Monroe, La. -- The Louisiana Tech volleyball team fell to the University of Louisiana Monroe in five sets Tuesday night in Monroe at the Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Scores of the match in favor of the Warhawks were 18-25, 25-27, 25-22, 26-24, 15-10.
 
Louisiana Monroe improved to 4-8 with the win, while the Lady Techsters fall to 4-7 overall.
 
After falling behind early in the opening frame the Lady Techsters use a 4-0, highlighted by a kill from sophomore Faith Menary and an ace serve from sophomore Morgan Smith, to take a 9-8 lead. The Lady Techsters would extend that lead out to 17-13 as senior Jordyn Carswell delivered her fourth kill of the set. A pair of kills by Menary and a kill by sophomore Carly Doros sparked a 4-0 run as the Lady Techsters pushed their advantage out to 22-16. Menary wrapped up the first set with her second ace to claim a 25-18 set win.
 
Louisiana Monroe jumped out to early 5-1 and 9-2 leads before LA Tech used a 13-1 run, featuring four kills from Menary, a pair of kills from sophomore Morgan Smith and a solo block from Carswell to give the Lady Techsters a 15-10 advantage. The Lady Techsters would use another 6-1 run to push the lead out to 21-12 before ULM used a 9-1 run of their own to cut Tech's lead down to one at 22-21. ULM took a 24-23, but a kill and a block from Smith closed the door as the Lady Techsters took set two 27-25.
 
With LA Tech holding an early 6-5 lead, ULM used a 3-0 to take an 8-6 lead. The Warhawks would extend their lead to 19-14 with another 6-1 run. The Lady Techsters battled their way back with a 3-0 surge to close within two at 21-19. Louisiana Monroe answered with a trio of kills to claim the third set 25-22.
 
With the score knotted at 9-9, LA Tech used kills by Menary and sophomore Mallory Meers to grab a 11-9 advantage. The Warhawks would sparked a 3-0 run to grab a 16-15, but that was short lived as the Lady Techsters used a kill and a block by Doros and a kill from Menary to take a 20-17 lead. ULM would even the score at 23-23 before back-to-back points pushed the Warhawks to a 26-24 set win.
 
Louisiana Monroe surged out to a quick 7-1 lead before Freshman McKenzie Johnson served up a 5-0 to cut the deficit to 7-6. The Warhawks responded with a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 14-9 advantage, before finishing off the night with a kill.
 
 
NOTABLES

• LA Tech fell to 24-10 all-time against ULM.
• McKenzie Johnson collected a career-high 33 digs.
• Johnson has collected 11 or more digs all but one match this season.
• Faith Menary served up a new career-high four aces.
• Menary led the Lady Techsters with 14 kills.
• Morgan Smith had a season-high four solo blocks.
• LA Tech collected 13 total blocks.
• Mallory Meers dished out 34 assists and collected 12 digs.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Amber McCray
"We did not do what we needed to do or be who we needed to be to win tonight. We had opportunity after opportunity to close ULM out, even after not playing our best in the sets we won. Instead, we let them find a groove in a lineup that works for them, and they got confident in two players who we knew were getting the ball. Their outsides were outstanding tonight and put their team on their back, but we simply did not respond. We will learn from this, grow and bounce back quickly to get back to who we need to be, to be successful moving forward."

UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to action on Thursday, September 16 when it hosts the LA Tech Invitational. Southern meets Little Rock at noon, before the Lady Techsters take on Southern at 6:30 p.m.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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