NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Tech dropped both matches on the opening day of the Pelican Invitational. The Bulldogs fell to Georgia State 3-0 and UC Riverside 3-1 in the Fogelman Arena on Friday.
 
The opening match started with a back-and-forth affair. With the Bulldogs (5-7) down 5-4, Georgia State (8-2) went on the attack and came away with a 9-3 run, forcing Tech to take a timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-2 run of their own to close the gap to 16-13. The teams would trade points the rest of the set, giving the Panthers the set win 25-21.
 
The second set was all Georgia State. LA Tech would finish with eight errors and fall 25-13.
 
Louisiana Tech would grab their first lead of the match at 4-3 and held a two-point advantage after back-to-back kills. Georgia State would go on an 8-2 run to take the lead back at 12-8. The Bulldogs would try to fight their way back into the set, but the Panthers would answer every time, finishing off the match with a 25-19 win in set three.
 
After a three-hour break, the Bulldogs returned to take on UC Riverside (4-8). The Highlanders raced out to a 7-3 lead, but Tech fought their way back behind six points from Izabely Benjamin and Gabrielle Hairston to tie it up at nine apiece. From then on, the teams continued going back and forth with 12 ties and four lead changes. Tech would be able to pull it out 30-28.
 
The Highlanders once again jumped out to an early lead and forced the Bulldogs to fight from behind. Tech worked its way back from four down to pull within one on 10 occasions but couldn't tie it up and fell 25-21.
 
The third set was all UC Riverside, as they started with the first four points. They would take the third set 25-15.
 
The Bulldogs found their footing and started to fight back. Hairston and Grace Luevanos helped Tech open a four-point lead early on. UCR clawed its way back to tie it up and eventually take a four-point lead. The teams continued their battle, but Tech could not get any closer than two and dropped the final set 25-20.
 
Benjamin finished with her third double-double this season with 10 kills and 12 digs against the Highlanders. She would finish with 18 kills and 24 digs on the day. Hairston finished with her first double-digit kill game of her career with 13. Charlize finished with five blocks on the day to lead the Bulldogs defensively.
 
Alessia Cappai and Keionna Mackey led Georgia State with 13 kills apiece. UC Riverside had three players reach double-digit kills, with Trinity Sheridan leading the way with 15.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amber McCray
 
"We are desperately searching for consistency in nearly every position. We are not full strength right now healthwise and battled that all week, but that just means everyone has to step up even just 1% more to collectively carry us through this patch. I'm proud of the way Gabby Hairston came in and performed tonight with confidence and a ton of fire, and I'm excited to build on that moving forward. We have another match and another opportunity to get everyone gelling on the same page before heading into conference, so that's what we'll seek to do tomorrow against UNO."
 
NOTABLES

• Benjamin has recorded three double-doubles in the past five games, just missing one with 9 kills and 9 digs and another with 8 kills and 12 digs.
• Tech dropped to 2-2 all-time against Georgia State and 0-1 against UC Riverside.

 
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will head across New Orleans to take on UNO on Saturday at the Human Performance Center. First serve is set 3 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
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).