SAN ANTONIO – Led by double-digit kills from outside hitters Marijeta Runjic and Brianna McCulloch and middle hitter Kara Teal, the UTSA volleyball team rolled past Louisiana Tech in four sets by scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-16 and 25-18 on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Runjic paced UTSA (9-13, 7-3 C-USA) with a match-high 19 winners, while McCulloch racked up 15 and Teal added 13 in the winning effort. Junior setter Amanda Gonzales aided the electric offense with a match-high 45 assists. Defensively, the Roadrunners were guided by libero Emily Ramirez with 17 digs.
As a team, the Roadrunners outhit the Lady Techsters (7-18, 2-9 C-USA), .273 to .150, while committing just 15 errors on 143 attacks on the afternoon.
In the first set, LA Tech looked like the team to beat, racing out to a 13-4 edge. UTSA would mount a small rally, but could not recover from the early deficit, and dropped the first set, 25-16. LA Tech hit its highest percentage of the match in the opening frame (.342) while limiting the Roadrunners to their lowest mark of the day at .154.
The second set was a turning point in the match, however, as UTSA bounced back with a .229 hitting clip while committing just four errors, en route to a 25-19 triumph.
The third and fourth sets saw much of the same, with UTSA leading throughout and limiting the Lady Techsters to just 24 combined kills in the final frames. A kill from Teal wrapped up the match bringing UTSA its seventh Conference USA victory this season.
UTSA returns to action next weekend with a road swing at Florida Atlantic and FIU. Stayed tuned to @UTSAvolleyball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all news and updates on the Roadrunners.
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