RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech women's volleyball lost, 3-0 (17-25, 12-25, 17-25), to UTSA inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Sunday.
 
"UTSA served very aggressively, but we have to find a way to terminate offensively on the balls we have," head coach Amber McCray said. "We did not compete today, but one great thing about this conference format is that tomorrow we have another chance to change that."
 
After trailing 11-3 in the first set, Tech was able to trim the lead to six, 16-10, following back-to-back kills by senior right-side hitter Elena Takova and freshman outside hitter Samantha Hicks. UTSA extended its lead to 24-15, but a pair of errors by the Roadrunners trimmed their edge back to six at 24-17. UTSA won the set, 25-17.
 
The second set started off competitive as the teams went back-and-forth until UTSA took a one-point lead at 8-7. The Roadrunners then went on a 11-1 run to hold a 19-8 edge. A kill from freshman outside hitter Mackenzie Murray and a Roadrunner error trimmed the lead back to single-digits, 19-10, but UTSA would win the second set, 25-12.
 
LA Tech jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the third set after a Takova kill, blocks by Takova and freshman middle blocker Morgan Smith, and a pair of Roadrunner attacking errors. The set stayed tight as the teams were tied up at 9-9 until a 5-0 UTSA run gave the Roadrunners the 14-9 advantage. UTSA kept the Lady Techsters at least four points away for the remainder of the set, winning the third, 25-17, to secure the 3-0 match victory.
 
Tech was led by Takova and Hicks with four kills each, redshirt freshman setter Mallory Meers and junior setter Abigail Hildenbrand who both had eight assists, Hildenbrand and Hicks with six digs each, and Takova with four blocks. Freshman defensive specialist Meghan Dunnigan registered the lone service ace for the Lady Techsters.
 
Overall, Louisiana Tech hit -.037 (18-21-80) on the match, while UTSA hit .311 (46-13-106).
 
Louisiana Tech and UTSA will face off again inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Monday at noon (CT).
 
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