RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech volleyball team will travel to Fullerton, California, for the Fullerton Invitational on Aug. 30-31. The Bulldogs will take on San Jose State at 2 p.m. CT and Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. on Friday and will take on Fullerton again at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
DATE/TIME:Â Â Friday, August 30, 2 p.m. CT | 6 p.m. CT
LOCATION:Â Fullerton, Calif. (Titan Gym)
STATS:Â Â LATechSports.com/Stats
SERIES RECORD:Â San Jose State, 18-2 | Cal State Fullerton, First Meeting
LAST MEETING: L, 3-1, 10/25/2012,  San Jose, Calif. | First Meeting
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (0-0)
LA Tech will be looking to build on the momentum from last season that saw them qualify for the Conference USA tournament for the first time in program history.
The Bulldogs return a bulk of their lineup and will look to get contributions from the eight transfers and freshmen.
McKenzie Johnson and Lauren Albrecht return for their senior to anchor the Bulldog lineup. Jailen Hurley, Carla Esquer, and Anaya Hairston are other starters returning for another season.
Johnson looks to cement her name as one of the best defensive players in program history. The Rockwall, Texas, native ranks No. 7 on the Bulldog's all-time career digs list with 1,284. She had over 400 digs in each of her first three seasons.
Albrecht led Tech with 416 assists last season and surpassed 1,000 for her career after accumulating 671 at Fairmont State.
Giulia Bonifacio is one of the newcomers that will make an immediate impact for the Bulldog. The 2022 AVCA East Coast Freshman of the Year at Binghamton played at Florida Southwestern Junior College last season and won the NJCAA National Championship.
Rori Gray and Gabrielle Hairston are freshmen who will get playing time early in the season. Gray will be a presence as a middle blocker with Anaya Hairston, while Gabrielle Hairston will look to leave her mark as an outside hitter.
Anaya and Gabrielle Hairston are the first sisters to play at LA Tech on record.
The matchups with Cal State Fullerton will be the first in program history. LA Tech was a WAC foe with San Jose State from 2001-21, with 20 meetings between the two programs.
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE (0-0)
The Spartans are led by first year head coach Todd Kress. They return nine letter winners from a team that finished 13-18.
Nayeli Ti'a is the top returner with 287 kills last season. Brooke Bryant was second on the team with 237. Brooke Slusser led them with 753 assists.
Alessia Buffagni, Slusser, and Ti'a were the only players with over 200 digs. Buffagni finished with 382 while Slusser had 252 and Ti'a had 238.
ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON (0-0)
The Titans are led by Nicole Vargas Polster in her fourth season at the helm. They finished last season 2-25 and return 11 letter winners.
Offensively, Ameena Campbell and Aubrey Beaver are the top returners with 273 and 226 kills, respectively.
Campbell is the only returner with over 200 digs a season ago, finishing with 260. Bianca Martinez finished with 74.0 blocks to lead Cal State Fullerton.
THE SERIES
The Spartans and Bulldogs have bet 20 times at WAC foes with San Jose State holding an 18-2 advantage. The matchups with Cal State Fullerton will be the first in program history.
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