FRESNO, Calif. – The Louisiana Tech Volleyball team fell 3-0 to San Francisco and 3-1 to host Fresno State on Friday in day one action at the FSU Invitational inside the Save Mart Center.
 
LA Tech (2-4) showed plenty of fight in both matches despite the losses.  The Lady Techsters found themselves down 18-13 in the opening set against undefeated USF (5-0), but chipped away with a pair of 3-0 scoring runs, including a stretch of three kills, to gain a set point at 24-23.
 
The Dons fought it off, and fought off the seven kills by Sydney Jackwin, ultimately getting a block solo on set point to take it 27-25. 
 
A similar scenario played out in set two as the Lady Techsters were behind 19-14 before winning nine of the next 11 points to go on top, 23-11.  The Dons ended up holding off two set points this time, finishing with a 3-0 run on the tail end to squeak by at 28-26. 
 
LA Tech built its largest set lead of the match in set three, going up 14-9.  However, this time it was USF who charged back from behind.  They pulled away down the stretch to win the match 3-0 (27-25, 28-26, 25-20).  The Lady Techsters were outhit .128 to .257 with Andrea Spasojevic tallying a team-high nine kills.
 
In late night action against Fresno State, the visitors found themselves in yet another tight set as both squads produced hitting percentages around .400.  After Jackwin delivered a kill to force the ninth tie in the set at 23-23, the Bulldogs recorded back-to-back points to claim the 1-0 advantage.
 
Set two was neck and neck as well, until LA Tech got some breathing room with a 4-0 scoring run, capped by a service ace by Meghan Dunnigan, to go up 15-11.  The lead ballooned to eight at 23-15 before the Lady Techsters evened things up at one-set apiece.
 
However, huge scoring runs were the different in sets three and four.  The Bulldogs generated an 8-0 run in both sets, forcing deficits that LA Tech was unable to recover from as the home team took the 3-1 victory (25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 25-14). 
 
Jackwin led the way with a team-high 13 kills to go along with 13 digs for her second double-double of the season. 
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"We are so close.  If you look at the set scores from today, we are a play or two away from going up 2-0 in both of these matches against two good teams.  Our biggest issue today was not finding our rhythm offensively and getting the kills we needed to win games.  Good news is it's still early in the season and I know those connections will come with time as we continue to try different lineups to find the best combination to succeed."
 
NOTABLES

• The last time LA Tech played back-to-back sets in a match that required more than 25 points to win was Aug. 31, 2019 against Sam Houston State.
• LA Tech registered a season-high 10 blocks against Fresno State.
• Sydney Jackwin recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs versus Fresno State.
• McKenzie Johnson tacked on three service aces between the two games to bring her team-leading total to 12 this season.
• Ashley Taylor continued her streak of games with multiple blocks.The middle blocker posted two against the Dons and four versus the Bulldogs to bring her season total to 20.
• Carla Esquer made her first career start as a Lady Techster in the match against Fresno, registering 11 digs.

UP NEXT
LA Tech closes out the tournament on Saturday against Seattle U.  First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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