EL PASO, Tex. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-20) to UTEP inside the Miners' Memorial Gymnasium.
UTEP hit .381 as a team and got double-digit kills from Cheyenne Jones (14), Serena Patterson (13), and Anamarijia Mikovic (11).
Jordyn Carswell and
Madeline Davis led the Lady Techsters with six kills apiece. Carswell also added ten digs.
"Hats off to UTEP for playing with a ton of confidence and feeding off their home crowd. They were able to find kills from a variety of different hitters and we did not," said LA Tech head coach
Amber McCray. "The biggest thing we have to do is remember we still have a lot of conference left, and if we come into practices ready to work harder and give more with no excuses, we are fully capable of turning this around"
The Lady Techsters struggled defensively in the first set, allowing UTEP to hit .593 en route to a 25-16 win. Tech hung with the Miners early in the frame, but Kenidy Howard keyed a five-point UTEP run that gave the hosts an insurmountable 19-12 lead.
Tech played resiliently early in the second set. Though UTEP jumped out to a 7-1 advantage,
Laura Ehieze keyed a 5-1 run in response. The freshman contributed three kills to the spurt and was Tech's best player in the frame as a whole, finishing with three kills and two blocks. Despite her best efforts, UTEP responded with two big runs late in the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third set provided more promise for Tech, though another late run secured a Miner sweep. After trading points early on, the Lady Techsters went on an 8-1 run – keyed by aces from Carswell and
Natalie Honore - to take a 12-7 lead. UTEP responded a few points later, rattling off 8 consecutive points to take a 17-15 lead. The Miners then scored 6 of the final 8 points to earn the 25-20 win.
Louisiana Tech will be back in action Sunday, Oct. 20 when the team returns home to take on no. 21 Rice in the Thomas Assembly Center.
Stay plugged in with the team by following @LATechVB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
