RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech volleyball came up short in their battle with UTEP (26-24, 25-18, 25-23) on Sunday in the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
LA Tech (6-15, 0-8) gave UTEP (18-2, 8-0) all they could handle in set one. The Bulldogs forced the Miners into eight attack errors and 10 service errors. Tech held the lead for most of the set, including the largest lead of the weekend at 10-5. Tech had the opportunity to close it out but could not with UTEP taking the final three points.
 
The Bulldogs held close through the first half of the set, but a four-point run by the Miners gave them a 17-11 lead. That run would end up being the difference, as LA Tech couldn't get any closer.
 
A day after giving up 17 service aces, LA Tech limited UTEP to just six. However, three would come consecutively to put the visitors up 4-0 in the third set. Gabrielle Hairston had back-to-back kills to stop the run and begin a 5-1 run by the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs gained the lead after consecutive points by Izabely Benjamin and Jailen Hurley. After that, the teams would trade points until the media timeout with Tech down 15-14. UTEP would increase their lead to three on multiple occasions before having a match-point at 24-21. The Bulldogs fended off two match points before the Miners closed it out.
 
Benjamin had a team-high eight kills and added five digs. Riley Steubing had a game-high 21 digs for the Bulldogs.
 
Landry Braziel led UTEP with 12 kills. Mattie Gantt had 18 assists, while Kalia Kohler finished with 17.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"I am very proud of the way our team responded after such a disappointing performance yesterday to bounce back and compete start to finish today. We were significantly better in our game plan execution and most noticeably in our passing that allowed us chances in each set. We had several players who stepped up to make the most of their opportunities today, specifically Mariah Jones who added a much needed spark in the middle along with Gabby Hairston who put back-to-back matches together after making an impact last night as well. We are still looking for consistency player-to-player and needing to finish matches when back and forth in the red zone, but today we were right there with a very talented and well-coached team at the top of our league even with several key attackers struggling. We definitely got better today, and we know we can build on that in this second half of conference play."
 
NOTABLES

• Eight different Bulldogs finished with a kill.
• Charlize Williams has had a block in 17 consecutive matches.
• Tech dropped to 7-21 all-time against UTEP.

 
UP NEXT
LA Tech will travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a two-game series against Western Kentucky.
 
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