RUSTON- The Louisiana Tech volleyball team defeats FIU 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-22) for the first time since 2019 on Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center. 
 
LA Tech began the night with a rough start but was able to put it behind them and win three straight sets to claim a victory over FIU. The Lady Techsters came out strong in the first set. They held a lead over the Panthers until midway through. With LA Tech up 15-14, FIU produced an 8-0 scoring run made up of five LA Tech errors, two kills, and an ace. The seven-point lead late in the set made it difficult for the Lady Techsters to try to come back and fell 25-19. Chard'e Vanzandt began her journey to double-digit kills with three. 
 
The Lady Techsters started strong in the second set with an early 5-0 scoring run. The run consisted of two kills by Vanzandt, two Panther errors, and a service ace from Morgan Smith.
Despite their efforts, FIU wasn't able to ever gain the lead back in the set. Only up by three, Sydney Jackwin delivered the set point to finalize the set 25-21. Vanzandt added three more kills along with Andrea Spasojevic adding five to pair with her seven digs.
 
The momentum was high heading into the third set and The Lady Techsters came out ready to take a lead in the match. With an early 4-0 scoring run produced by a kill from Ashley Taylor, a kill from Jailen Hurley, and back-to-back aces from Jackwin, LA Tech took a five-point lead. The next five points went back and forth between the two teams until the Lady Techsters came back with another 4-0 scoring run. Vanzandt tallied two more kills along with one from Jackwin and an ace from Spasojevic. With a six-point advantage, LA Tech didn't want to give FIU the chance to make their way back into the set. Jackwin, Hurley, and Spasojevic came out swinging to add three kills to another 4-0 scoring run along with an FIU error. Spasojevic fourth kill of the set brought the set to an end at 25-14. 
 
The Lady Techsters led over FIU 19-9 in kills in the third set. Vanzandt collected five more kills as well as Spasojevic added four. 
 
The final set kept the Lady Techsters on their toes. FIU wasn't going to give up easily. The two teams went back and forth, only being able to collect a combined four 3-0 scoring runs. Tied at 11-11 midway through, a kill from Smith and two Panther errors, the Lady Techsters added their first 3-0 scoring run to give them the lead they held through the end. FIU fired back with their second 3-0 scoring run to shorten LA Tech's lead down to one. Four of the eight final Lady Techsters' points came from kills by Spasojevic, Smith, Jackwin, and Vanzandt. Taylor closed out the match with a huge block to bring the final score to 25-22. 
 
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Amber McCray
 
"I could say so much about so many people in this match. What a gritty, come-from-behind performance and a sign of such growth by our team. I have to start with Charde VanZandt who was unstoppable all night leading us with 15 kills and a blistering .452 hitting clip. Us getting double-digit kills from both outsides, especially in critical moments throughout the match, was another bright spot for us. Kudos to our setters, Ashley and Kalee, who I thought made some great choices with their distribution all night. Major shoutout to McKenzie Johnson who was incredible both defensively and with her serve-receive, along with the rest of our passing corp. who kept us in the system a large majority of the night. They gave our offense chance after chance to get going, and we don't get this win without them being stellar this evening. I'm also proud of our middles who worked hard to get timely kills and also did a great job creating holes for our pins to score throughout the whole match. Ashley Taylor was an instant spark for us coming in the second set, and we fed off her energy and blocks all night. This was the total team effort we talk about when describing what our team looks like when we're at our best. I can't wait to carry this momentum into another monumental game for our program this Saturday."
 
NOTABLES
• Andrea Spasojevic added her ninth double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs as well as two aces.
• Chard'e Vanzandt finished the night with 15 kills while swinging a .452 hitting percentage off of 31 attacks. 
• With six blocks from Ashley Taylor, the Lady Techsters out-blocked FIU 10-7.
• Sydney Jackwin added a new career high with three aces to pair along with 11 kills.
• Setters Kalee Cadwell and Ashley Jones both tallied double-digit assists with 23 and 20, respectively.  
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will finish their regular season at the Thomas Assembly Center to face off with UTSA at 1:00 PM for senior day. 
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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