RUSTON, La. – After a lengthy road stretch, spanning each of the past two weeks, the Louisiana Tech volleyball team will return home to the friendly confines of the Thomas Assembly Center on Friday, hosting UTEP at 7 p.m. Following Friday's match, LA Tech will hit the road yet again for a showdown with the first-place Rice Owls on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
LA Tech (6-16, 1-6 C-USA) enters this weekend, having dropped six straight matches, four of which occurred on the road. Tech's last conference win came at home, however, as the team put together a complete performance, defeating Middle Tennessee, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21) back on Sept. 23.
 
One of the important keys to the LA Tech's offensive efforts this season has been due in large part to the efforts of ju­nior outside hitter Kaitlyn Adams. In Tech's five-match thrilling win against Oral Roberts back on September 14, Adams etched her name in the Tech history books, notching 31 kills, a single-match program record in the rally scoring era. Prior to Adams' performance, the last time a Lady Techster racked up 30 or more kills was in 2007. In that same match, Adams hit an absurd .443 (31-4-61) while securing the second-most kills in a single match in C-USA this season.
 
For her efforts, Adams was named to the Cougar Classic All-Tournament Team – her second all-tournament recognition this season. This season, Adams leads the Lady Techsters with 190 total kills (2.84 k/s) and has reached the 10-kill plateau on eight separate occasions in 2018.
 
Junior Madeline Davis also continues to shine bright in the middle for Tech, leading the team in points (231.5), hitting percentage (.317), total blocks (74) and blocks per set (0.94).
 
A few Lady Techsters reside among the C-USA's best, as Davis ranks 10^th in hitting percentage (.317), Abigail Hildenbrand ranks 11th in assists per set (8.04), Marie- Helene Verlinden ranks eighth in service aces per set (0.29), Alyssa Zucco (3.78) ranks eighth in digs per set, and Adams' 2.84 kills-per-set average is good for 17th among league leaders.
 
As a team among the C-USA ranks, Tech is sixth in service aces per set (1.25), fourth in digs per set (15.61) and ninth in opponent hitting percentage (.213).
 
As for Tech's first opponent in UTEP (3-16, 0-6 C-USA), the Miners have dropped each of their last eight contests and have yet to record a C-USA victory in 2018. Among C-USA teams, UTEP ranks 13^th in hitting percentage (.153), 13^th in opponent hitting percentage (.240), 13^th in assists per set (10.49), 13^th in kills per set (11.23), ninth in blocks per set (1.82), 13^th in service aces per set (0.95) and 11^th in digs per set (14.00).
 
Tech's Sunday foe in Rice (10-1, 7-0 C-USA) continues to be one of the hottest teams in the nation, currently riding a 10 match winning streak, and sits at the top of the conference standings. The Owls rank second in hitting percentage (.260), first in opponent hitting percentage (.160), second in assists per set (13.66), second in kills per set (14.57), fifth in blocks per set (2.10), ninth in service aces per set (1.16) and first in digs per set (18.18).
 
Admission to all LA Tech volleyball matches is free. Both matches this weekend will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required). Links to watch and follow live stats can be found on the LA Tech Volleyball schedule page. Be sure to follow @LATechVB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all breaking news and updates on the 2018 Lady Techsters.