RUSTON – Louisiana Tech will play its final non-conference tournament of the season when the Bulldogs travel to Stephenville, Texas to take part in the Texan Classic.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
Match One
LA Tech vs. North Texas | Thursday, Sept. 18 | 2 p.m. CT
Match Two
LA Tech at Tarleton State | Friday, Sept. 19 | 6 p.m. CT
Match Three
LA Tech vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | Saturday, Sept. 20 | 10 a.m. CT
 
Location: Wisdom Gym (Stephenville, Texas)
Live Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Live Video: WAC International (UNT and UAPB matches) | ESPN+ (Tarleton State match only)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (5-5)
LA Tech went 2-1 this past week while hosting the Bulldog Bash, defeating Jackson State (3-2) and ULM (3-1) before falling to Houston Christian (1-3) in the finale. Jailen Hurley and Giulia Bonifacio were named to the All-Tournament Team for the 'Dogs.
 
Hurley collected a team-high 35 kills over the three matches with a .303 hitting percent­age while Bonifacio had 25 kills, including a season-high 15 against the Huskies. Hurley recently eclipsed 500 career kills as a Bulldog.
 
Charlize Williams continued her blocking ways, totaling 21 blocks in the Bulldog Bash (had 6+ in all three matches). She now has 40 for the season, which ranks first in CUSA while her 1.33 blocks per set average ranks 52nd in the country. Her 12 blocks in the season opener against Jackson State ranks as the seventh most in the country (5 sets).
 
Freshman Sydnee Carter had a team-best 56 assists in the Bulldog Bash, having regis­tered double-digit assists in nine of the 10 matches. She has a team-high 166 assists on the season, having also recorded two double-doubles in two of the last four matches.
 
Libero/defensive specialist Riley Steubing has been a steady presence on defense, tallying double-digit digs in seven of the last eight matches since taking over the posi­tion. The junior registered 20+ digs in all three matches in the Bulldog Bash, becoming just the second Bulldog in the last 15 years to have three straight games of 20+ digs. She currently ranks second in CUSA and 17th in the nation in total digs (170). She also recently eclipsed 500 career digs as a Bulldog.
 
THE OPPONENTS
North Texas (7-2), guided by first-year head coach Dave Fleming, enters the weekend having won four straight matches, including three over Little Rock, Northwestern State, and UT Arlington as part of the UNT-UTA Invitational. 
 
The Mean Green have a .236 hitting percentage, led by Reagan Bedell who has a team-high 121 kills with an average of 3.67 per set.  The outside hitter has registered double-digit kills five times this season, including a season-high 26 against Stetson.  UNT has a pair of setters – Alexa Washington and Sidney Soria – who have combined for 367 assists, pacing the team to an average of 13.18 assists per game, which ranks 19th in the country.
 
LA Tech trails in the all-time series with UNT, 13-22. The two programs met 19 times from 2013-22 as Conference USA opponents. The Bulldogs snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Mean Green in the last meeting, a 3-2 victory in Ruston on Oct. 23, 2022.
 
Tarleton State (4-5) opened up the season going 2-1 at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic, defeating New Orleans and Texas Southern.  The Texans went 1-1 at the Islanders Classic this pass weekend, splitting matches between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Sam Houston, followed by a midweek loss at Stephen F. Austin.
 
The Texans have a .208 hitting average with three players having recorded over 75 kills (Madison Natori Rice-Locket – 100, LaNeah Lara – 84, and Madison Frank – 79).  Emma Burke is the star of the defense, having totaled 43 blocks this season which ranks 39th in the nation.
 
Friday will mark just the second all-time meeting between LA Tech and Tarleton State. The first matchup came in 2021 at the SFA Invitational with the Texans prevailing 3-0.
 
Arkansas Pine-Bluff (0-9) is still in search for its first win of the season, having recently dropped all three matches to New Orleans, Nicholls, and Abilene Christian at the Southland-SWAC Challenge in New Orleans.
 
The Golden Lions are managing just a .094 hitting percentage, anchored by Ashanti Butler who has a team-high 72 kills for an average of 2.32 per set.  Their primary setter is Martyna Lubowicz who has a team-high 128 assists.
 
The Bulldogs are undefeated all-time versus the Golden Lions, owning a 10-0 record. LA Tech has never dropped a set to UAPB, including a 3-0 sweep in the 2021 Arkansas Tournament.
 
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