JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Louisiana Tech won the opening set before dropping the next three to Jacksonville State to fall 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-19) Thursday night at the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
Charlize Williams got LA Tech (8-22, 2-15) on the board first. The teams would battle point-for-point with 13 ties and six lead changes until Gabrielle Hairston hit it off the Jax State (9-21, 2-15) block to send it to the media timeout with the Bulldogs up 15-14. Out of the timeout, Tech built the lead to four. The Gamecocks would make a run to close it to 20-19, but the 'Dogs would finish with five of the final seven points to take the set.
 
The second set would be another back-and-forth battle, with Jax State taking the lead at the media timeout 15-11. Tech would pull back within two on three occasions before the Gamecocks pulled away.
 
The final score of the third set was not indicative of how tight it was. The lead changed hands four times, and the two teams tied the score on 10 occasions. LA Tech's offense was clicking early on with eight kills while the defense had two blocks and forced three more Jax State errors to have a 13-12 lead. That is when the Gamecocks' offense changed course and went on a 13-3 run to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Jax State opened the fourth with a 5-1 lead. The deficit for Tech gradually rose to seven at the 15-point mark. A kill from Rori Gray would start a 4-0 run to pull within three at 19-16. The Bulldogs wouldn't pull any close.
 
LA Tech hit .180 as a team, with Izabely Benjamin leading the way with eight kills. Gray had seven on a .417 hitting clip and added four blocks.
 
Jax State hit .270 with three players in double-digits. Kayla Williams had a game-high 23, with Sanni Rantanen and Caty Havekost adding 13 apiece. Brooklyn Schiffli had 22 digs, and Ellie Garrett had 52 assists.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"Hats off to JSU who still played lights out even knowing they were down to their last two matches of the season coming into tonight. Unfortunately even with taking the first set, we were out of sorts in the two areas we were superb in just last weekend, blocking and our first contact. I felt JSU's setter did an excellent job distributing their offense tonight, and we struggled to keep up. Tomorrow is a new day and even though our post season hopes are over, we still have so much to play for in our final match beginning with our seniors."
 
NOTABLES

• Charlize Williams has had a block in 26 consecutive matches.
• Rori Gray hit over .400 for the sixth time this season with 10 or more attempts.
• Giulia Bonifacio became the third Bulldog with over 200 digs on the year, joining Riley Steubing (318) and Izabely Benjamin (212)
• Tech dropped to 2-2 all-time against Jacksonville State.

UP NEXT
LA Tech and Jacksonville State will close out their seasons tomorrow starting at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
 
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