Friday, September 6
Fayetteville, AR
11:00 a.m.
Louisiana Tech University
vs
Little Rock
Photo by: Kevin Albarez
Bulldogs Take Win Streak into Wooo Pig Invitational
9/5/2024 2:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RUSTON – Louisiana Tech's volleyball team is taking their three-game winning streak into the Wooo Pig Invitational at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. The Bulldogs will take on Little Rock on Friday at 11 a.m., Rutgers on Saturday at noon, and No. 21 Arkansas at 7 p.m. CT. The match against Arkansas will be streamed on ESPN+.
DATE/TIME: Friday-Saturday, September 6-7, 11 a.m. CT | noon CT | 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Fayetteville, Ark. (Barnhill Arena)
STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
SERIES RECORD: Little Rock, 20-10 | LA Tech, 1-0 | Arkansas, 3-1
LAST MEETING: L, 3-1 (9/7/23, Ruston) | W, 3-2 (8/27/11, Huntsville, Texas) | L, 3-0 (8/28/21, Fayetteville)
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (3-1)
LA Tech is off to their best start since 2021, starting 3-1 with two wins over Cal State Fullerton and beating Alcorn State.
Giulia Bonifacio, Rori Gray, and Jailen Hurley continue to lead the Bulldogs offensively.
Bonifacio led the team in kills for the fourth straight match to start the season. The junior transfer had nine kills on a .571 hitting clip. After being named Conference USA Freshman of the Week, Gray continued to be a force in the middle with seven kills and a .545 mark. Hurley had the highest hitting percentage for the Bulldogs at .625 on six kills.
Lauren Albrecht put Tech in the right position to finish with their best hitting mark since 2022, at .383. Albrecht finished with 17 assists.
McKenzie Johnson moved up another spot on the Bulldog's all-time digs list. The Rockwall native had 16 to bring her career total to 1,340. She is chasing Laura Bernoski for fourth at 1,386.
ABOUT LITTLE ROCK (3-0)
Little Rock opened the season with three wins at the Lion Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M—Commerce. The Trojans defeated the Lions, 3-1, Tarleton State, 3-2, on Friday, and Central Arkansas, 3-0, on Saturday.
Jeila Fullerton, Kaila Harrism, Bella Cherry, and Sophia Garrido finished the opening weekend with over 20 kills. Fullerton leads the way with 46, followed by Harris at 34, Cherry at 24, and Garrido at 22.
The Trojans rotate Dariana Valencia and Kaylee Smith at setter. The pair has 136 assists on the season, with Valencia leading the way with 69.
Andrea Roman and Fullerton are the leaders on defense, with 62 and 40 digs, respectively. A'lanae Margaritha leads the team with 15 blocks on the season.
ABOUT RUTGERS (1-2)
Rutgers opened the North Texas Invitational by losing to Miami, 3-1, before winning against the host school, 3-0. The Scarlet Knights closed the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Colorado.
Rutgers has three players with over 20 kills during the opening weekend. Anna Hartman and Alissa Kinkela lead the way with 22 kills apiece. Avery Jesewitz is right behind with 21. Aly Borellis and Lily Bolen are the setters for Rutgers with 54 and 41 assists.
Defensively, Kenzie Dyrstad leads the way with 25 digs while Borellis and Lexi Visintine are second with 15 apiece. Natalie Robinson is the main blocker for Rutgers, with 12 blocks in the season.
ABOUT #21 ARKANSAS (3-0)
Arkansas is coming off wins over St. Mary's, Sacramento State, and Cal Poly at the Mustang Invitational.
The Razorbacks have five players with over 20 kills, led by transfer Romani Thurman with 46. Sania Petties has 34, followed by Jada Lawson, who has 26. Arkansas' primary setter, Hannah Hogue, has 131 assists through the three matches.
Hogue and Courtney Jackson are key for the Razorbacks on defense, with 53 and 52 digs, respectively. Thurman and Petties have 12 blocks apiece.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Amber McCray
"Our trip to Arkansas will be one of the most challenging weekends we will play all year in terms of competition with all three opponents off to a great start this season. Little Rock is a more familiar opponent with us meeting twice in 2023, but it's easy to see both of our teams look significantly different from the last time we faced off. Rutgers and Arkansas are two P4 teams used to playing at the highest level of D1 volleyball, with Arkansas coming off a historic season last year. The challenge is also what makes this weekend so exciting for us though, because we are proud of the work we've put in so far to be able to compete with talented teams and still hungry for the work we know we will continue to do."
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs are 10-20 all-time against Little Rock with the two teams splitting last season's meetings. LA Tech took the match at the Arkansas State Invitational and Little Rock took the win at the LA Tech Invitational. The Bulldogs took the only meeting with Rutgers in five sets back in 2011. Arkansas has a 3-1 advantage in the series with the last meeting coming in 2021.
