RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team will put its four-match winning streak on the line this weekend when the Lady Techsters travel to Mobile, Ala. for the South Alabama Invitational.
Tech will open the weekend with back-to-back matches Friday. The Techsters battle the hosting Jaguars at 2 p.m. before a 4:30 p.m. rematch with Nicholls. A 2 p.m. tilt with Bethune-Cookman will close out the weekend.
The Techsters will be in the hunt for their third tournament championship at the South Alabama Invitational after winning their own tournament last weekend. Tech defeated Nicholls in five sets before sweeping Mississippi and UL-Monroe the following day to earn the title.
Senior outside hitter
Madeline Davis earned Tournament MVP honors after posting 2.75 kills per set with a .383 hitting percentage. Fellow seniors
Kaitlyn Adams, who hit .333 and averaged 2.88 kills per set, and
Morgan Currie, who averaged 5.50 digs per set, also earned spots on the All- Tournament Team.
Tech's early season success is showing up in the stat sheet as well. Currie, Davis, and Adams are three of five Techsters who own spots on Conference-USA leaderboards. Currie's 4.54 digs per set rank fourth while
Abigail Hildenbrand's 7.00 assists per set are eighth. Adams (3.03 – 12
th) and Davis (2.91 -15
th) both own top-15 spots in kills per set.
The Lady Techsters currently hold a 12-3 overall record against South Alabama (4-5) with the Jaguars taking the last matchup 3-1 (25-17, 25-15, 24-26, 25-20) in Mobile. Sophomore outside hitter
Jordyn Carswell posted a team-high 12 kills and 13 digs in the matchup while Adams added 10 kills. This season, Kelley Hartman leads South Alabama with 3.65 kills per set. Ashlyn Roberts paces the back line with 4.34 digs per set.
Tech boosted its record against Nicholls (6-2) to 6-1 by taking a 3-2 (25-14, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9) decision last weekend at the LA Tech Invitational. Davis and Adams led the Techsters with 15 and 14 kills, respectively, and
Marie-Helene Verlinden added 8 of the team's 11 blocks. Tech's block total against the Colonels was a season high and a key part of holding their opponents to a .109 hitting percentage at the LA Tech Invitational.
Fourteen years have gone by since the Techsters last played Bethune-Cookman (2-6) with the two teams' only meeting going 3-0 (30-15, 30-19, 30-20) to LA Tech. The Wildcats will be looking for a bounce-back weekend at South Alabama after being swept three times at the FAU Invitational. If Bethune-Cookman can get back on track it will likely be thanks to Jordan Jefferson, who leads the team with 2.50 kills per set. Faith Landreneaux leads the Wildcat defensive effort with 0.80 blocks per set.
Live stats and video for all three matches can be found on the LA Tech Volleyball schedule. Be sure to follow @LATechVB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for in-game updates and breaking news regarding the Lady Techsters.
