Southern Miss
Louisiana Tech
Golden Eagles Open Road Trip at LA Tech
11/7/2018 8:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team will embark on its final road swing of the 2018 season as they head to Louisiana Tech for a Thursday night contest. It's the second meeting between the two teams in 2018, with Southern Miss dumping the Lady Techsters in straight sets on Oct. 14. The first serve is set for 7 p.m. in Ruston, La.Â
The last time out
The Golden Eagles wrapped up their home slate on Monday night with a convincing win (25-10, 27-29, 25-12, 25-5) over Alabama A&M, the SWAC leaders. The squad jumped out to an early lead behind Ashley Berry's five first-set kills en route to allowing just 10 points. The Lady Bulldogs, however, sweated out three set points in the second set to tie the match at one. After that, the Golden Eagles cruised past the Lady Bulldogs, including allowing just five points in the games final set.Â
The five points allowed were the fewest by a Southern Miss volleyball team in a 25-point set since Sept. 16, 2008, against Alcorn State. Berry ended her night with 12 kills and four blocks. Seniors Alexis Coombs and Kylie Grandy posted 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Coombs upped her season hitting percentage to .366 after hitting .600 against the Lady Bulldogs. In her final match at Reed Green Coliseum, Sarah Bell finished with 37 helpers, four service aces, five kills, six digs and one block.Â
Scouting LA Tech
LA Tech enters the contest riding an 11-game losing streak, which Southern Miss contributed to. Junior Kaitlyn Adams leads the way with 240 kills, but freshman Lara Hendricks' 222 kills are not far off. Abigail Hildenbrad, a freshman, leads the squad in assists at 746, but was limited to just 24 against the Golden Eagles in October.Â
Defensively, Alyssa Zucco has 341 digs and Carter Mirich has 226. Madeline Davis, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, has a team-high 95 blocks and also has 209 kills. The lone LA Tech C-USA win came against Middle Tennessee in late September.Â
What's at stake
With a playoff spot locked up, the Golden Eagles are playing for seeding purposes. They are currently in seventh place behind FIU, but ahead of Charlotte. Dating back to 2009, Southern Miss has won the last 13 meetings against the Lady Techsters.Â
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The Stream:Â http://conferenceusa.com/watch/?Live=6365
The Stats:Â https://latechsports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
