GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team took the first set in its opening match of the UND Classic, but fell, 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 22-25, 23-25), to Eastern Washington in a tightly contest match on Friday morning from the Betty Engelstad Center on the campus of North Dakota University.
 
LA Tech (1-3) controlled the pace of the match from the outset – putting together a stellar first set. The team hit .317 (19-6-41) in the first frame, led by seven kills for junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Adams.
 
In the first frame, the Techsters fell behind late at 21-20, but after a timeout from head coach Adriano de Souza, the team came out with a purpose, and utilized three kills from Adams to take four of the final points and lay claim to a first-set victory.
 
In the second, Eastern Washington (4-1) raced out to an early 6-1 edge. Tech would get as close as three, but trailing 22-19, Tech saw Eastern Washington claim three-straight points to take the second set, 25-19.
 
In the third, the teams returned to back-and-forth volleyball, as both sides refused to give ground either wat, until EWU took a 13-10 lead midway through the frame. The Techsters would fight back and draw to within two at 23-21, forcing an EWU timeout. Tech battled off a pair of set points after the timeout, but a kill from EWU's MacKenna Davis closed the set at 25-22, and gave the opposition a 2-1 lead.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Techsters took a 15-12 lead midway through the fourth set, courtesy of a pair of kills from Madeline Davis and some strong defense at the net from Abigail Hildenbrand and Marie-Helene Verlinden. However, EWU would respond with a 7-0 run later in the frame, and took a 21-18 edge. Tech would fight back, cutting the lead to two on two separate occasions, and fighting off match point three times, but EWU would narrowly take the set 25-23, and the match.
 
As a team, Tech hit .161 (56-29-168), while EWU hit .204 (48-16-157). Tech notched its most kills of the season with 56. Adams led the way with a season-best 21 kills, while Lara Hendricks and Davis each added seven. Hildenbrand led all players with a season-best 42 assists, while chipping in 14 digs. Starting libero Alyssa Zucco led the team with 18 digs.
 
Tech will return to action this evening at 7 p.m. against the host North Dakota Fighting Hawks (2-3). The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and live stats can be found on the LA Tech Volleyball schedule page.