RUSTON – Louisiana Tech fell to Southeastern in four sets on Friday evening inside the Thomas Assembly Center. The Bulldogs (3-5) took set one, 25-23, before dropping the next three, 25-18, 25-20, and 25-11.
 
LA Tech came out on a roll early on and jumped out to a 7-3 lead, with the only Southeastern (5-4) points coming from Bulldog errors. Megan Cooley started her career night with four kills to give Tech their early lead. The Lions would claw their way back, and the rest of the set would be a back-and-forth affair. Southeastern would fight off one set point, but Cooley would slam the door with her seventh kill of the set, setting a new career high.
 
In the second set, Southeastern raced out to an 11-5 lead before a 7-1 run by LA Tech tied it up. A five-point run by the Lions put them into the 20s first. After two straight points by the Bulldogs closed the set to within three, the Lions would close the match with four straight to tie it up.
 
Louisiana Tech looked like they took the momentum back after Charlize Williams, Jailen Hurley, and Giulia Bonifacio gave them a 4-2 lead. However, a 9-1 run swung momentum back into Southeastern's favor. The Bulldogs tried to make a run late in the set, but it ended up being too little too late.
 
Southeastern would easily win the fourth set and take the match.
 
The Bulldogs had five players with five or more kills, led by Izabely Benjamin, with her first career double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Williams finished right behind with nine kills on a .381 hitting percentage. After a slow start, Bonifacio finished with seven kills, tying her with Cooley for the match.
 
Meghan Scharpenberg and Riley Steubing also set career highs—Scharpenberg with 22 assists and Steubing with 25 digs.
 
Southeastern had four players with double-digit kills and digs, led by Cicily Hidalgo, who had 14 and 15 to lead both categories. Gracie Duplechein and Ashley Richardson accounted for 57 of the Lions' 63 assists.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"As a team we must learn to capitalize on the opportunities given to us earlier in matches, especially against the level of competition we face every week.  Southeastern is a well-coached team who did exactly what we expected them to do in terms of their attackers, but they still executed their offense far better than we executed the defense we needed to do to stop it. It was great to see Charlize have a big offensive night for us again, and we will look to keep putting her in positions to score tomorrow. There were moments tonight where we looked really solid, and we have two more opportunities to build on that tomorrow."
 
NOTABLES

• Riley Steubing set a career high in digs for the third time this season.
• Izabely Benjamin reached double-digit kills for the first time this season and has led the team the last two matches.
• Steubing's 25 digs were the most by a Bulldog Since McKenzie Johnson had 31 against Lamar on September 9, 2023.
• Tech fell to 13-9 all time against Southeastern.

 
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech returns on Saturday to take on Northwestern State at 11 a.m. CT and Southern at 2:30 p.m. CT for the Blue Out games. 
 
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