RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women's volleyball team lost, 3-0 (20-25, 18-25, 18-25), to Southern Miss on Monday.

"We have to find a way to generate more kills," head coach Amber McCray said. "Our offense is the biggest discrepancy right now between us and other teams and that starts from our first contact to our setting accuracy to our hitters making better choices. When we can generate more offense, we are confident we can put ourselves in a better position to compete.

"There is still so much season left, and every day we are going to get back in the gym and keep searching for ways to win."

Southern Miss took an early 6-3 lead in the first set, but a USM attacking error and blocks from freshman outside hitter Samantha Hicks and freshman middle blocker Morgan Smith tied the score at 6-6. The Golden Eagles took a five-point edge, 12-7, but Tech responded with three straight points to cut the lead to two, 12-10. The teams continued to go back-and-forth until Southern Miss held the 22-18 advantage. A kill from freshman outside hitter Faith Menary and a block from senior right-side hitter Elena Takova trimmed the lead back to two, 22-20, but Southern Miss would close out the set for the 25-20 victory.  

Louisiana Tech led 10-8 in the second set following a block from sophomore middle blocker Laura Ehieze and a service ace by Smith. Southern Miss then used a 13-2 run to take the 21-12 lead. Back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Carter Mirich and Menary trimmed USM's lead to 24-18, but a Southern Miss kill would earn the Golden Eagles the 25-18 second set win.

LA Tech trailed, 4-1, in the third set but came back to tie it at 7-7 following a kill from freshman outside hitter Marley Maurer and a block by Menary and Smith. That was as close as it would get as Southern Miss went on to take a 16-11 edge. A 4-0 Lady Techster run would trim the lead to one, 16-15, but Southern Miss extended its advantage back to four, 20-16. After a kill by senior libero Alyssa Zucco brought the score to 21-18, the Golden Eagles finished the set with four answered points to win, 25-18, and secure the 3-0 victory. 

LA Tech was led by Mirich with five kills, redshirt freshman setter Mallory Meers and junior setter Abigail Hildenbrand with 12 assists each, Zucco with 10 digs and Ehieze with a match-high five blocks.

Southern Miss was led by junior outside hitter Lauren Talbert with 16 kills, senior setter Piper Matsumoto with 40 assists, senior libero Madison Lawler with 12 digs and junior right-side hitter Nyanuer Bidit with three blocks.

Overall, Louisiana Tech hit .116 (26-15-95) on the match, while Southern Miss hit .263 (51-20-118). LA Tech registered 9.0 team blocks compared to USM's 5.0

Louisiana Tech will next face UAB on Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham, Ala.

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