Week 1 of the college volleyball season kicked off for Louisiana Tech, NSU, and Grambling. Centenary will play their first exhibition match on Saturday against Southern Arkansas.
Louisiana Tech headed to Jonesboro, Arkansas to compete against North Alabama, Arkansas State, and Little Rock at the Arkansas State Invitational and was the only local team to get a win this week. Northwestern State went to Mississippi State to compete in the Stark Vegas Invitational. Grambling headed south to Hammond to compete against some stiff competition at the Southeastern Louisiana Invitational. Stay tuned to Under The Radar NWLA for coverage of our five local colleges in Northwest Louisiana.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25
North Alabama 3, Louisiana Tech 2 (25-23, 25-17, 15-25, 17-25, 15-11)
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs volleyball squad had a comeback from being down 2-0 to force a fifth game. North Alabama pulled out the fifth set 15-11.
Jailen Hurley took 12 kills for the Bulldogs. Courtney Carter also had double-digit kills with 11. Lauren Albrecht had 19 assists. Grace Krohn was right behind with 18 assists. Grace Luevanos and Albrecht each had 5 aces. Ashley Taylor and Hurley each had 4 blocks. McKenzie Douglas finished with 20 digs.
Arkansas State 3, Louisiana Tech 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-23)
Host team Arkansas State took all three close sets to push Louisiana Tech to 0-2.
Jailen Hurley had 9 kills for the Bulldogs. Grace Krohn was the top assist Bulldog with 9. Grace Luevanos and Izabely Benjamin each had 2 aces. Ashley Taylor had the lone block and three assisted blocks. McKenzie Johnson finished with 15 digs.
Southeastern LA 3, Grambling 0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-14)
The Tigers fell in three sets to the host team in Southeastern Louisiana Tournament.
Zyonn Smith led the Lady Tiger with 9 kills. Ana Calderon helped with 15 assists. Naveah Scott had the sole solo block. Raniya Brown had 4 assisted blocks. Nyah Ellis and Smith each had 10 digs.
UTEP 3, Grambling 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16)
Grambling came up short in their second match against the Lady Miners in straight sets.
Amber Johnson led the Lady Tigers with 8 kills. Ana Calderon and Jaida Felix each collected 10 assists. Neveah Scott, Nya Blair, Calderon, and Felix each had an ace. Scott was on the defense with 2 solo blocks. Amber Johnson and Maggie Plush each helped on defense with 2 assisted blocks. Nyah Ellis kept the plays rolling with 11 digs.
Eastern Kentucky 3, NSU 1 (25-20, 25-17, 27-29, 25-17)
The Lady Demons fell in their first match of the season to Eastern Kentucky in Starkville, Mississippi at the StarkVegas Classic. The Lady Demons won the extended third set but fell in the fourth set.
Teresa Garza collected 10 kills for NSU. Piper Boydston led the Lady Demons with 18 assists. Symone Wesley and Garza each had an ace. Tessa Gerwig had 2 blocks. Rhegan Thompson had 6 block assists. Ashlyn Svoboda led with 15 digs.
Louisiana 3, NSU 0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-20)
The Lady Demons were swept in straight sets by the Ragin Cajuns but didn’t go quietly. UL needed extra points in the first set while NSU pushed it to 20 points in the last two sets
Breanna Burrell, Reaghan Thompson, and Tessa Gerwig each had 7 kills. Piper Boydston and Amina Attra each had an ace. Burrell and Thompson each had 2 blocks. Amina Attra helped out with 16 assists. Ashlyn Svoboda kept the ball moving with 16 digs.
Saturday, August 26
Louisiana Tech 3, Little Rock 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-21)
The Bulldogs secured their first win of the season with a straight-sets win over the Little Rock Lady Trojans. Tech dominated with a defensive effort that saw 10 blocks in the match. Six of those blocks came from Luisa Araujo while four came from Ashley Taylor and Courtney Carter. Jailen Hurley accumulated 10 kills. McKenzie Johnson served 3 aces for the Bulldogs. Grace Krohn (13) and Lauren Albrecht (10) reached double-digit assists in the win. Johnson kept the ball alive with 18 digs.
Washington 3, Grambling 0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-9)
The Grambling Lady Tigers faced a PAC-12 rival at the Southeastern Tournament as they dropped to 0-3 with a 3-0 loss to the Washington Lady Huskies.
Zyonn Smith led the Lady Tigers with 7 kills. Jaida Felix served as the only ace for Grambling. Felix had her third consecutive match with double-digit assists. Naveah Scott had two blocks. Nyah Ellis tried to keep the offense going with 14 digs.
Mississippi State 3, NSU 0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-20)
The Lady Demons (0-3) fell prey to the SEC foe Mississippi State in the final match at the Stark Vegas Classic in straight sets.
