RUSTON – Louisiana Tech battled through momentum swings and clutch moments to pull out a five-set victory (25-14, 18-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-8) over Jacksonville State on Wednesday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
LA Tech (9-20, 2-13 CUSA) outhit Jax State (13-14, 7-8 CUSA) .239 to .172, getting at least five kills from five different Bulldogs.  The rollercoaster match ended with the home team closing out the fifth frame on a 15-5 run to down the Gamecocks.
 
The 'Dogs started strong with a dominant opening frame, using balanced offense and pressure from the service line to control play.  LA Tech hit .300 as a team, led by Jailen Hurley and Gabrielle Hairston, who combined for six kills.  Meanwhile, the defense held Jax State to a negative hitting percentage, cruising to a 25-14 win.
 
The Gamecocks evened up the match though, riding one of the hottest outside hitters in the country in Kayla Williams who had seven kills in the frame.  Just as LA Tech did in the first set, Jax State never trailed in the second, racing to a 25-18 win.
 
The third frame was neck-and-neck.  With the Gamecocks narrowly leading 12-11, the Bulldogs went on a 7-1 run to build an 18-13 advantage.  Despite Jax State countering with a 4-0 run, LA Tech never relinquished the lead, using seven service aces and a final kill by Carlos Esquer to go win 25-21 and take a 2-1 edge.
 
Jax State would not go quietly, using efficient offense and an 8-1 stretch midway through the fourth set to pull away 25-17 and force a fifth set.
 
The visitors took control in the final frame, winning the first three points.  However, LA Tech rallied behind kills from Zari Gillispie and Jailen Hurley.  A 10-1 surge was powered by Riley Steubing's serving and seven combined kills from Gillispie and Hurley.  Ultimately, Grace Luevanos sealed the win with the match-clinching kill on the overpass as LA Tech celebrated the hard-fought league victory.
 
Hurley finished with a team-high 12 kills with a .375 hitting percentage.  G. Hairston (eight), Anaya Hairston (seven), and Gillispie (seven) contributed to the offense while the passing of Emerson Traylor (20 assists) and Sydnee Carter (19 assists) provided an importance piece.  Steubing logged 17 digs from the back line while Gillispie had a team-best 4.0 blocks.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Scott Mattera
 
On the win…
"That is volleyball at this level.  We are all DI players, and it comes down to who can do the most things right for the longest amount of time.  You are going to have those ebbs and flows.  To see ourselves get up off the match after four because it was not pretty.  We came together and wanted to win.  We still have something to play for.  We talked all week about having everything to play for.  This is about loving this game, each other.  I thought we had several players play heroic tonight."
 
On the fifth set…
"Serving [was the key].  This sport is so first-touch oriented.  I thought our serve game was great.  It kept Jax State out of multiple option stuff.  We made some adjustments that they tried to adjust to back and we drew some errors from them out of it.  And our transition game was good.  When we really won that game was when we connected with Zari [Gillispie] on the transition. 

UP NEXT
LA Tech will play its final match of the 2025 season tomorrow as the Bulldogs host Jax State for the second match in the series.  First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
 
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