LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Louisiana Tech had no answer to the New Mexico State offense on Saturday afternoon inside the Pan American Center. The Bulldogs fell 4-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-16) to the Aggies.
 
The first set was a continuation of the battle from the first match. LA Tech (6-11, 0-4) took the lead after a block by Charlize Williams and Giulia Bonifacio. The teams would continue to trade points until NM State (9-7, 3-1) took a three-point advantage after three 2-point runs. The Bulldogs continued to fight, and after a kill by Williams, Meghan Scharpenberg tied it up at 19 with an ace. Tech would finally take the lead at 22-21, and Giulia Bonifacio would seal the set for the Bulldogs.
 
After the Bulldogs outhit the Aggies, .314-.214, in the first set, NM State's offense started to heat up.
 
Tech held onto a one-point lead early in the second set, but a 5-0 run gave the home team the lead. The Aggies would gradually grow their lead to 19-12 before the teams traded points the rest of the way. Izabely Benjamin had four kills to lead the Bulldogs in the second set, followed by Bonifacio with three.
 
The Bulldogs continued to fight in the third and fourth sets, but the Aggie offense would be too much. NM State hit .462 over the final two stanzas with 34 kills.
 
Bonifacio led the Bulldogs with 10 kills on a .471 hitting clip. Williams, Carla Esquer, and Jailen Hurley finished with seven kills apiece. Meghan Scharpenberg had a double-double with 20 assists and 13 digs.
 
Mari Sharp and Yasso Amin had a match-high 18 kills apiece for NM State.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"Even with two losses, there is so much to build on from this weekend for our team. NMSU is a very talented team with multiple experienced attackers in all positions. We made a number of scrappy plays on defense with both our block and our back row, but we needed more help from our serve as our first line of defense in slowing their offense down. We had several standout performances to be proud of like Meghan Scharpenberg's double-double with 20 assists and 13 digs, Giulia's 10 kills on .471 hitting, and Carla's seven kills and numerous positive touches on the block.


We are a team still fighting to find consistency match to match and player to player, but I'm confident we are moving in the right direction and that's evident in the way we competed against a team who will likely finish towards the top of our league this year. Our focus now it to regroup quickly to bounce back for a critical series against Sam Houston State this week."
 
 
NOTABLES

• The double-double by Meghan Scharpenberg was the second of her career, having one against Liberty on September 27.
• Giulia Bonifacio had double-digit kills for the fourth time this season, the first time since September 6.
• Six different Bulldogs finished with at least five kills in the match.
• Tech dropped to 1-22 all-time against New Mexico State.

 
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech returns to the Thomas Assembly Center four a four-game homestand starting on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will take on Sam Houston State on October 8-9 with both matches starting at 6 p.m. CT.
 
SUPPORT LA TECH ATHLETICS
Championships require championship resources.  Fans can make a direct impact on the success of LA Tech Athletics through LTAC, Aillet Society, T-Club, and Young Alumni program as well as the Bulldog Community Outreach which is the NIL collective that supports Bulldog and Lady Techster student-athletes.  Visit BuildTheLegacy.comtoday.  
 
BARK LOUDER
Our mission is to engage, develop, and advance the Louisiana Tech Athletics brand.  You can do that by spending time consuming our content and by investing your talents.  By barking louder with your time and talent, you can affect progress and brand advancement in a meaningful way.  Visit LATechSports.com/BarkLoudertoday.  You bark.  We bark.  Louder together.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Bulldog Volleyball, follow us on X (@LATechVB), Instagram (@LATechVB), and Facebook (LATechVolleyball).