November 18, 1998

Box Score

LUBBOCK, Texas - The No. 24 ranked Texas Tech volleyball team used tough defense and blocking to defeat Big 12 Conference rival Baylor Wednesday evening in Lubbocks Municipal Coliseum 15-4, 16-14, 15-8. The match signalled the final contest in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum for Texas Techs five seniors- Lisa Hilgers, Kristen Holmes, Sonia Moric, Kim Breitbach and Pam Osterfeld.

The victory improved No. 24 Texas Tech to 20-10 on the season and 9-8 in the Big 12 and dropped Baylor to 14-16 overall and 6-11 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders have defeated Baylor in nine straight matches dating back to 1994.

Senior setter Lisa Hilgers broke the Texas Tech all-time career games played mark, surpassing Courtney Thames (1993-96) mark of 449 career games played. Hilgers, who began the evening with 447 career games played, broke the record when she stepped on the floor in game three, giving her 450 games played for her career.

Despite the victory, Texas Tech head coach Jeff Nelson felt the Raiders could have played better.

"Our passing wasnt as sharp as it should be tonight or as it has been for the past couple of weeks," Texas Tech head coach Jeff Nelson said. "We slowed our pace down and we have to pick it up and play a faster game. We geared our game more to Baylor and we werent as aggressive as we usually are."

Nevertheless, the Red Raiders got the job done. Tech jumped out to a 5-2 lead in game one and never looked back, winning the first contest 15-4. Baylor grabbed a quick 9-6 lead in game two but Tech battled back from the deficit to take a 12-11 lead and eventually won game two 16-14 on two Baylor attack errors. Sophomore Janelle Jones sparked Tech in game three with six kills as the Red Raiders grabbed an early lead then fended off a Baylor comeback to win 15-8.

"Our passing broke down in game two and that hurt us but we got back on track," Nelson said. "We made some corrections and got it done."

Junior middle blocker Lori Garber led Texas Tech with 12 kills and a .440 hitting percentage (12-1-25), senior outside hitter Kristen Holmes finished with 10 kills and a match-high 19 digs, senior setter Lisa Hilgers contributed 45 assists and 14 digs, junior outside hitter Courtney Putnam had nine kills, sophomore outside hitter Heather Hughes collected six kills and 18 digs and senior middle blocker Sonia Moric rammed home eight kills in 23 attempts and had six blocks (one solo).

"Lori Garber had a great match, Sonia Moric really came on in games one and two and Lisa Hilgers played well," Nelson said. "Kristen Holmes and Heather Hughes both played great defense. Right now our goal is to get into the NCAA Tournament. We felt like we should have been there last year. We want to get into the tournament and not just be satisfied with getting there. We want to make a run and do something special."

Texas Tech has three matches left in its season. The Red Raiders host No. 17 Kansas State (17-8) this Friday at 7 p.m. in Lubbocks Civic Center then travel to Kansas on Nov. 27 and Oklahoma on Nov. 28 for their final matches.