Texas Tech Fires Volleyball Coach, Begins Search for New Direction

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt announced that Tony Graystone is being dismissed from his duties as head volleyball coach, effective immediately.

Graystone was in the last year of his five-year contract signed in 2022. This was his 11th season in Lubbock, and Texas Tech has not returned to the NCAA tournament since the 2021 season, just before Graystone's extension.

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The Red Raiders have had a treacherous run in the Big 12 conference, in particular, since their last national berth. Tech is 18-53 in conference play over the last four seasons, including a last-place finish (2-16) in 2025.

Graystone's 140 career wins are the third-most in program history.

The Red Raiders are 6-2 on the young 2026 season and in the midst of a four-game win streak.

Associate head coach Alisa Blair has been named the interim head coach for the remainder of this season. Blair is in her fourth year on the Texas Tech sideline after previously serving as head coach at Abilene Christian.

Blair was the Red Raiders' recruiting coordinator and the 2026 cycle brought nine freshmen to the team ahead of this season, which was the largest of Graystone's tenure, according to The Daily Toreador.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that Texas Tech will be due to pay Graystone 90 percent of the remaining $190,000 on his contract if the termination is deemed without cause.

Although the Red Raiders are in the midst of a win streak, the volleyball schedule makes for a difficult transition period, which could explain the firing coming at this point in the season.

The NCAA volleyball transfer portal opens just one week after the end of the season, making for a much more difficult task on the interim leadership if Graystone was let go after the final game.

Now the search for new direction and new management gets underway.

Whoever might be hired would start behind the eight ball in terms of transfer recruiting - which has become a critical phase of roster building in modern college sports - if they were hired during the spring offseason.

Transfer portal recruiting has been especially important for Texas Tech under Graystone in recent years.

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Tech's early-season schedule in 2026 may also be misleading. The team's last three games have come against programs not in the Power 4, and they collectively have just a handful of wins among them this season.

Texas Tech hosts Tarleton State on Tuesday, Sep. 15, at 6 p.m. inside United Supermarkets Arena, setting the stage for Blair's debut as interim head coach of the Red Raiders.

After a three-game trip to Iowa for the Kwik Star Classic this weekend, Texas Tech will shortly return to the Midwest for the Big 12 opener at Iowa State on Friday, Sep. 25.