LA Tech Game Notes

RUSTON, La. - LA Tech Volleyball is once again hitting the road this weekend as the Lady Techsters travel to battle a trio of teams in the Cougar Classic, hosted by SIU-Edwardsville at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.

The two-day classic begins at 11 a.m. Friday with LA Tech featured in the first two matches of the tournament against Arkansas and Northern Kentucky before closing out play Saturday afternoon against the Cougars.

"This is our second week of competition and after working on some parts of our game earlier this week, our players are ready to compete again," head coach Adriano de Souza said. "Our goal is to take every opportunity we can to gain more experience on the court with each other. Our players know that their hard work and focus is the key to continuing to improve our game."

Fresh off a victory at Jackson State, LA Tech (2-2) begins this weekend with a match against Arkansas out of the SEC at 11 a.m. Friday. LA Tech has not faced the Razorbacks since the 1990s when the Lady Techsters knocked off Arkansas, 3-1, in 1994. The two teams met again in 1999 with the Razorbacks taking the match in straight sets.

Joining LA Tech and Arkansas in the Cougar Classic will be the host team, SIU-Edwardsville, and Northern Kentucky. The Lady Techsters will then square off with Northern Kentucky later that afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The Norse are still looking for their first win on the season after falling to Eastern Michigan, Xavier and Cincinnati in straight sets last weekend.

LA Tech will wrap up the Cougar Classic at noon Saturday when they meet SIUE for the first time in program history. The Cougars took home a victory over Akron last weekend, while dropping matches to Drake and DePaul.

STAT LEADERS

• Angela Papach continues to lead the Lady Techster attack with 39 kills on the season. The junior recorded eight kills in LA Tech's victory over Jackson State Tuesday night and is averaging nearly 2.8 kills per set through four matches.

• Brooke Short and Adria Morales guide the attack as the two lead the team in assists. Short has 76 assists on the season, while Morales has 56.

• Short also lends a helping hand defending the attack as she is second on the team with 23 digs behind Alejandra Aviles, who leads the Lady Techsters with 54 digs. Hannah McRee continues to cause problems for opponents at the net with seven blocks heading into the tournament.

TOURNAMENT COVERAGE

Live stats and a video stream will be available for all three matches this weekend at the Cougar Classic, which fans can access by clicking on the links on the volleyball schedule page on LATechSports.com.

Stay up to date with the latest news, notes and scores by following Louisiana Tech Volleyball on three areas of social media -- Twitter (@LATechVB), Facebook (Facebook.com/LATechVolleyball) and Instagram (@LATechVB).