Final Stats

TULSA, Okla. - With a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19) victory over Northwestern State on Friday afternoon to open the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational, Louisiana Tech (7-5) has matched its best start to a season since 2010.

"I am very proud of the way our team started out strong, taking the first set," head coach Adrian de Souza said. "The team responded well to Northwestern State taking the second set and were able to fight back and win sets three and four."

Libero Alejandra "Lala" Aviles was able to move up in the record books, recorded 26 digs in the match. Aviles now has 1,402 digs in her career which is good for third most in program history.

Marta Monne proved to be nearly unstoppable, registering 20 kills in the match to go along with a .349 attacking percentage. Brooke Short played a pivotal part in orchestrating the offensive attack with 39 assists. Senior Angela Papach also recorded 15 kills in the match.

"Brooke showed once again that she in continuing to have a better grasp of the offense," de Souza said. "She understands what it takes to run an efficient offense, while becoming a play maker and strategist."

Facing perennial Southland Conference contender Northwestern State, the Lady Techsters came out and immediately found themselves in a battle in the first set. LA Tech was able to get its first separation at that point, scoring three straight points to move ahead 11-8. From that point, the Lady Techsters never allowed Northwestern State to get back into the game, taking the first set 25-20.

The Lady Demons would respond though. With their backs against the wall in a 23-23 game, a ball-handling error by Tech, followed by a block would give Northwestern State the second set 25-23.

In the third set, Louisiana Tech came out and took the first three points of the set. While the Lady Demons would fight back to tie the set at 17, Monne took over at that point. The redshirt-junior registered four consecutive kills to put Louisiana Tech up 21-17. LA Tech would go on to take the set 25-19.

LA Tech was able to take care of business in the final set, holding off a pesky Northwestern State squad. Northwestern State fought back to cut their deficit to 16-14, but three straight errors by the Lady Demons extended the Lady Techster lead back out to five. Louisiana Tech would win the match on a kill courtesy of freshman Makayla Vian.

"Marta was both very intelligent and powerful today, when it was necessary for her to be our top scorer," de Souza said.