SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Louisiana Tech volleyball team lost a 3-1 decision against UTSA on Saturday afternoon in Conference USA action inside the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas.
 
UTSA improves to 5-9 overall and 2-0 in C-USA play, while LA Tech drops to 6-10 on the year and 0-2 in C-USA. Scores of the match in favor of the Roadrunners were, 25-15, 25-15, 22-25, 25-13.
 
UTSA controlled the opening frame jumping out to an early 5-1 advantage. The Lady Techsters would cut the lead down to 8-6 on a kill by sophomore Faith Menary. Back-to-back kills by Menary and sophomore Marley Maurer brought the Lady Techsters within one at 12-11, but a 10-1 to run by the Roadrunners pushed their lead out to 22-12. Following an ace serve from freshman McKenzie Johnson, back-to-back points gave UTSA a 25-15 set win.
 
The Lady Techsters held an early 3-2 lead, following a stuff block by sophomores Mackenzie Murray and Carly Doros. UTSA responded with an 8-0 run on four Lady Techsters attack errors to claim a 11-3 advantage. LA Tech used a 4-0 run of their own on a kill from Murray, an ace from Samantha Hicks and a solo block from Laura De Pra to cut the deficit down to 11-7. A second service ace by Johnson and a solo block by Morgan Smith cut the Roadrunners advantage down to two at 13-11, before UTSA scored six straight points to hold a 22-13 advantage. De Pra and Murray would collect a pair of kills, before UTSA took the set 25-15 with the final three points of the frame.
 
In set three, the Lady Techsters surged out to a 6-2 lead, before the Roadrunners put together a 5-1 run to knot the score at 7-7. A kill by Smith highlighted a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. UTSA took a 12-7 advantage with a 5-0 run of their own, before a 9-1 surge, featuring six kills and two blocks from four different Lady Techsters, gave LA Tech a 21-15 lead. UTSA would cut the lead down to two at 23-21, but kills from Jaena Bell and Smith gave the Lady Techsters a 25-22 set win.
 
After LA Tech held a 9-8 lead in set four, an 8-0 burst by UTSA pushed the momentum the other way, giving the Roadrunners a 16-9 lead. The Lady Techsters would get kills from Johnson and Doros before UTSA claimed the match with a 25-13 set win.
 
NOTABLES

• Mackenzie Murray led the Lady Techsters offense with seven kills.
• McKenzie Johnson recorded her seventh game of 20+ digs with 22 digs today.
• Johnson has collected 11 or more digs in 15 of LA Tech's 16 games this season.
• Morgan Smith recorded four total blocks for the Lady Techsters.
• Johnson served up three more ace serves this afternoon.
• The Lady Techsters out-blocked UTSA 12-7.

QUOTABLE
Assistant Coach Jane Hays
"Team blocking was really a highlight today, with Carly Doros and Morgan Smith combining for seven of our 12 total blocks. Jaena Bell also came up big for us at the net with four block assists. We fed off of her performance especially in the third set. I'm also extremely proud of Laura De Pra for steeping into the full-time setting role this weekend and making some solid choices running the floor. Today was a growing experience for us as a young team. I think every time we step out on the court we show improvement and just need to keep putting in the work to make our offense more consistent when it comes to scoring in crucial moments."

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will return home to host a pair of Conference USA matches against North Texas inside the Thomas Assembly Center next Friday night. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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