Final Stats

RUSTON, La. - The Louisiana Tech women's volleyball team fell to Southern Miss by a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) final Friday evening from the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech (6-14, 1-5 C-USA) was led offensively by senior Marta Monne and freshman Gina Cortesi, who each notched 10 kills. Monne also dug in defensively with a team-best 11 digs for her 11th double-double on the year.

Rookie Carter Mirich also played well in the defeat, accumulating nine kills and six digs of her own.

Southern Miss (13-8, 3-2 C-USA) hit at an efficient .272 clip and was paced by setter Sarah Bell who racked up 38 helpers. Kylie Grandy led the way with 12 kills while hitting .360 for the match.

The first set saw back-and-forth action early on, as both teams felt each other out for the first 10 points. The Lady Techsters gained a surge of momentum midway through the set, when Madeline Davis and Monne combined for a huge block up the middle, increasing the Tech lead to 16-13 and forcing a Southern Miss timeout. However, Southern Miss used a late rally, and escaped with a 25-23 first-set triumph.

In the second frame, both teams hit extremely well, as Tech finished the set with a .273 attack percentage, while Southern Miss hit its highest mark of the night at .400. Both teams were again neck-and-neck throughout, but the Golden Eagles eventually escaped with a 25-21 victory.

In the third and final set, Tech hit .051 while the Golden Eagles hit .233 en route to a 25-22 win and a 3-0 sweep.

The Techsters return to action Sunday afternoon on the road against Marshall. First serve is slated for 12 p.m. CT.