BLAIR ERA BEGINS WITH A WIN AS RECORD CROWD FUELS LADY RAIDERS
LUBBOCK, Texas : Thirty Six hours earlier, Alisa Blair wasn’t the head coach of the Texas Tech volleyball program.
Tuesday night, she walked off the floor at United Supermarkets Arena 1-0.
It certainly didn’t start the way Blair or the Lady Raiders envisioned.
Texas Tech committed eight errors, hit just .034 and watched Tarleton State take control of the opening set in a 25-14 win.
Then the Lady Raiders settled down.
Blair, calm and collected on the sideline throughout the early struggles, made some adjustments. Her veterans went to work. And a record crowd of 2,649 students that had been loud from the opening serve found another gear as Texas Tech began to find its rhythm.
By the end of the night, a shaky opening set had turned into a 14-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-13 victory in Blair’s debut as interim head coach.
THE MOMENTUM SHIFTS
The turning point came midway through the second set.
Tarleton led 15-10 at the media timeout and was threatening to take complete control of the match.
Texas Tech came out of the break with a different energy.
The Lady Raiders began chipping away at the lead, and Shelby Ignash provided the spark that brought the USA to life.
Ignash put down a block to make it 16-12, sending an already energetic student section into a roar. Two points later, she delivered a kill that cut the Tarleton advantage to 16-14.
You could feel the momentum shift inside the building.
Tech eventually pulled even as part of a 7-2 run and finished the comeback with back to back kills from Gretchen Sigman to take the second set 25-22.
From there, the Lady Raiders never really gave the momentum back.
THE VETERANS SETTLE THINGS DOWN
While Blair pushed the right buttons from the sideline, two Texas Tech seniors helped settle things down on the floor.
Setter Katelyn Cochran was a maestro running the Lady Raider offense.
Tarleton entered the match determined to limit Tech’s production from the outside, and Cochran responded by spreading the ball around and forcing the Texans to defend the entire net.
The result was one of Texas Tech’s most balanced offensive performances of the young season.
Six Lady Raiders recorded at least five kills, led by Tatum Johnson, who had herself a night with a career high 16 kills while hitting an incredible .650.
Ignash added 10 kills while hitting .471 and was in on eight blocks. Sigman and Kenna McKenzie finished with six kills each, while Sara Bowcutt and Elia Dinsmore added five apiece.
Cochran finished with 41 assists, two aces and six digs.
Senior Emily Contreras provided the steady presence Tech needed on the back row. Contreras and Maddie Smotherman each finished with 10 digs and combined for just one serve receive error as they continually kept rallies alive and gave Cochran opportunities to get the offense back to work.
EIGHT ERRORS, THEN JUST TEN MORE
Perhaps nothing illustrates the turnaround better than the errors.
Texas Tech committed eight in the opening set alone.
Over the final THREE sets combined, the Lady Raiders committed just 10.
That composure showed as the match went along.
After taking the third set 25-20, Tech completely took over in the fourth.
The Lady Raiders hit a blistering .522 in the final set, raced out to a 15-8 advantage at the media timeout and never looked back.
By then, Blair’s calm demeanor on the sideline had changed too.
As the Lady Raiders rolled and the noise inside the USA continued to build, the first time head coach allowed herself to get fired up with them.
Tech closed it out 25-13.
SOMETHING FELT DIFFERENT INSIDE THE USA
The box score will show Texas Tech improved to 7-2.
It will show Blair won her first match as the interim head coach.
It will show Johnson’s career night, Cochran’s 41 assists and a Texas Tech offense that hit .522 in the deciding set.
But it won’t completely explain what Tuesday night felt like inside the USA.
There is an energy and excitement building around Texas Tech Volleyball that feels different.
The school record 2,649 students in attendance weren’t simply there to take advantage of a promotion or fill seats. They were volleyball fans.
They reacted to blocks. They understood long rallies. They got louder as Tech started making its run. And when the Lady Raiders gave them something to get excited about, they became part of the match.
The louder the building got, the better Texas Tech seemed to play.
For a program that underwent a sudden coaching change just a day earlier, Tuesday night could have been chaotic.
Instead, Blair remained composed, her veterans steadied the ship and the Lady Raiders responded.
Now Blair and Texas Tech get a day to take a deep breath and begin settling into their new normal.
Then it is back to volleyball.
The Lady Raiders head to Iowa this weekend for the Kwik Star Klassic.
They’ll make that trip with a 7-2 record and something Blair didn’t have when she woke up Tuesday morning.
Her first win as a college head coach.
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