By Luke DeRouen

Sports Writer

The Tech volleyball team experienced highs and lows on the road last week against Western Athletic Conference opponents Rice and Tulsa.

The Techsters were swept by the Owls Saturday, after Tech did some damage of its own in a sweep of Tulsa Oct. 30.

Rice, who swept the Bulldogs in their first meeting of the season, quickly proved their dominance of the Techsters with an outstanding .404 hitting percentage in the first game.

Tech nearly matched the Owls with a .333 hitting percentage in the game, but lost the well-played opener 30-24.

The Techsters did not fare as well in the final two games losing 30-19 and 30-22.

Lia Mora shined in the loss by posting her second career triple-double with 10 kills, 31 assists and 14 digs, giving her the only two triple-doubles in Tech history.

Cristine Sant'Anna led the Techsters with 18 kills and 19 digs.

The Techsters began the conference road week on a brighter note with a sweep of Tulsa by scores of 35-33, 34-32 and 30-26.

The Techsters fought through numerous ties in each of the three games to hold off the Golden Hurricane who would not go quietly.

Sant'Anna added to the pages of the volleyball record books when she recorded her 1,000th career dig, making her only the fourth person in Tech history to reach 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career.

Sant'Anna had 16 digs and eight kills in the game, while Joy Okpa led the Techsters with 13 kills.

Megan Rush added nine blocks and eight kills.

The Techsters are currently seventh in the WAC standings and are assured a berth in the conference tournament that takes place on Nov. 21 in Reno, Nevada.

The Lady Techsters will battle WAC foe Southern Methodist University at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Thomas Assembly Center. The match will follow a 2 p.m. football showdown between the Bulldogs and SMU.

The Techsters wrap up the 2003 regular season against the University of Texas-El Paso Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in the TAC.