Lady Techsters drop season-opening volleyball doubleheader at Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Louisiana Tech’s volleyball team dropped its season-opening doubleheader to Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon, falling twice to the Golden Eagles by a score of 3-1 in Hattiesburg.

After dropping the first set, Southern Miss (2-0) won three straight sets to win the first match 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-14). The Golden Eagles took the second contest 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-12.

“While we are obviously disappointed in the outcome on the scoreboard, our main goal of playing in the fall was to see where we are and see what we need to work on for the spring season,” head coach Amber McCray said. “At the end of the day, that’s what we saw, and we know we can build from here.

“The Southern Miss hitters played with more confidence, and I know that is something we can improve on with more time to build chemistry with our setters and so many different attackers.”

The Lady Techsters (0-2) won the first set of Saturday’s doubleheader, reeling off five or more points in a row twice in the opening set of the first match. Following a kill from USM’s Lauren Talbert in the first set to make it 3-1 Southern Miss, the Lady Techsters never lost the lead again in the first set, winning five consecutive points to make it 6-3 LA Tech.

A service ace from redshirt freshman Mallory Meers and a kill from senior Elena Takova powered LA Tech to an 11-5 advantage in set one, winning six straight points to widen the gap on the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss tied the score twice – at 14-14 and 18-18 – but the Lady Techsters won four of the final six points to notch the set victory.

Tech held a 15-12 advantage in the second set after redshirt sophomore Elizabeth Sandoval delivered one of her five kills of the match. The Golden Eagles, however, rallied with 11 consecutive points to retake the lead, closing out the second set 25-16.

In the fourth set of Match 1, 11 Lady Techsters saw action, highlighted by a pair of kills from freshmen Faith Menary and Mackenzie Murray.

Four Techsters – Takova, Menary, Sandoval and senior Emily Boylan – registered five kills apiece in the first contest. Senior Alyssa Zucco paced Tech with 11 digs in the first match.

In the second matchup, the Lady Techsters stormed back from an early 8-4 deficit to take the second set 25-22. Two kills from senior Carter Mirich and a service ace from powered the Lady Techsters to five of the next six points, knotting the game at 9-9.

With the second set deadlocked at 22-22, another Mirich kill and Meers ace from behind the service line helped Tech secure a 25-22 victory in Set 2.

Freshman Morgan Smith slammed a kill down the middle to take a 10-9 advantage in the third set, but the Golden Eagles rallied with 14 of the next 18 points to regain a 23-13 lead. Southern Miss closed out the third set before nailing down the fourth set for the match victory.

Mirich paced the Lady Techsters with 11 kills. Zucco again led Tech in digs, recording 18 digs in the second match. Zucco’s double-digit dig totals in both matches of the doubleheader give her 10 or more digs in seven straight games for the Lady Techsters dating back to the 2019 season.

Seventeen student-athletes saw action in both of Tech’s matches on Saturday, featuring career debuts from all nine of LA Tech’s newcomers.

LA Tech will continue its 2020-21 season in the spring. Schedule details are to be announced at a later date.

Keep up with the Lady Techsters throughout the 2020-21 season by following @LATechVB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.