HISTORIC FIRST: Texas Tech’s All-Female Athletic Squad Makes National History With Unprecedented Championship Sweep
In an unforgettable and groundbreaking season, Texas Tech University’s all-female athletic collective—comprising standout performers from track & field, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and softball—has etched its name into collegiate sports history. The Red Raider women not only dominated individually in their respective sports but also achieved the impossible: a clean sweep of five national championships in one academic year, marking a first in NCAA history.
The headline moment came this weekend, when Texas Tech’s softball team clinched the Women’s College World Series in a dramatic walk-off fashion over Florida State. That win capped off an already dream-like year in which Lady Raiders basketball took home the national title in April, the volleyball team earned its first-ever national crown in December, and both the soccer and track & field teams secured NCAA gold.
While no single team has ever carried an entire athletic department into the national spotlight, this collective of female athletes has done just that—and more.
“This isn’t just a moment—it’s a movement,” said Texas Tech Athletic Director Katherine Morales, who oversaw the strategic investment into women’s sports over the past five years. “Our athletes believed. Our coaches believed. Now the whole country believes in the power of women’s sports at Texas Tech.”
Leading the charge was basketball phenom Arianna Simmons, a junior point guard from Houston who was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 28 points per game. She wasn’t alone. Destiny Price, the volleyball team’s outside hitter, earned National Player of the Year honors, while soccer’s Maria Lopez scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Red Raiders over North Carolina in the NCAA final.
Perhaps no single figure embodies this run more than track star Kenya Hollingsworth, who shattered the NCAA 400m record and anchored the 4x400m relay team that brought home Texas Tech’s first women’s track & field national title in school history.
“Every team pushed the others,” Hollingsworth said. “We’d be in the weight room, and the volleyball girls were already sweating it out. Then we’d go cheer on soccer. We built this together. We weren’t five teams—we were one unit.”
National media has dubbed them the “Tech Titans,” and their impact is already resonating far beyond Lubbock. The university reported a 150% increase in applications from female student-athletes nationwide since January, and merchandise sales from women’s teams have hit record highs.
Even more impressively, the all-female coaching staff for each team has drawn praise for its leadership and vision. Coach Nina Caldwell (softball) and Coach Jess Whittaker (basketball) are now household names in collegiate athletics.
“We didn’t do this for the headlines,” said Whittaker. “We did this to prove what’s possible when women are empowered, supported, and expected to lead.”
As confetti rained down at the WCWS and the national anthem played for the fifth time this year, Texas Tech’s women proved that history doesn’t ask permission—it’s made by those bold enough to chase it.
And chase it they did—all the way into legend.
