KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team dropped its first two matches of the 2019 season Friday evening, falling 3-1 to both Kansas City and Tulsa.
 
Kaitlyn Adams led the Lady Techsters with 19 kills and a .268 hitting percentage between the two matches. Freshman Laura Ehieze provided another bright spot with seven kills and 8 block assists.
 
"Today was tough because we felt in both of the losses we had chances and were in it, but then we would let one run by our opponent be the determining factor in the set," said LA Tech head coach Amber McCray.
 
"There were some positives to be excited about, including the play of Laura Ehieze, and we will continue to expand on those. At the end of the day, we have a team that is growing and learning how to win," McCray continued. "Our main priority now is to bounce back and make the changes needed to compete against a well-rounded South Dakota team tomorrow morning."
 
Match 1: Kansas City 3, LA Tech 1 (27-29, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22)
 
The Lady Techsters battled with Kansas City early on, but the Roos pulled away to earn the victory.
 
Kansas City overcame a strong defensive performance from the Lady Techsters, who totaled up nine blocks. Ehieze played a role in a team-high five and Marie Helene Verlinden added four more.
 
Defense at the net was one of the keys to Tech's hard-fought win in the first set. The Lady Techsters finished the set with three blocks, including two in the first three points that helped them build momentum early on.
 
The frame was tight throughout, with three points being the largest lead held by either team. Jordyn Carswell and Madeline Davis provided key kills down the stretch to help the Lady Techsters pull out a 29-27 victory.
 
The second set opened with the same intensity as the first. Neither team led by more than three in the early going, but the Roos pulled away late to win the frame. With the set tied at 16, Kansas City won 9 of the next 10 points to secure a 25-17 victory.
 
The Roos turned their second set momentum into a third set lead that was too much for the Lady Techsters to overcome. Kansas City built 7-2 and 16-9 leads en route to a 25-18 victory.
 
Tech batted in the fourth set, overcoming a 21-16 deficit to take a 22-21 lead. Morgan Currie kept the Roos off balance throughout the comeback, and Ehieze and Verlinden combined for back-to-back blocks in the six-point run. Kansas City responded to the run with one of their own, however, and closed out the match with a 25-22 victory.
 
Match 2: Tulsa 3, LA Tech 1 (27-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20)
 
Just like they did in the first match of the day, the Lady Techsters battled against Tulsa but runs in the third and fourth sets gave the Golden Hurricane the win.  
 
Davis and Verlinden kept the Techsters in the first set, totaling up seven kills between them. Though Tech acquitted itself well in the set, never trailing by more than two points, it fell 27-25 after an attack error from Carswell.
 
After dropping the first frame, Tech bounced back in the second set to notch a 25-17 win. Six different Lady Techsters picked up a kill in the set, including libero Morgan Currie. They also did not make an error en route to hitting .429.
 
The two teams essentially traded stat lines between the second and third sets. Tulsa hit .257 with 14 kills while the Lady Techsters struggled with 8 attacking errors in the frame. The Golden Hurricane coasted to a 25-18 win.
 
Tech improved its play in the following frame, hitting .191, but it wasn't quite enough to force a fifth set. The Golden Hurricane made a seven-point run early in the set and maintained the lead for the rest of the way to earn a 25-20 victory.
 
Up Next: The Lady Techsters close out their time at the KC Roos Klassic on Saturday by taking on South Dakota at 11 a.m. (CT).
 
Be sure to follow @LATechVB on all social media platforms for in-match updates and breaking news on 2019 LA Tech volleyball team.