MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team fell to Middle Tennessee in four sets (25-21, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15) on Thursday night at Alumni Memorial Gymnasium.
 
The two teams traded points to begin the match, and with LA Tech (6-18, 0-11) down 8-7, the Bulldogs used a five-point run to gain the lead. Middle Tennessee (10-13, 6-5) responded with a 10-1 run of their own to take control of the set. Tech would fight off three set points before the Blue Raiders closed it.
 
The second set would be a back-and-forth battle, with the biggest run being two points on four occasions until the score was tied at 16. The Bulldogs would use a 7-2 run to grab the lead at 23-18. Charlize Williams would secure the set with her fourth kill of the match.
 
Tech carried that momentum over to the beginning of the third set and took a 4-1 lead early. It looked like it would be another battle, but with the Bulldogs down just by one, MTSU used a 13-3 run to take the third set.
 
The fourth set would be all Middle Tennessee as they took the match.
Jailen Hurley finished with a team-high nine kills on a .364 hitting clip and added two blocks. Carla Esquer had seven kills, and Williams added six with six blocks. Riley Steubing finished with 24 digs.
 
Adriana Rhoda led Middle Tennessee with 21 kills, while Kiera Booth had 15. Andi Spies finished with 55 assists, and Laure Jansen had 22 digs.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"MTSU is one of the toughest places to play in our league because of the environment they do a great job of creating and feeding off of. I felt like we matched that in the first 2 sets, but we also left some digs and blocks out there that allowed too many of their attackers to get going early and never look back. Tomorrow we will look to get a handle back on serving and passing because when those two aspects of our game went south, so did our ability to compete in the last 2 sets. I am proud of the fire Jailen Hurley and Carla Esquer are currently playing with to make plays both offensively and defensively. We will look for the rest of our team to feed off of that tomorrow."
 
NOTABLES

• The Bulldogs out blocked their opponent for the 10th time this season.
• Charlize Williams has had a block in 20 consecutive matches.
• Whilliams has 12 matches with 4+ blocks, including six with 6+.
• Tech dropped to 2-12 all-time against WKU.

 
UP NEXT
LA Tech and MTSU will wrap up the series on Friday at noon on ESPN+.
 
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