By MATT DEARMAN

Sports Writer

Tech's volleyball woes continued this week as the Lady Techsters suffered home losses to the University of Tulsa and Rice University to extend their losing streak to 10 matches and fall to 5-19 on the year, 1-10 in the Western Athletic Conference.

"We have a competitive conference," Tech's head coach Heather Mazeitis said.

"It's been tough, but we have potential to play with these teams. I'm proud the girls have stuck together as a team."

The most recent of Tech's defeats came on Oct. 30, when the Lady Techsters fell to Rice (22-3, 10-1 WAC) by scores of 30-23, 30-17, 30-20 in the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech started the match on a strong note, taking control early in game one before Rice rallied back to take the lead and clinch the opening game.

Winning game one swung momentum toward Rice, and the Owls were able to coast through the next two games to claim the match.

Senior Heather Anderson had a solid defensive performance for Tech with 28 digs, while sophomore Ambra Hayes led the offense with 10 kills.

The meeting with Rice was also senior night for the Lady Techsters, marking the last home conference match for seniors Anderson, Natalie Shipp, Joy Okpa and Megan Rush.

Prior to the match with Rice, Tech suffered another home defeat by Tulsa (15-8, 4-7 WAC) on Oct. 28.

Tech put forth another solid performance in the first game but was unable to win, as the Golden Hurricane took the lead in the match with a 30-28 victory in game one.

Tulsa had little trouble with the Lady Techsters following the first game, as the Golden Hurricane won games two and three 30-24 and 30-20 to claim the victory over Tech for the second time this season.

Leading Tech's offense in the match was Hayes with 11 kills, followed by Okpa with eight and freshman Shannon Phillips with seven.

Anderson recorded 24 digs to lead the Lady Techsters defensively.

Tech volleyball will close out the season on the road with matches on Nov. 6 against Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Nov. 11 at the University of Texas-El Paso.

The WAC Championships will be held on Nov. 19 in Reno, Nev., but the Lady Techsters will not qualify for the tournament.