Oct. 1, 2010

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RUSTON, La. - Despite 16 kills from the middle blocker position, the Louisiana Tech volleyball team was unable to overcome sixth-ranked Hawai'i as the Rainbow Wahine outhit the Lady Techsters .311 to .117 en route to a straight sets win (25-17, 25-14, 25-23) Friday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"We played very well tonight," said Louisiana Tech head coach Matt Sonnichsen. "We had flashes in the first and second set where we did what we wanted to do offensively and defensively but (Hawai'i) is the sixth-ranked team in the country for a reason. I was very proud on how we were able to stay within our systems and we had some success."

The Lady Techsters were paced by Kara Jones nine kills on a .263 hitting efficiency while Gabryel Ording added five kills on five attacks. Lori Hunsucker led the defensive effort totaling 16 digs with Bianca Bin picking up three blocks including two solo stops.

Louisiana Tech (9-8, 0-3 WAC) jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first set behind a service ace by Taylor Fritz to open the match and a dump kill by Gabryel Ording. The Rainbow Wahine responded with three-straight kills before Jones broke up the scoring run to close the lead to two points.

However, Hawai'i (14-1, 4-0 WAC) then built an 11-6 lead before Ording added her second block of the night and Bianca Bin followed it up with a service ace. Trailing by three, Louisiana Tech allowed Hawai'i to extend their lead to 18-11 forcing a Tech timeout.

Even with a high level of intensity on the floor out of the stoppage, Tech was unable to cut into the Hawai'i lead as the Rainbow took the first set 25-17.

Trying to expose weaknesses in the Rainbow Wahine game plan, Louisiana Tech shifted up the lineup to start the second set as Clara Vido and Caitlin Germany were inserted into the rotation.

With fresh legs on the floor, Tech took the first two points courtesy of a Hawai'i service error and a Vido kill. Battling back-and-forth to trim the Wahine lead to 10-9, the Lady Techsters were unable to capitalize upon their fast start. Hawai'i stifled the Tech offensive attack holding the Techsters to a -.100 hitting percentage while picking up seven of their nine blocks on the night to take the second set, 25-14.

With 11 ties, six lead changes and no team taking greater than a four point lead, the Lady Techsters played a fearless third set as they took the sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine to the brink.

After a Tech timeout with score knotted at 17 apiece, Hawai'i quickly built 22-18 - their largest lead of the set. However, with a never-say-die mentality, the Lady Techsters closed the score to 24-21 before ultimately falling 25-23.

"I was very happy with our composure and our team tonight," said Sonnichsen. "We still had the opportunity to play and work on our skills and our system late in the game. I was very happy with our team for coming out strong in the third set."

Louisiana Tech returns to action Saturday afternoon to face cross-town rival Grambling State at 3 p.m.

For complete coverage of Lady Techster volleyball, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com and follow sports information contact, Austin Staton, twitter for the latest and most current news.