Nov. 12, 2009

FRESNO, Calif.--The Louisiana Tech volleyball team will look to improve their chances of qualifying for the WAC tournament Thursday night when they take on sixth place Fresno State (12-13, 5-8 WAC) at 9 p.m. CT.

Louisiana Tech (15-16, 4-10 WAC) currently sits in eighth place in the conference while Fresno is in sixth. A win Thursday night would greatly increase the Techsters chances of making the conference tournament as only the top six teams qualify.

Tech's 15 wins this season are the most since 2005 win the team recorded 15 and the first double-digit win season since then. The Techsters won a combined 16 matches in the past three seasons before this year and have already recorded an 11 win turnaround from last season.

Tech is coming off a 3-2 win over Centenary on senior night earlier in the week. On the season the Techsters are led in kills by Nataliya Panova who has racked up 266 in 31 matches played and 10 double-doubles. Junior Lori Hunsucker leads the team with 427 while Kara Jones leads the team 121 total blocks on the year. Jones also leads the conference in solo blocks with 29.

Fresno State fell in four sets (25-14, 20-25, 21-25, 24-26) to Nevada on Monday. Kelli Parker recorded her first career double-double for the Bulldogs in the match with 16 kills and 11 digs.

With a win Tech would set the school record for WAC wins in a season with five. Louisiana Tech won the previous meeting between the two teams 3-0 in Ruston on Oct. 24. After battling Fresno Thursday night the Techsters will then travel to Reno, Nev. to take on Nevada on Saturday night at 9 p.m. CT.