RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team is set to host Little Rock, Grambling State, and Lamar for the LA Tech Invitational starting on Thursday, Sept. 7, at the Thomas Assembly Center.
MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH 1
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 7 | 6 p.m.
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Series: Little Rock leads 10-19
MATCH 2
Date/Time: Friday, Sept. 8 | 6 p.m.
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Series: LA Tech leads 33-1
MATCH 3
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 9 | 11 a.m.
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Series: LA Tech leads 8-21
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
"We are so excited to open our home slate this weekend with not just one, but three matches to compete in front of our own crowd. Our team has had a solid week of practice continuing to gel and learn how to play together. We look forward to more opportunities to grow and display all the hard work we have put in over this past month."
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (2-4)
LA Tech finished the second weekend going 1-2 at the UTA Classic in Arlington, Texas. The Bulldogs opened with a 3-2 win over Presbyterian before losing to the University of the Incarnate Word and UT Arlington 3-0.
Libero McKenzie Johnson has 92 digs on the season, giving her 955 for her career. She is looking to become the fastest Bulldog to reach 1,000 for a career in the past 20 seasons.
Lauren Albrecht earned All-Tournament honors over the weekend. The junior setter finished with 62 assists, 25 digs, and 12 kills. Albrecht recorded a double-double to open and close the weekend, recording 25 assists and 10 digs vs. Presbyterian and 12 assists and 10 digs against UT Arlington.
The Bulldogs are in the top three in CUSA in seven categories: aces per set (2nd, 1.96), digs per set (1st, 15.43), opponent hitting percentage (2nd, 0.183), attacks per set (3rd, 34.39), total digs (2nd, 355), total aces (1st, 45) and total attacks (2nd, 791).
ABOUT LITTLE ROCK (0-5)
Little Rock is led by preseason All-OVC selection Daedrianna Cail, with 47 kills and 15 blocks. Freshman Bella Cherry is second with 38 kills and a team-leading 11 aces.
Rylee McClintock has 48 digs to lead the Trojans defensively. Cherry follows with 42, and Kaylee Smith has 38.
Little Rock, who finished last season ninth in the conference, was picked to finish in the same position this season.
ABOUT GRAMBLING (1-6)
Grambling's lone win of the season came against ULM by a 3-2 score. The Lady Tigers are coming off the Abilene Christian University Tournament, in which they went 0-3, losing to the University of North Dakota, Providence, and Abilene Christian.
Zyonn Smith has 61 kills in 25 sets on the season to lead Grambling. Kai Williams is second with 45 kills in 23 sets. Preseason SWAC setter of the year Ana Calderon has 97 assists for the Lady Tigers.
Nyah Ellis has 99 digs on the season, Smith has 66, and Calderon has 50 to lead Grambling on the defensive side.
ABOUT LAMAR (0-5)
Lamar is coming off the Roadrunner Classic hosted by UTSA, where the Cardinals went 0-3, falling to UTSA, Tarleton, and Delaware.
The Cardinals are led by a trio of freshmen and the lone returning letter-winner from last season. Freshman Lyric Jordan leads the team with 32 kills. She is followed by Gracie Cassidy at 28 and senior Wiktoria Warpenchowska at 25.
Jo Moffitt and Jodie Edmonds lead the Cardinals in assists. Moffitt has 55, and Edmonds has 42 on the season.
Defensively, Lamar is led by Freedom Stephenson and Kaeden Robinson, who have a team-high 41 and 31 digs, respectively. Cassidy and Warpenchowska have double-digit blocks. Cassidy has a team-high 16, and Warpenchowska has 13.
THE SERIES
Little Rock leads the all-time series 19-10, but LA Tech won the last matchup 3-0 earlier this season. Tech has dominated Grambling 33-1 all-time, winning the last 33 in a row. Lamar leads the series 21-8.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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