After a near upset against Kansas State University, ranked 15 in the country, last Saturday, the Texas Tech women’s volleyball team is ready to take on West Virginia at home this weekend before hitting the road next week to play the University of Oklahoma and Iowa State University.
Nicole Hragyil, a sophomore on the court, said that fans can expect to see a different lineup on the court for the West Virginia game as part of the team’s strategy.
“It is going to be really interesting actually, because our lineup for K-State had been different from the rest of the season,” Hragyil said. “I think it’s actually going to surprise a lot of players what’s going to happen because a lot of us are stepping up, so we really don’t know. We are all kind of on an even playing field now.”
The Big 12 is unpredictable, Hragyil said, but teams always need to be ready for competition. Tech needs to defeat West Virginia this weekend to make qualifying for the tournament at the end of the season easier.
In order to beat West Virginia, head volleyball coach Don Flora said, the team needs to get a quality start and serve better than they did against K-State. The most important thing for Tech to do this weekend is control their side of the net and play their best.
“They are a really good team,” Flora said about K-State. “You’re fully content playing toe to toe with a top team in the country, but you also know that to beat those teams, you have to be able to do it point for point, and that’s hard when we’re so young.”
Flora’s strategy for the West Virginia game is to work on outside hitting defense, since West Virginia’s team is outside oriented.
Hragyil said that the K-State game gave the team a lot of confidence.
“It was exciting to see that we can take games off of the top 15 teams,” Hragyil said. “We can beat them.”
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