RUSTON — The Louisiana Tech volleyball team will take on Conference USA leader UTEP to close out the four-game homestand starting October 12 inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
DATE/TIME: Saturday-Sunday, October 12-13, 2 p.m. CT | Noon CT
LOCATION: Ruston, La. (Thomas Assembly Center)
STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
SERIES RECORD: UTEP, 19-7
LAST MEETING: L, 0-3 (10/21/23, El Paso)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (6-13, 0-6)
The Bulldogs battled Sam Houston in two tight matches for the midweek CUSA contest. Tech would fall 3-1 in both matches.
 
Against the Bearkats, Louisiana Tech tied the program record for most blocks during the rally-scoring era against Sam Houston. The Bulldogs finished with four solo and 28 assists for 18 total blocks. It was the most since scoring went down from 30 to 25 points per set. The 28 block assists were the third most in a match in program history, including side-out scoring.
 
Charlize Williams has been one of the best middle blockers in the country this season. Her 74 blocks rank fourth in Conference USA and 46th in the nation. Her 1.17 average per set is fourth in the league and 101st in the country. She surpassed 250 career blocks against Sam Houston in the first match and currently has 262 for her career. Williams has five matches of six or more blocks this season.
 
Louisiana Tech has been one of the top teams in Conference USA in digs per set for the past four seasons. The Bulldogs are second in the league (75th in the nation) with 15.47 digs per set after leading the league with 15.02 in 2023, finishing fifth (14.56) in 2022 and second (16.54) in 2021. The 1,021 total digs rank third in the league and 33rd in the country. With McKenzie Johnson being out, Riley Steubing has stepped up to lead the Bulldogs. The sophomore ranks sixth in the league with 3.94 digs per set and ninth in total digs at 201. Izabely Benjamin is second on the team with 154 total digs.
 
ABOUT UTEP (16-2, 6-0)
The Miners are one of the country's top teams and rank in the top 10 in six categories. UTEP comes to Ruston, having lost just one set in CUSA action and 12 sets all season.
 
Kaya Weaver and Danika Washington have dominated the middle for the Miners. Weaver leads the league and ranks fourth in the country with 1.54 blocks per set, and her 94 blocks are second in CUSA and third in the nation. Washington has a 0.98 average and 60 total blocks on the season to rank inside the top 10 in the conference. Both middles also average 1.74 kills per set or higher, and Weaver's .433 hitting clip is the top mark in the league and 12th in the country.
 
As a team, UTEP ranks sixth in the NCAA in blocks per set and fifth in total blocks. Their marks of 3.02 and 184.5 are tops in the league.
 
The top three attackers all average over 2.50 kills per set. Ema Uskokovic has a 3.13 mark, followed by Torrance Lovesee and Weaver with 2.56 each.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Amber McCray
 
"UTEP is a very well-rounded team performing at the top of our league within terms of standings and various statistical categories. They have a balance of firepower similar to New Mexico State, whom we obviously just recently played, except with two of the most dominant middles in the league in terms of kills and hitting efficiency. It is going to be important we serve significantly more aggressive to help limit their offensive options and assist our block as the first line of our defense. We will also need to be fearless attacking and unafraid to take risks to score. With this being our last weekend at home for a while, I'm excited to see us compete hard this weekend and continue to grow as a team in the right direction."
 
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs are 7-19 all-time against UTEP. The Bulldogs last win came in 2017 in El Paso with Tech taking the match in 2016 in Ruston as well.
 
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