RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team will begin its Conference USA road slate with two matches this weekend – first taking on FIU in Miami on Friday at 5 p.m. CT, followed by a Sunday showdown with Florida Atlantic on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
 
LA Tech (6-12; 1-2 C-USA) enters the weekend staring down a daunting stretch of road matches. After beginning league play with their first three contests at home, Tech will play seven of its eight October league matches on the road.
 
The Techsters will be used to this type of scheduling, however, as the team the 2018 regular season with each of its first 10 contests away from the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
Leading the way for Tech through the first three conference matches has been junior middle blocker Madeline Davis. She ranks second on the team with 32 kills in C-USA matches, and leads the team with a .422 hitting percentage along with a team-best 16 blocks (1.33 b/s) against conference foes. Among league leaders in C-USA matches, David ranks third in hitting percentage and fourth in blocks per set average. Her 3.54 points per set in league action is the 14^th best mark in C-USA.
 
As a team, Tech has done a stellar job holding its opponents to a low hitting percentage midway through the season, keeping them below .200 at a .196 mark.
 
Tech's Friday opponent in FIU (10-6; 3-1 C-USA) enters the match in fourth place in the C-USA standings. The Panthers began the conference slate winning each of their first three matches, but most recently fell, 3-1 at North Texas last weekend. The Panthers' 10 wins this season are the most for the program since 2015.
 
Among fellow C-USA schools, FIU ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.196), third in opponent hitting percentage (.179), seventh in assists per set (11.72), sixth in kills per set (12.70), third in blocks per set (2.30), sixth in service aces per set (1.31) and seventh in digs per set (14.44).
 
As for Florida Atlantic (11-4; 2-1 C-USA), the Owls enter the weekend in fifth place in the league standings. FAU had previously owned a 10-match winning streak before falling to FIU last Friday.
 
As a program among the C-USA ranks, FAU falls first in hitting percentage (.292), fourth in hitting percentage (.194), first in assists per set (14.28), first in kills per set (15.06), seventh in blocks per set (1.86), first in service aces per set (1.84) and sixth in digs per set (14.92). The Owls are led offensively by setter Ivone Martinez, who ranks third among national leaders, averaging 12.54 assists per set.
 
Both matches this weekend will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required). Links for streams and live stats can be found on the LA Tech Volleyball schedule page at LATechSports.com. Be sure to follow @LATechVB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates and news on the Lady Techsters.