Oct. 31, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - After Oklahoma State defeated Oklahoma, 4-2, Friday night, the Texas Tech soccer team has officially qualified for the Big 12 Conference Championship, held Nov. 5-9 at the Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.

The Red Raiders, who finished the regular season 8-9-1 overall and 3-7-0 in conference, kept the eighth and final spot in the championship, accumulating nine points over the conference season.

After advancing to the conference championship last season for the first time since 1999, Tech will now return in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.

"We are very proud of our players for earning this trip back to the Big 12 Championship," Tech head coach Tom Stone said. "With all the injuries we have had, the players have made a lot of adjustments on the fly. I could not even count the number of different lineups we have used and literally every player has played a role. We have trained all week for a game with OSU and now it's official, so we will be ready for our trip to San Antonio."

Oklahoma State, who claimed their first-ever Big 12 regular season championship with tonight's win, will face Tech at 5:30 p.m. Wed., Nov 5, in first round action. Each match of the Big 12 Conference Championship will be streamed live over the conference's official website, www.big12sports.com.