RUSTON, La. – Setter Abigail Hildenbrand tallied her second straight double-double in LA Tech's final match of the 2020-21 season as the Lady Techsters fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-17) to the UTEP Miners on Monday afternoon.
 
UTEP (7-6, 6-4 C-USA) and LA Tech traded scoring runs in a back-and-forth first set. The Miners used a four-point run to take a 10-6 lead early in the first set, but the Lady Techsters used a four-point spurt of their own to trim UTEP's lead to three at 16-13. A combined block from freshman Morgan Smith and redshirt sophomore Elizabeth Sandoval cut UTEP's lead to two at 18-16, but the Miners used short runs of two points and three points to pull away in the first set.
 
After the Miners jumped ahead 14-9 midway through the second set, the Lady Techsters scored seven of the next nine points to knot the match at 16-16. LA Tech first sliced UTEP's lead to two with three straight Lady Techster points. A Miner service error put LA Tech back on serve before an attack error and then a kill from sophomore Laura Ehieze trimmed the deficit to 14-12. The Lady Techsters tied the set at 16-16 when Sandoval punched a kill through the middle of UTEP's defense.
 
The Miners and Lady Techsters traded points until the set reached 22-21 UTEP, which is when the visitors scored three of the final four points to take the set.
 
UTEP carried its momentum into the third and final stanza, scoring six of the set's first seven points. LA Tech, however, responded with its best scoring run of the day, reeling off seven straight points to take an 8-6 lead. A pair of service aces from junior Natalie Honore and a kill from senior Elena Takova helped power the 7-0 run. UTEP responded with a pair of strong runs of its own to take the final set 25-17.
 
Hildenbrand ended her LA Tech career with five straight matches with 18 assists or more, logging double-doubles in her last two career matches as a Lady Techster. Takova registered seven kills or more in four of her final five matches in a LA Tech uniform.
 
"We felt like we competed a lot harder than yesterday, and that was good to see," head coach Amber McCray said. "We put ourselves in position in the first two sets where we had chances, and we just didn't capitalize.
 
"I was proud of our defense overall. We stepped up and made some big-time blocks and digs against a really good offensive team, but it wasn't enough to make up the difference."

Three UTEP hitters tallied 11 kills apiece to power the Miners' offense. LA Tech held UTEP's offense to a .163 hitting percentage in the second set.
 
Smith led all players with two solo blocks and five blocks assists in Monday's match. The freshman finishes her first year in Ruston with an impressive, team-high 44 total blocks.
 
"We're thankful for our seniors for everything they gave to this program and their time here," McCray said. "The good thing about this team is that we have a lot of younger players who got a ton of experience this year."
 
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