Sept. 10, 2010

Box Score

RUSTON, La. - Seniors Kassia Pinto, Jennifer Goodwin and Taylor Fritz all totaled double-digit kills while Kara Jones cracked the top five all-time list for career blocks as Louisiana Tech swept past Grambling State and Southeastern Louisiana at the Lady Techster Invitational inside the Thomas Assembly Center Friday night.

"It's really encouraging to get the two wins especially in three sets because we are nursing so many injuries on the team," said Fritz. "If we went to four or five sets that is nothing but more pounding on our ankles and arms. It's great to get through it like that."

Louisiana Tech (6-4) opened play on Friday against I-20 rival Grambling State winning in straight sets (25-7, 25-14, 25-14).

The Lady Techsters controlled the tempo of the match early as they raced out to a 12-1 lead to start the match behind solid passing and strong ball placement. Limiting Grambling to a -.038 hitting efficiency, Tech controlled the flow of the set with a hitting percentage of .565. Tech closed out the set behind two overpowering kills from Kara Jones giving the Techsters a 25-7 win.

Jones finished the match with seven kills and one block. Her assisted block was her 314th career block, good enough for fifth all-time in school history, passing Amy Underwood.

The second and third sets consisted of much of the same dominance as Tech cruised to consecutive 25-14 wins en route to a 3-0 sweep while hitting an impressive .380 in the match.

With the win against Grambling State, Tech improves to 19-1 all-time against the Lady Tigers while taking 63 of the last 66 set points in the series.

Despite playing two matches in a span of three hours, the Lady Techsters were not limited in their abilities against Southeastern Louisiana as Tech breezed to a 3-0 (25=17, 25-18, 25-18) sweep.

Aiming to avenge a four set loss on their home court a year ago, Tech jumped out of the gates against the Lions picking up right where they left off against Grambling State. With the first set tied at eight apiece, Tech converted on back-to-back kills by Fritz giving Tech a five point advantage. Despite allowing the Lions to trim the lead to 15-14, Tech would take 10 of the next 13 points to clinch the first set, 25-17.

Falling behind 10-5 in the second set, the Lady Techsters maintained their focus on the offensive end making smart decisions in the passing game. With Mallory Stanley at the service line, Tech rallied from a five point deficit by ultimately going on a 10-3 scoring run as Pinto, Jones and Goodwin all notched key kills. Goodwin eventually closed out the frame with a kill as Tech rolled to a 25-18 win in the set.

With an energetic crowd on hand, Tech returned from the break in the third set looking to finish the job. The Lady Techsters were able to capitalize off of a few attack errors and Southeastern's .000 hitting efficiency in the final set by easing to a 25-18 win.

"Today was a big day for us," said Pinto. "It's real exciting to have a good crowd at the matches. It felt good to have the support tonight."

Louisiana Tech will close out play at the Lady Techster Invitational against Centenary at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Centenary has dropped all 25 matches in the series and Tech will have an opportunity to close out the four game home stand with a tournament title.