RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech volleyball starts the back half of Conference USA play when they travel to take on UTEP at Memorial Gym.
MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time:Â Friday-Saturday, Oct. 20-21 | 7:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. CT
Location:Â Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
Stream:Â ESPN+
Stats:Â LATechSports.com/Stats
Series:Â UTEP leads 17-7
Last Meeting:Â L, 3-1 | Ruston, La. (10/14/22)
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
"It's a new week and a new opportunity going into another matchup with another talented team that has several big wins this year. Coach Wallis has done a phenomenal job in his time there turning UTEP into a top mid-major program and creating a game atmosphere that is extremely tough for opponents to play in historic Memorial Gym. However, I'm excited to see how our team responds after we have strung together a week of really strong practices where everyone has been dialed in to the areas we need to improve and the ways we need to execute this weekend."
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (6-14, 1-7)
LA Tech dropped both games of the weekend series against Middle Tennessee.
Sydney Jackwin leads the Bulldogs with 145 kills on the season. Carla Esquer is second with 119. Lauren Albrecht surpassed the 300 assists mark on the season against MTSU. Albrecht has a team-high 315 assists on the year and is just 14 shy of 1,000 for her career. Grace Krohn continues to have a tremendous freshmen campaign with 261 assists.
On the defensive side of the net, junior libero McKenzie Johnson has 320 digs on the season, 4.57 digs per set, which ranks 51st nationally and third in CUSA. Sydney Jackwin (150), Albrecht (131), and Krohn (106) are over the 100-dig plateau.
Ashley Taylor leads the Bulldogs at the net with 74 blocks on the season. Luisa Araujo is second on the team with 39, and Jailen Hurley is right behind at 38.
LA Tech has been one of the top teams in the country in several categories. The Bulldogs rank in the top 100 in four categories: 55th in digs per set at 15.59, 56th in attacks per set with 35.91, 66th in aces per set at 1.74, and 76th in total aces at 122.
The Bulldogs are in the top 3 in CUSA in four categories: digs per set (1st), attacks per set (2nd), total digs (2nd, 1,091), and total attacks (3rd, 2,514).
ABOUT UTEP (15-6, 7-3)
UTEP has won four straight matches and seven of the last eight in Conference USA play.
The Miners have six players with over 100 kills. Torrance Lovesee leads the way with 181 on the season, followed by Alianza Darley with 167. Kaila Kohler, Hande Yetis, and Mattie Gantt rotate time at the setter position. Kohler has 360 assists and 5.63 per set on the season. Yetis has 283, 4.56 per set, and Gantt has a 5.10 average with a total of 204 assists.
Alyssa Sianez and Lovesee are the only Miner players with over 100 digs on the season. Sianez has a team-high 269, while Lovesee has 150. UTEP has four players with over 60 blocks on the season, led by Kaya Weaver with 97.
UTEP is ranked in the top 30 nationally in five categories. The Miners' 214 total blocks are second in the nation. They are also ranked in total aces (10th, 153), hitting percentage (19th, 0.274), blocks per set (20th, 2.64), and aces per set (26th, 1.89)
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs are a 7-17 all-time against UTEP. The Miners have won the previous eight meetings between the schools, with Tech's last win in the series coming on Oct. 27, 2017, in El Paso, Texas.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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