Tech volleyball falls in Wooo Pig Invitational
Louisiana Tech (3-4) dropped both matches on the final day of the Wooo Pig Invitational at Barnhill Arena on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Bulldogs fell to Rutgers (2-4) in the matinee and No. 21 Arkansas (6-0) in the nightcap by 3- 0 respective scores. The Bulldogs also lost Friday’s opening match of the invitational 3-0 to Little Rock.
LA Tech gave the Scarlet Knights all they could handle in the first two sets.
However, Rutgers would jump out to the lead early, but Tech would keep the set within three most of the way. With the score at 16-13 in favor of the Scarlet Knights, the Bulldogs reeled off four straight points to take their first lead of the match.
But Rutgers would retake the lead and have its biggest lead of the set at 24-19. LA Tech would fight off two straight set points, but Rutgers would close out the set 25-22.
The Bulldogs would find themselves behind again and having to fight their way back into set two.
Tech would have to fight off two set points again and find themselves with a set point of their own after three errors by the Scarlet Knights.
T h e B u l l d o g s couldn’t close it out, and Rutgers took it 27-25 with three consecutive points to clinch the set. Tech took a brief 5-4 lead in the third set but quickly fell apart. Rutgers finished the match on a 21-6 run to take the third set 25-11.
Arkansas was too much for the Bulldogs in the second match. The Razorbacks scored 12 points before the Bulldogs could get on the board.
Tech settled down and traded points the rest of the way, with Arkansas taking the set 25-9.
The Bulldogs showed life early in the second set and held a 3-1 advantage. Tech continued to hang around until Arkansas six straight to take the lead back at 127. The Razorback lead continued to grow until taking the set 25-13.
The Bulldogs continued to fight in set three, but Arkansas would take the final set 25-15.
Giulia Bonifacio led the Bulldogs with 9 kills in the first match, while Izabely Benjamin had a team-high 4 kills in the second.
Riley Steubing led the team on the defensive side of the ball with 18 digs, followed by 11.
“We knew this would be a tough weekend playing three solid teams in a row, including No. 21 ranked Arkansas, but unfortunately we didn’t bring the discipline nor physicality we needed to truly compete,” Tech head coach Amber Mc-Cray said.
“I thought there were several missed opportunities in the first two sets of our match against Rutgers where we could have taken control of the set and thus the match, but we failed to capitalize and found ourselves playing catch up all day.
“Arkansas came out firing on all cylinders from the start and we did not handle their aggressive serving nor their fast-paced offense well. There are a number of aspects of the game that were exposed for us this weekend that I’m thankful for an opportunity to go tackle in practice as we prepare for our home tournament up next,” McCray added.
“ The silver lining with this team is that we aren’t even close to scratching the surface on how good we can be, and I look forward to continuing to grow with them this week.”
The Bulldogs return home to host the Battle of the Boot held Friday-Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
LA Tech will take on Southeastern on Friday at 6 p.m. before hosting Northwestern State and Southern at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have not lost at home since Oct. 28, 2023 and have not lost at home to a non- conference foe since Sept. 7, 2023.
