RUSTON – Lauren Albrecht and Carla Esquer finished with double-doubles for Louisiana Tech, but the Bulldogs couldn't pull it out against Little Rock, falling 3-1 to open the LA Tech Invitational Thursday night.

LA Tech (2-5) started the match with three quick points, but Little Rock (2-5) went on a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 advantage. The Bulldogs would take back the lead after Luisa Araujo had back-to back kills. The Trojans would make a run of their own, highlighted by three kills from Carolina Rodriguez, who led the team's balanced attack. Little Rock would finish the set with five straight points to take the early advantage.

The second set started the same way, with the Bulldogs jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead, forcing the Trojans to call a timeout. Little Rock responded with a five-point run of their own to pull even. The battle ensued as neither team would get much of an advantage, but Little Rock would get the final two points and take a 2-0 lead.

The third set was all the Bulldogs as they jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, with McKenzie Johnson's back-to-back aces forcing the Trojans to call a timeout. The lead ballooned to 14-3 after Grace Krohn had three straight aces. LA Tech finished with nine aces in the set, on their way to 12, the second time this season they have hit double digits. It was only fitting that the final point was an ace off the hands of Izabely Benjamin, cutting the deficit down to 2-1.

Little Rock regained momentum in the fourth set, jumping to a 6-0 lead. However, Tech would not go down without a fight. Clawing their way back in, Benjamin would get four points during the team's 10-3 run to tie things up. Albrecht would get her fourth ace of the match to give the Bulldogs a one-point advantage. The Trojans would finish the set on a 5-2 run to finish out the match with a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-23, 9-25, 25-23)

QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray

"Hats off to Little Rock for playing with a ton of confidence tonight and winning that battle in tight moments. We are fighting to find consistency in a variety of positions. Our middles, Ashley and Luisa, did all we could ask of them offensively and Jailen Hurley had another dominant performance. The biggest difference between now and the first time we played was they won the serving and passing battle when the game was close in sets two and four. Great thing is we have two more opportunities to grow and improve this weekend starting tomorrow with Grambling.:

NOTABLES

• Albrecht finished with 18 assists and 12 digs, her fourth double-double of the season. Albrecht also finished with four aces.
• LA Tech added 12 more aces, giving them 57 through the first seven games, an average of 2.1 aces per set.
• Esquer was the other Bulldogs to finish with a double-double, 10 kills and 11 digs.
• McKenzie Johnson finished with 19 digs, giving her 111 on the year and 974 in her career.
• Krohn finished with a career-high 25 assists.

 
UP NEXT
The LA Tech Invitational continues Friday, with the Bulldogs hosting Grambling with the first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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