Sept. 29, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Volleyball team (2-9, 0-2) hosts No. 14 Iowa State (10-3, 2-2) at the United Spirit Arena on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m. and then travels to Oklahoma (10-3, 3-1) for a Saturday afternoon match with the Sooners at 3 p.m. as the squad swings back into action. (Note that the match time on Saturday has moved.)

The team, which reported all 14 players back at practice on Monday after last week's unusual postponement of a match with Kansas State because of illness of as many as 10 players, will face a tough challenge in the Cyclones and Sooners.

"Iowa State is a very solid team which has been ranked near the top-10 throughout the season," head coach Trish Knight said. "They made a great run at the tournament last year and have experience to draw from. This year's team is every bit as talented, so we have our work cut out for us. We're heading into Oklahoma with that team playing extremely well also," she continued.

(Because the team had a bye-weekend, the Wednesday match would have been Tech's only competition last week. Statistics and details about the Tech team are available through the cumulative stats links as they have not changed since the Sept. 22 posting.)

No. 14 Iowa State by the numbers
Is led offensively by Victoria Henson's 4.08 kills-per-set and defensively by Ashley Moss whose Big 12-leading 5.92 digs per set in conference play is downright staggering. The junior libero earned the 2008 Libero of the Year honor in the Big 12. Iowa State's three losses this season have all come at the hands of ranked teams.

Tech has not beaten Iowa State since the 2006 season, but still holds a 20-9 advantage over the Cyclones in the all-time series record. Iowa State is coached by Christy Johnson-Lynch now in her fifth season at the helm.

Oklahoma by the numbers
The Sooners have posted impressive wins over Missouri and Kansas State, of late, and will face No. 10 Nebraska on Wednesday while Tech plays Iowa State. Led by Francie Ekwerekwu's 2.84 kills-per-set and .319 efficiency marks. Oklahoma is hosting a "Pledge for the Cure" event Wednesday while hosting the Huskers. The program will be honoring Javi Restrepo, young son of OU head coach Santiago Restrepo and his wife, Heidi who passed away on July 31, 2009, after a three-year battle with leukemia. Please read more about the program and what you can do to help at this link.

Tech has not beaten Oklahoma since the 2005 season, but holds the all-time series record with a 34-20 advantage. Last season's pair of matches with the Sooners were both thrilling five-set affairs, so if you're looking for something to do on Saturday afternoon, we recommend the drive to Norman.