HAMMOND, La. - The Louisiana Tech volleyball team fell 3-0 in the final match of the Battle for the Boot Tournament against Southeastern on Saturday.
 
LA Tech (6-8) did not let Southeastern (11-2) take their final set easily in the Battle for the Boot tournament. The Lady Techsters managed a .216 hitting percentage while SLU generated a .246 hitting percentage to win it 27-25, 25-14, 29-27.
 
Southeastern never led by more than three in the first set, giving them a hard time to close it out. Just when SLU took a jump in points, the Lady Techsters were able to tie it back up with a kill from Sydney Jackwin, followed by two back-to-back blocks from Morgan Smith and Chard'e Vanzandt. Jackwin began her journey to double-digit kills for the second match in a row with 11 in the first set. 
 
The second set was controlled by the Lions from the start, producing as much as a seven-point lead with 13 kills on 34 attacks to bring their lead on the set to 2-0. 
 
In the third and final set, the Lady Techsters took an early lead they were not able to hold onto to keep the match going. LA Tech led 10-5 midway through the first set, produced by a kill from Ashley Taylor and three errors from the Lions. SLU was able to come right back with a 6-0 scoring run to put them up by one. The rest of the set went neck and neck, but the Lady Techsters were not able to hold them off before Southeastern punched out two back-to-back kills to finish the match. 
 
QUOTABLES 
Head Coach Amber McCray
 
"Southeastern is a well-coached team with pin hitters who play with a ton of confidence. We needed to contain their OHs to give ourselves the best shot in this match and unfortunately, we let them get going early. This team continues to show we can compete with anyone, even when several of our key players are out with injuries or struggling. We just need to settle into more consistency and the ability to make 2 more plays. The outcome of these sets is literally coming down to the most minute details we simply aren't executing in the moment. Good news is we have a week of practice to get healthy and quality reps before we open conference 0-0 like everyone else."
 
NOTABLES 
•          Sydney Jackwin produces 11 kills along with nine digs
•          The Lady Techsters led Southeastern 13-6 in blocks and 41-38 in digs.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 23 at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Thomas Assembly Center to open Conference USA play against Charlotte.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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