RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech senior right-side hitter Elena Takova tallied a team-high 13 kills in a 3-1 (20-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-19) defeat to UTSA at the Thomas Assembly Center on Monday afternoon.
 
Takova opened the match on fire for the Lady Techsters, tallying four kills and an .800 hitting percentage to lead LA Tech to a 25-20 victory in the first set. After falling behind 20-19 on a combined block from UTSA's Kirby Smith and Alison Jennings, Tech scored six straight points to earn the set triumph.
 
Freshman Faith Menary tallied the first point of the run with a kill, knotting the set at 20-20. A kill apiece from Takova and Menary along with a combined block from sophomore Laura Ehieze and Takova helped finish off the 6-0 run to clinch the first set.
 
The Roadrunners (5-9) responded to the strong first set from the Lady Techsters with three straight set victories to secure the match win. UTSA's Jessica Langridge amassed a team-high 13 kills and a .611 hitting percentage to power the Roadrunners' offense.
 
"We're extremely proud of the way our team battled today," head coach Amber McCray said. "Elena Takova had a huge performance, anchoring our offense for much of the match, and we will go to work in practice to find ways to get her some more help offensively.
 
"I thought Natalie Honore also did a great job stepping up in the libero position, making some plays that showed flat-out heart. This is definitely a match we can build on moving forward."
 
After UTSA won the second set to tie the match at 1-1, LA Tech opened the third set with four of the first six points, taking a 4-2 lead on a kill from freshman Morgan Smith. The Roadrunners and Lady Techsters battled back and forth until the set became knotted at 15-15, which is when UTSA regained the lead for good behind a LA Tech service error and service ace from Courtney Walters. UTSA tallied the final four points of the set to secure the set victory.
 
The Roadrunners never trailed in the final set, jumping ahead 4-0 early and holding on to the stanza win to clinch the match. Despite trailing 20-14 late in the final set, LA Tech reeled off four of the next five points to trim its deficit to 21-18. Setter Abigail Hildenbrand dished out three of her team-high 32 assists during the run before the Roadrunners closed out the match on a 4-1 run of their own.
 
Takova (13) and Menary (12) combined to tally 25 kills in Monday's match. Natalie Honore filled in at libero and recorded a team-high 20 digs. Freshman Samantha Hicks registered 17 digs of her own to go along with five kills in Monday's match.
 
The Lady Techsters will continue their conference slate with a pair of matches at North Texas. Sunday and Monday's matches in Denton, Texas, will both begin at 1 p.m.