RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team is set to open Conference USA play Sunday when it hosts the UAB Blazers inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
The Lady Techsters (9-4) will bring their best non-conference record in ten years into the C-USA campaign after taking two of three matches at the South Alabama Invitational last weekend.
In Mobile, Tech fell 3-0 to the hosting Jaguars before picking up 3-1 victories over Nicholls and Bethune-Cookman.
Madeline Davis and
Kaitlyn Adams earned spots on the South Alabama Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Lady Techsters in kills on the weekend.
The senior outside hitting duo of Davis and Adams has keyed much of Tech's early success and have been duly rewarded with all-tournament honors in three of the Lady Techsters' four non-conference tournaments. As the team enters conference play, Adams ranks 12
th in C-USA with 2.98 kills per set and 20
th in hitting percentage after posting a .289. Davis' 2.71 kills per set place her 19
th in the conference.
Senior libero
Morgan Currie also ranks among the best in Conference USA with 4.50 digs per set. That places her fourth in the conference and would be the fifth-best season average in LA Tech history. Currie is also on pace for 482 digs, which would the third-most by a Lady Techster in a single season.
Tech will need its senior trio to be on their game to take down a UAB (8-5) team that jumped out to a similarly solid start to the 2019 season. The Blazers come into C-USA play off a 2-1 weekend at the Hail State Invitational where they defeated Jackson State and North Florida before falling in five sets to the hosting Bulldogs.
UAB's early season wins have been keyed by its defense. The Blazers rank third in C-USA with a .171 opponent hitting percentage and are tied for fourth with 2.08 blocks per set. Anna D'Cruz leads the team at the net with 1.11 blocks per set, followed closely by Abby Carlile's 0.95.
The Blazers defeated the Lady Techsters when the two teams squared off in Birmingham last season. Tech took a 2-0 lead before UAB stormed back to win the match 3-2 (26-28, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 17-15). Adams finished the match with 13 kills and
Carter Mirich provided 10 more. Davis blocked four UAB attacks in the loss.
This season's match against the Blazers will be streamed on CUSA.tv ($) and live statistics will be available on LaTechSports.com.
Keep up with the Lady Techsters by following the team on Facebook (/LATechVB), Twitter (@LATechVB), and Instagram (@latechvb).
