Louisiana Tech University
Liberty
Preview: LA Tech at Liberty
11/1/2023 4:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RUSTON – Louisiana Tech hits the road for the final time this season as they take on Liberty in a crucial Conference USA matchup in Lynchburg, Va. on Nov. 2-3. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday-Friday, Nov. 2-3 | 5:00 p.m. CT, noon. CT
Location: Liberty Arena (Lynchburg, Va.)
Stream: ESPN+
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Series: LA Tech leads 1-0
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 | Austin, Texas (9/10/04)
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
"It's a new week and a new opportunity, this time against an unfamiliar team in a new location. Liberty had a few big wins earlier this year and they've been competing well in their first year of CUSA play. They may not be as balanced in their set distributions as the last three teams we have played, by they have two outsides who are carrying the bulk of their offensive load while still performing towards the top of the league. We are going to need to defend their left pin attack well to try to contain their mains, while also needing more diversity in our own offense to help us kill more balls at a much higher rate. We have two very important weekends coming up that can still define our season despite any struggles we've had to this point, and I'm excited to see how our team responds."
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (6-18, 1-11)
Louisiana Tech comes into the weekend just percentage points ahead of Sam Houston in the CUSA standings. The Bulldogs are looking to pick up at least one win in the final two weeks of the regular season to avoid a tiebreaker scenario and qualify for the conference tournament for the first time in program history.
McKenzie Johnson continues to solidify herself as one of the best defensive players in Bulldog history. Johnson sits at 1,216 career digs, just 117 outside the top 5. Johnson is currently ranked 18th among juniors in Division 1 in career digs.
Lauren Albrecht and Grace Krohn have combined to dish out 660 assists on the season. Albrecht recently surpassed 1,000 for her career, while Krohn became the first true freshman with over 300 assists since 2018.
LA Tech has four different players with over 100 kills on the season. Sydney Jackwin and Carla Esquer led the way with 166 and 134, respectively.
At the net, Ashley Taylor and Jailen Hurley have combined for 120 blocks on the season. Taylor ranks fifth in CUSA with .99 blocks per set.
ABOUT LIBERTY (13-11, 6-6)
Liberty comes into the contest after sweeping the series at Sam Houston by identical 3-1 scores.
The Flames have a trio of attackers with over 200 kills on the season, led by Kamryn Bacus with 274. Delaney Dilfer sets the offense up with 851 assists on the season.
Defensively, Liberty has four players with over 150 digs on the season. Kate Phillips leads the way with 195, and Dilfer is right behind at 192. Madison Blane has 116 blocks to lead the Flames at the net.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs won the only meeting of the series by a 3-0 decision on Sept. 10, 2004, in Austin, Texas as part of the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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