Fort Worth, Texas -- The Louisiana Tech volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match to North Florida on Friday afternoon in the Fight For The Fort Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. Scores of the match in favor of the Osprey were 26-28, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19.
 
LA Tech falls to 4-5 on the year, while North Florida improves to 8-1 overall.
 
A back-and-forth first set saw the Lady Techsters fall behind 5-1 early. LA Tech used a 4-0 run behind a solo block and kill by sophomore Faith Menary and an ace serve from classmate Morgan Smith to take a 9-8 lead. The Lady Techsters would extend their lead to four at 16-12 on a kill by Smith and an ace by Meghan Dunnigan. North Florida used a 3-0 run of their own to even things up at 18-18. Both teams traded points until sophomore Marley Maurer powered home a kill to give the Lady Techsters a 28-26 set win.
 
With the score knotted at 11-11, North Florida scored seven of the next eight points to claim a 18-12 advantage. A pair of aces from Smith and a kill by Menary closed the deficit to 20-18 but another 4-0 by the Osprey closed the door and gave North Florida a 25-20 second set win.
 
In the third set, the Lady Techsters surged out to an early 7-4 lead on a pair of kills from Menary, a kill from sophomore Carly Doros and a double-block by senior Jordyn Carswell and Smith. North Florida would claw their way back with a 5-0 run to take a 11-10 lead. With the score even at 19-19, North Florida scored four out of the next five points to take a 23-20 lead before a pair of kills from Carswell cut the Osprey lead to one at 23-22. A pair of kills by the Ospreys Bre Walp finished out the set, giving North Florida a 25-22 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
LA Tech held a 6-7 lead early in set four, before North Florida used a 8-1 run to jump out in from 14-8. The Lady Techsters would use a 5-1 run of their own, behind a pair of kills from Smith and an ace from sophomore Meghan Dunnigan to cut the deficit to 16-14, but a quick 5-1 run by the Osprey pushed their advantage out to 21-15. North Florida would collect a pair of kills and a block to finish off the set with a 25-19 set and 3-1 match win.
 
 
NOTABLES

• Menary led Tech with 16 kills.
• Carswell recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 12 digs.
• Doros set a new career-high with 12 kills, while hitting .462.
• Mallory Meers dished out a new career-high 43 assists.
• McKenzie Johnson led the Lady Techsters with 17 digs.
• Johnson has recorded 11 or more digs in all but one game this season.
• LA Tech recorded five aces as a team.

 
UP NEXT
LA Tech will be back in action at 3:00 p.m. when the take on Houston Baptist to close out the weekend.

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