NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Louisiana Tech dropped its first regular season match of 2021 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-16) to Tarleton State in the opening match of the SFA Invitational held at Shelton Gym.
 
Despite leading 21-19 late in the second set, LA Tech could not nail down the final four points to secure the set victory. After a block from Morgan Smith and Mackenzie Murray cut Tarleton's lead to 24-23 on the Texans' first set point, Tarleton's Carmen Kinsey responded with a kill to clinch the set. In total, the second set saw 12 tied scores and four lead changes between the two sides.
 
Kills from Elena Takova, Emily Boylan and Elizabeth Sandoval helped the Lady Techsters jump out to an early 7-3 lead in the second set. Takova paced Tech with three kills in the set and tied with Sandoval for a team-best six for the match.

"Tarleton came out fiery from the start, and unfortunately we did not match that," head coach Amber McCray said. "We had chances, particularly in the second set, to extend the match and make it a whole different ballgame, but we played tight and high error when it mattered most."
 
LA Tech won the first point of the match with a kill from freshman Marley Maurer, who made the first start of her career in Friday's contest. After falling behind 16-9 in the first set, the Lady Techsters rallied to cut their deficit to just three points at 21-18. A pair of kills from Tarleton's Amber Strange helped close out the first set for the Texans 25-21.
 
Tarleton's hitters caught fire in the final set, hitting .361 with 15 kills. The score was tied at 4-4 early in the final stanza before the Texans reeled off 10 of the next 13 points. Natalie Honore and Abigail Hildenbrand led the Techsters with four digs apiece in the final set.
 
Alyssa Zucco paced the Lady Techsters with nine digs. The senior's streak of seven straight matches with double-digit dig totals was snapped in Friday's loss.
 
Boylan and Takova each recorded two total blocks – one solo and one assist – to lead LA Tech in the category.

"We are still searching for consistency, but it's early and we will keep working to find the best combination of attackers to put us in position to win matches," McCray said.
 
LA Tech closes out its weekend road trip with a match at SFA on Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
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