom, These girls have been through holly hell trying to understand the "Knight" system of volleyball. She threw this season away from the start by quitting the seniors from day one, wanting to use players she would have next year in order for them in have expereince with her system. Also, the girls have had to listen to her constant cussing, fussing and fit throwing the whole season. She has gotten it to where none of the girls enjoy playing volleyball for her, and don't care if they are on the court or on the side line. Most figure if they are on the side line, at least, they are getting a break from the constant "bitching". If they position themselves to where she wants them, they get cussed at for not being in another position when the ball is hit there. It is a no win situation. They play hard: but their spirit has been broken in them by the coach, not their loses.They play for team mates.. They don't play for her..and won't.. Part of the problem seems to lie in the fact that she has never had knowledgeable players under her. The seniors have expereince, very knowledgeable about volleyball also, and have the ability to think on their feet, and question her calls. She is not use to having experience personal and gets all bent out of shape when she questions the players for their actions and they explain to her. She has only coached players learning the game and they just took her say so of what to do; never question. A good coach needs to be an excellent teacher able to communicate to a varitety of personalities thru training. But that ain't happening. Maybe thru threats, personal verbal attacks, and cussing is the way the "dancing" done in hills of Missouri, but that ain't "dancing" in Texas. ....Tom, how many games you been to this season. If you don't come to the game, you don't need to comment until you see all the effort put out by the girls. Support our team, win, lose, or draw....the sideline show is a act in itself ....GUNS UP..Raider forever

Texas Tech "RED RAIDER" Fan

Tue Nov 24 2009 16:21

We got what it takes, you just got to call the right defense, and get a "break" from all the shouting that comes from the side line.Getting that "break" would help you, the team; be able to concentrate on what is happening on the floor instead of what is being shout from the side line. How many other Big Twelve coaches have you seen, or do you see up, prancing around the side of the court and forever shouting at their players...dud..none...except one ...MAYBE the shouter needs to learn from the other teams to let their player playand do practicing in practice , not during the match. Or is that the "dance " she refers too and her way of getting attention drawn to her? If you really want a show , put the camera, in the half time locker room and broadcast that...wooooooo, now that would be a "dance"....

Your name

Tue Nov 24 2009 14:42

I could not be more proud of our girls, they come out every match and do their best despite the poor fan showing.. It's the best entertainment in town, and I have not missed a home game. But what a great thing it would be if we could go out with a win at home!

Tom

Tue Nov 24 2009 09:44

"I don’t know why it’s harder for us to play at home" ????!!!! At 2-25, 0-18 in Big 12 Conference play, it doesn't sound like these girls know how to play anywhere!

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