BY TRAVIS CRAM
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

When Texas Tech receiver Mike Crabtree caught his touchdown pass to upset then-No. 1 Texas 39-33 on Nov. 1, Ashlee Roberson had a quick phone call to make to her sister, Amber, in Austin.

“As soon as Crabtree caught that touchdown,” Ashlee said, “I picked up my phone and called her and I was like, ‘Oh! We won. We won.’”

That’s what it’s like when you have a sister who is an athlete at a rival Big 12 Conference school. But somehow there is still room for Longhorns and Red Raiders to love each other in a family with Aggies, as well.

New Mexico State Aggies, that is.

Amber, a freshman volleyball player for Texas, will be in Lubbock Saturday to watch her Lady Raider sister, Ashlee, when Texas Tech takes on No. 8 Texas at 2 p.m. at United Spirit Arena.

So who will Amber be rooting for?

“I’ll be cheering for Texas and Ashlee,” she said. “But that’s it.”

The competitive edge each sister possesses speaks volumes about how they grew up as the two oldest in a family of seven siblings — Ashlee is the oldest.

“We used to go at it all the time,” Ashlee said. “She always would challenge me to find ways to beat her when we would play basketball. She’s got some long arms but I’ve always been quicker, so I would try to drive past her a lot. Plus my dad would always be egging her or me on when we would play.”

Their mother, Lisa, played volleyball for New Mexico State, where she met her husband, John, who was a basketball player for the Aggies.

Lisa said not much has changed with the two sisters since they were younger and competing.

“They are extremely competitive, but they were always close,” Lisa said. “People would think they were twins because I would sometimes put them in the same clothes. But you want to compete, which helps in the game itself.”

Even the fact that the two play for different schools is nothing new. Amber transferred to a new school in San Antonio after her freshman year at Converse Judson. Ashlee stayed at Judson and ran track for a bit while playing basketball all four years. Amber excelled as a three-sport athlete at Wagner before eventually choosing to play volleyball at the collegiate level.

“There’s a lot of basketball players in our family,” Lisa said. “The next three brothers and sisters are all basketball players, but I got my one volleyball player.”

Amber played in 15 matches for the Longhorns this season as they made a run at a national championship, losing to No. 2 Stanford in the national semifinals in Omaha, Neb. She played in all three sets against Texas Tech in Lubbock on Oct. 22, when Ashlee was in attendance to cheer her sister on and even had a sign for her.

Supporting each other this year has been a big deal for the two sisters, who still remain close despite the 393 miles that separate them.

“When we talk on the phone we usually talk about school and some other things,” Amber said. “But we’re always checking on each other or looking up on the Internet how the other is playing. When we got to the Final Four in Omaha, she called to tell us good luck.

“Since (Texas) is still on break for the holidays, that was a goal of mine to come here and get to watch her play one game. So it just kind of worked out that they would be playing Texas (Saturday).”

This season had a rough start for Ashlee, who was suspended the first five games of the season — including the two exhibitions — for violating team rules. Since then, she has averaged 6.4 points and nearly 28 minutes per game, becoming an important piece in Tech’s post rotation. She had a career-high 13 rebounds in Tech’s 75-60 win over Arkansas.

“She’s had to grow up quite a bit this year,” Tech coach Kristy Curry said. “She had to realize that everything that happens off the floor is just as important as what happens on the floor. But she’s such a joy to have as a person on your team because she’s always wanting to make her team better.”

Ashlee hopes to help push Tech to its first conference win of the season Saturday but said there are no friendly wagers on the side between her and her sister. Plus, mom and dad will be in full Tech apparel to support her.

“Nope, no bets,” Ashlee said. “But if we beat them, I might have to think of something.”

travis.cram@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8736
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8735