Tessa Gerwig finished with 7 kills for the Lady Demons. Jordan Gamble and Makenna Tyron each recorded an ace. Piper Boydstun gave 10 assists. Ashlyn Svoboda helped with 11 digs.
Next Week Schedule
NSU v. UCLA (Mon, Aug 28, 12:30 pm, ESPN+)
NSU v. Jackson State (Tues, Aug 29, 6 pm, ESPN+)
Grambling at Louisiana-Monroe (Tues, Aug 29, 6 pm)
Centenary v. Millsaps (Fri, Sept 1, 12 pm) (Country Cajun Classic)
NSU at Washington State (Fri, Sept 1, 2 pm) (Cougar Challenge)
Louisiana Tech v. Presbyterian (Fri, Sept 1, 3pm)(UTA Invitational)
Grambling v. University of North Dakota (Fri, Sept 1, 3:00 pm) (ACU Tournament)
Centenary v. Howard Payne (Fri, Sept 1, 5 pm) (Country Cajun Classic)
NSU v. Tulsa (Fri, Sept 1, 7 pm) (Cougar Challenge)
Louisiana Tech v. Incarnate Word (Sat, Sept 2, 1 pm) (UTA Invitational)
Grambling v. Providence (Sat, Sept 2, 4 pm) (ACU Tournament)
Centenary v. Texas A&M – Texarkana (Sat Sept 2 4pm)(Country Cajun Classic)
NSU v. Drake (Sat, Sept 2m 5 pm) (Cougar Challenge)
Louisiana Tech v. UT Arlington (Sat Sept 2, 6 pm) (UTA Invitational)
Centenary v. Belhaven (Sat Sept 2, 6:30 pm) (Country Cajun Classic)
Grambling v. Abilene Christian (Sat, Sept 2, 7 pm) (ACU Invitational)
NWLA COLLEGE LEADERS
Kills
Jailen Hurley, Louisiana Tech, 31
Tessa Gerwig, NSU 21
Grace Luevanos, Louisiana Tech 21
Teresa Garza, NSU 20
Zyonn Smith, Grambling 18
Reaghann Thompson, NSU 17
Kai Williams, Grambling 16
Izabely Benjamin, Louisiana Tech 16
Courtney Carter, Louisiana Tech 15
Breanna Burrell, NSU 15
Assists
Grace Krohn, Louisiana Tech 40
Piper Boydstun, NSU 39
Amina Attra, NSU 34
Lauren Albrecht, Louisiana Tech 33
Ana Calderon, Grambling 33
Jaida Felix, Grambling 31
McKenzie Johnson, Louisiana Tech 18
Ashlyn Svoboda, NSU 12
Nyah Ellis, Grambling 7
Symone Wesley, NSU 4
Aces
Lauren Albrecht, Louisiana Tech, 8
McKenzie Johnson, Louisiana Tech 7
Izabely Benjamin, Louisiana Tech 7
Grace Luevanos, Louisiana Tech 7
Jaida Felix, Grambling 3
Neveah Scott, Grambling 2
Grace Krohn, Louisiana Tech 2
Ana Calderon, Grambling 2
9 Tied with 1 ace
Blocks Solo
Neveah Scott, Grambling 4
Jordan Gamble, NSU 3
Tessa Gerwig, NSU 2
Ashley Taylor, Louisiana Tech 2
Teresa Garza, NSU 1
Luisa Taylor, Louisiana Tech 1
Reaghan Thompson, NSU 1
Breanna Burrell, NSU 1
Blocks Assist
Reaghan Thompson, NSU 11
Ashley Taylor, Louisiana Tech 10
Luisa Araujo, Louisiana Tech 8
Courtney Carter, Louisiana Tech 8
Teresa Garza, NSU 6
Jailen Hurley, Louisiana Tech 5
Symone Wesley, NSU 4
Jordan Gamble, NSU 4
4 Tied with 3 block assists
Digs
McKenzie Johnson, Louisiana Tech 53
Ashlyn Svoboda, NSU 42
Nyah Ellis, Grambling 35
Zyonn Smith, Grambling 29
Grace Krohn, Louisiana Tech 28
Grace Luevanos, Louisiana Tech 27
Izabelly Benjamin, Louisiana Tech 26
Lauren Albrecht, Louisiana Tech 24
Piper Boydstun, NSU 23
Symone Wesley, NSU 21
Points
Jailen Hurley, Louisiana Tech 33.5
Grace Luevanos, Louisiana Tech 29.5
Teresa Garza, NSU 25
Izabely Benjamin, Louisiana Tech 24.5
Tessa Gerwig, NSU 24
Reaghan Thompson, NSU 23.5
Zyonn Smith, Grambling 19.5
Courtney Carter, Louisiana Tech 18.5
4 Tied with 17 points
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