BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Louisiana Tech finished with their highest hitting percentage of Conference USA action, but Western Kentucky hit a blistering .481 to beat the Bulldogs 25-18, 25-15, and 25-17 on Friday night inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
 
LA Tech (6-16, 0-9) did what they do best and got two blocks by Charlize Williams to open the match and jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs maintained that lead with the teams trading points before WKU (16-6, 9-0) used a three-point run to cut the deficit down to just one. After Tech recorded back-to-back kills, the Hilltoppers used a 6-1 run to grab the lead at 14-12. The Bulldogs would try to fight back but couldn't overcome the deficit.
 
WKU got a 5-0 lead, but LA Tech wouldn't give up. The Bulldogs would continue to fight and close the gap to 10-7 after a block by Izabely Benjamin and Mariah Jones. However, Tech couldn't make any runs during the game and would drop the second set.
 
It looked like Western Kentucky would continue to be in control after grabbing the first two points of the third set. The Dogs wouldn't go down without a fight and responded with a 7-3 run to grab the lead. The two teams continued to battle back-and-forth before the Hilltoppers took control with four consecutive points. Tech would give one last effort to pull back to 16-14 but couldn't get any closer the rest of the way.
 
Jailen Hurley and Giulia Bonifacio finished with seven kills to lead LA Tech. Williams, Benjamin, and Jones each finished with three blocks and Grace Krohn and Lauren Albrecht had 11 assists.
 
Kenadee Coyle led the Hilltoppers with 10 kills, followed by Kaylee Cox, Izzy Van De Wiele, and Alivia Skidmore with nine.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"This was another story or serving and passing, and unfortunately we did not do either very well tonight. WKU runs a fast offense led by a veteran setter who has always done an excellent job of putting her hitters in great positions, and our lack of aggressive nor consistent serving tonight gave us no hope to slow that down. Offensively we saw solid performances from several kids including Jailen, Carla, and Giulia, but that wasn't enough to match WKU kill for kill without many opportunities to get our middles involved. We did see several players turn the passing around as the game went on, so we will look to continue that progress into tomorrow from the start of the match to give us a better chance to compete."
 
NOTABLES

• The Bulldogs out blocked their opponent for the 10th time this season.
• Tech allowed just 21 digs to WKU; a season low for the Hilltoppers.
• Charlize Williams has had a block in 18 consecutive matches.
• Tech dropped to 7-18 all-time against WKU.

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