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.com today.
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/BarkLouder today. 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).
DATE/TIME: Friday-Saturday, September 6-7, 11 a.m. CT | noon CT | 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Fayetteville, Ark. (Barnhill Arena)
STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
SERIES RECORD: Little Rock, 20-10 | LA Tech, 1-0 | Arkansas, 3-1
LAST MEETING: L, 3-1 (9/7/23, Ruston) | W, 3-2 (8/27/11, Huntsville, Texas) | L, 3-0 (8/28/21, Fayetteville)
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (3-1)
LA Tech is off to their best start since 2021, starting 3-1 with two wins over Cal State Fullerton and beating Alcorn State.
Giulia Bonifacio, Rori Gray, and Jailen Hurley continue to lead the Bulldogs offensively.
Bonifacio led the team in kills for the fourth straight match to start the season. The junior transfer had nine kills on a .571 hitting clip. After being named Conference USA Freshman of the Week, Gray continued to be a force in the middle with seven kills and a .545 mark. Hurley had the highest hitting percentage for the Bulldogs at .625 on six kills.
Lauren Albrecht put Tech in the right position to finish with their best hitting mark since 2022, at .383. Albrecht finished with 17 assists.
McKenzie Johnson moved up another spot on the Bulldog's all-time digs list. The Rockwall native had 16 to bring her career total to 1,340. She is chasing Laura Bernoski for fourth at 1,386.
ABOUT LITTLE ROCK (3-0)
Little Rock opened the season with three wins at the Lion Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M—Commerce. The Trojans defeated the Lions, 3-1, Tarleton State, 3-2, on Friday, and Central Arkansas, 3-0, on Saturday.
Jeila Fullerton, Kaila Harrism, Bella Cherry, and Sophia Garrido finished the opening weekend with over 20 kills. Fullerton leads the way with 46, followed by Harris at 34, Cherry at 24, and Garrido at 22.
The Trojans rotate Dariana Valencia and Kaylee Smith at setter. The pair has 136 assists on the season, with Valencia leading the way with 69.
Andrea Roman and Fullerton are the leaders on defense, with 62 and 40 digs, respectively. A'lanae Margaritha leads the team with 15 blocks on the season.
ABOUT RUTGERS (1-2)
Rutgers opened the North Texas Invitational by losing to Miami, 3-1, before winning against the host school, 3-0. The Scarlet Knights closed the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Colorado.
Rutgers has three players with over 20 kills during the opening weekend. Anna Hartman and Alissa Kinkela lead the way with 22 kills apiece. Avery Jesewitz is right behind with 21. Aly Borellis and Lily Bolen are the setters for Rutgers with 54 and 41 assists.
Defensively, Kenzie Dyrstad leads the way with 25 digs while Borellis and Lexi Visintine are second with 15 apiece. Natalie Robinson is the main blocker for Rutgers, with 12 blocks in the season.
ABOUT #21 ARKANSAS (3-0)
Arkansas is coming off wins over St. Mary's, Sacramento State, and Cal Poly at the Mustang Invitational.
The Razorbacks have five players with over 20 kills, led by transfer Romani Thurman with 46. Sania Petties has 34, followed by Jada Lawson, who has 26. Arkansas' primary setter, Hannah Hogue, has 131 assists through the three matches.
Hogue and Courtney Jackson are key for the Razorbacks on defense, with 53 and 52 digs, respectively. Thurman and Petties have 12 blocks apiece.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Amber McCray
"Our trip to Arkansas will be one of the most challenging weekends we will play all year in terms of competition with all three opponents off to a great start this season. Little Rock is a more familiar opponent with us meeting twice in 2023, but it's easy to see both of our teams look significantly different from the last time we faced off. Rutgers and Arkansas are two P4 teams used to playing at the highest level of D1 volleyball, with Arkansas coming off a historic season last year. The challenge is also what makes this weekend so exciting for us though, because we are proud of the work we've put in so far to be able to compete with talented teams and still hungry for the work we know we will continue to do."
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs are 10-20 all-time against Little Rock with the two teams splitting last season's meetings. LA Tech took the match at the Arkansas State Invitational and Little Rock took the win at the LA Tech Invitational. The Bulldogs took the only meeting with Rutgers in five sets back in 2011. Arkansas has a 3-1 advantage in the series with the last meeting coming in 2021.
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.com today.
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/BarkLouder today. 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).
Players Mentioned
Setter
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's VolleyballThursday, November 13
Wednesday, November 12
Saturday, October 11
Friday, October 10
