RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team concluded its 2018 season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-15) Conference USA decision to the visiting WKU Lady Toppers from the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
LA Tech (6-23, 1-13 C-USA) saw positive offensive efforts from a pair of upperclassmen in the contest, as junior Madeline Davis and junior Jayde Penn put together solid games for the Techsters. Davis posted a team-high eight kills, along with six block assists, while Penn also recorded eight kills and added four block assists of her own.
 
Freshman Lara Hendricks added seven kills, while hitting. 263 from the field, while fellow rookie Abigail Hildenbrand distributed the offense with a team-best 21 assists.
 
The Lady Toppers (20-9, 11-3 C-USA) were paced offensively by Lauren Matthews (15 kills at .750) and Rachel Anderson (10 kills and four block assists).
 
The first set saw a back-and-forth affair throughout the entirety, as the score drew even a total of seven times along with two separate lead changes. The Lady Techsters held close with the defending C-USA champions in the opening frame, never trailing by more than three. In fact, the Techsters raced out to a four-point edge early, but the Toppers drew back even shortly after at nine.
 
Davis led Tech with six kills in the first frame, while Tech outhit WKU, .257 to .222. The Toppers took four of the final seven points to wrap up the competitive first set, 25-22.
 
In set number two, neither team was able to gain an edge early on. With the score even at eight, WKU surged ahead following a 10-6 run. Tech would climb back into contention late after back-to-back kills from Davis and Hendricks, however, at 19-17, WKU would take six of the final eight points en route to a 25-19 triumph and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
After the intermission, the third frame saw the visitors come out strong, as WKU raced out to a 9-0 edge. LA Tech would not be able to cut the deficit down past eight the rest of the way, as WKU hit .318 while holding Tech to a -.211 clip from the field en route to a 25-15 triumph.
 
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