LUBBOCK, Texas – HCU captured the first two sets of an opening day thriller before falling just short in five sets (28-26, 25-20, 25-27, 18-25, 13-15) vs. Big 12 member Texas Tech in the Under Armour Challenge at United Supermarkets Arena on Friday.
As a team, the Huskies (0-1) totaled 20 blocks, the second-most in a five-set match for any HCU team since 2001. Sophomore
Lexie Temple racked up 12 blocks in her first career start while freshman
Ana Garza was credited with 10.
Audrey Pearce added eight while
Cassidy Drapela finished with a career day of 19 kills, seven blocks and added six digs. Adding to the strong defensive effort was senior libero
Kaley Feris who tallied 30 digs to tie her career-best while
Tatiana Evans added 20 digs. Offensively,
Sara Arroyo finished with 11 kills.
In the first set, the Huskies trailed 15-10 before a seven-point run put them ahead, 17-15. HCU increased its lead over the Red Raiders (1-0) to 23-18 before TTU stormed back to lead 24-23. The Huskies survived two set points to ultimately win the first set, 28-26. Set two was a back-and-forth affair with the Red Raiders leading 18-17 before the Huskies put it away late. Set three was another tightly-contested one with Texas Tech leading 23-20 until a trio of kills by Drapela helped get things even at 25-25. The Red Raiders scored the next two, however, to take the set. TTU got out to a 12-4 lead and never looked back en route to a 25-18 win, setting up the decisive fifth set.
HCU jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the final set but the Red Raiders answered with the next four points. The Huskies regained the lead, 7-5, after a block by Pearce and
Mollee Henicke but the Red Raiders again answered with a run, scoring the next six. Trailing by four, HCU clawed back to within one, 13-14, but a Caitlin Dugan kill sealed the deal for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech was led by Brynn Williams with 22 kills, 20 digs, and four blocks while Dugan added 21 kills. Katelyn Cochran dished out 37 assists while Abby Dickinson led the back line with 27 digs.
The Huskies are right back at it on Saturday, Aug. 26, with a doubleheader, first taking on Wichita State at 11:30 a.m. before facing former Southland Conference foe Abilene Christian at 3:30 p.m.
