RUSTON, La. -- Despite career night by several Lady Techsters, the Louisiana Tech volleyball team fell to North Texas 3-1 Friday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
LA Tech drops to 6-11 on the year and 0-3 in C-USA play, while North Texas improves to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play with the win. Scores of the match in favor of the Mean Green were, 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19.
 
North Texas was all over the Lady Techsters to open the first set. The Mean Green surged out to early leads of 6-1, 11-4 and 17-7, before a 4-0 run featuring a pair of ace serves by freshman McKenzie Johnson and a kill from sophomore Faith Menary cut the deficit to 17-11. Following a 3-0 burst by the Mean Green, Tech rattled off four straight points on back-to-back stuff blocks by sophomore Morgan Smith and freshman Jaena Bell to cut North Texas' advantage to 20-15. A kill by sophomore Carly Doros made the score 23-18, but a pair of kills by the Mean Green gave them the set 25-18.
 
Set two was similar to the first as North Texas jumped out to an early 8-4 lead. The Lady Techsters used kills by Menary and sophomore Mallory Meers as well as a double block by Bell and Smith to cut the deficit to 9-8. The Mean Green would take control of the set, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to take a 19-12 lead, before taking the set 25-16 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
With North Texas holding a 6-5 lead, LA Tech used a pair of kills from Meers and Menary to grab a 12-7 lead. A kill by Smith and a pair of attach errors by the Mean Green extended the Lady Techsters lead out to 18-13. North Texas closed to within one at 22-21, but kills by Bell, Meers and Doros closed the door giving the Lady Techsters a 25-23 set win.
 
North Texas responded with a 12-2 run to open the fourth frame. Bell's sixth kill of the night sparked a 6-0 run by the Lady Techsters, closing the gap to four at 14-10. North Texas pushed their advantage out to 20-15 before back-to-back kills by Menary and Bell cut the deficit to 20-17. A 4-1 run by North Texas ended things as the Mean Green claimed the victory with a 25-19 set win.
 
NOTABLES

• Bell recorded a season-high 10 kills to lead the Lady Techsters offense.
• Menary also collected 10 kills and set a new career-high with 15 digs.
• Meers collected her seventh double-double of the season with 23 assist and a career-high 14 digs.
• McKenzie Johnson recorded her eighth game of 20+ digs with 23 digs today.
• Johnson has collected 11 or more digs in 16 of LA Tech's 17 games this season.
• Samantha Hicks collected a season-high 11 digs for LA Tech.
• Johnson served up four ace serves, the fourth straight game with two or more.
   

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Amber McCray
"Tonight was frustrating because I feel like we had a lot of chances. It was a tale of two game, the first two sets look totally different from how we competed in sets three and four. I thought we responded well when we made a lineup change, bring in people that provided a little spark. Bottom line, We have to find a way to come out ready to go from the jump. Moving forward from this the exciting things is that we know that we have another shot to play them again tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters matches up against North Texas again tomorrow afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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