Final Stats

Rice Box Score

RUSTON, La. - Down 2-1 in the match and facing a seven-point deficit in the fourth, Louisiana mounted an improbable comeback to win the fourth and fifth sets for a 3-2 (25-21, 12-25, 16-25, 28-26, 15-13) Conference USA victory over Rice Sunday after at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston.

Louisiana Tech (8-15, 2-8 C-USA) had an ideal start to Sunday's match against the Owls by winning the first set, but Rice (16-8, 6-4 C-USA) overpowered the Lady Techsters to win the second and third for a 2-1 lead in the match. With Rice holding on to a comfortable lead in the fourth, LA Tech began to chip away at the lead until eventually tying the set at 23-23. Both teams went back and forth from there until a block by freshman Natalie Leui gave LA Tech a set point, which was converted on a kill by Hannah McRee to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth, Rice led for the majority of the set and was looking to close out the match just three points away from clinching it with a 12-9 lead over LA Tech. The Lady Techsters won the next three points with the help of two kills by Marta Monne before forcing a Rice timeout with it tied, 12-12. Rice and Tech traded the next two points, but two kills by Angela Papach and an attack error by the Owls helped give the Lady Techsters a five-set victory at home.

"I am so proud of our volleyball players who stayed together, fought hard and put together a great team effort today," head coach Adriano de Souza said. "Rice is a great volleyball program with a lot of tradition and a great reputation in Conference USA and around the nation. This win is very important for our program.

"Our team has been working hard for this. They experienced ups and downs today, but the fact that they improved during the match is a positive sign of a team that believed in themselves and each other and played together. I want to also thank the fans that came to support our team today and stayed to cheer us on until the end."

LA Tech began the match by winning the first set convincingly over Rice by a score of 25-21 as the Lady Techsters were hitting as high as .636 as a team at one point during the opening set. After Tech won the first, the Owls made just six errors over the course of the next two sets combined, including a .529 attacking mark by Rice in the second set alone.

In the fourth, LA Tech notched 18 kills and cut down on the errors with just four for a .326 hitting percentage, while errors cost the Owls late in the game to give the Lady Techsters a 28-26 set win and send the match to a fifth set.

LA Tech had four players record double-digit kills in the match with Helena Gunnarsdottir leading the way with 14. Monne and Papach each had 12 in the match while Hannah Wright totaled 11 kills and three blocks to help lead Tech to a C-USA victory. Brooke Short led the Lady Techsters with 33 assists, while McRee had seven kills and three blocks. As a team, Louisiana Tech totaled 58 kills compared to 64 by the Owls.

With the win over the Owls today, it marks the first time since 2007 Louisiana Tech has defeated Rice on the volleyball court.

Sunday's match marked the first of a four-game home stretch for the Lady Techsters as LA Tech will host Grambling State in non-conference action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas Assembly Center. Following that match, Tech hosts Middle Tennessee (Oct. 30) and Charlotte (Nov. 1) next week in Conference USA play.

For complete coverage of LA Tech Volleyball, please follow @LATechVB on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.