By MATT DEARMAN

Sports Writer

Tech volleyball suffered a three-game sweep by Southern Methodist University in Dallas on Nov. 6, just four days after snapping a 10-match losing streak by defeating Northwestern State University.

"This team has shown character this season," Tech's head coach Heather Mazeitis said. "It's tough to go through a season like this one, but the girls have hung in there. SMU is good, and we did some things well against them."

The Techsters (6-20, 1-11 WAC) started the match with SMU (11-12, 4-9 WAC) strong, but a Lady Mustang rally late in game one opened the gap, as SMU claimed the game 30-24.

Tech's struggle to finish well carried over into the second game, where the Techsters led until the twentieth point, and another SMU rally gave the Lady Mustangs a 30-20 victory to go on top two games to none in the match.

The final game proved to be more lopsided than the first two, as SMU held a comfortable lead throughout the game and claimed a 30-19 victory to complete the sweep.

Senior Joy Okpa led the Techsters offensively with eight kills, while senior Heather Anderson anchored the defense with 19 digs. The Techsters also posted a solid 14 blocks in the contest.

Prior to facing the Lady Mustangs, Tech snapped a month-long losing skid with a dominating victory of Northwestern State on Nov. 2 in the Thomas Assembly Center.

"It's great to get a win like we did against Northwestern," Mazeitis said. "We were superior athletically. This team has come a long way since I've been here."

The Demons (12-17) played Tech close in the early parts of game one, but a sound performance by the Lady Techsters ultimately secured the game for Tech with a 30-27 score.

After gaining breathing room by winning game one, the Techsters shifted into high gear and jumped on top early in game two with an 11-3 advantage that later turned into a 30-23 victory.

Tech's explosiveness carried over into the final game as well, where it ran off with an 11-4 lead early and was able to coast to a 30-22 win in the third game to sweep NSU in the match.

The match was the last time Tech's four seniors will play in the TAC, and they all put out solid performances in the contest. Natalie Shipp recorded 10 digs and seven kills, Megan Rush tallied seven blocks and nine kills, Okpa recorded a team-leading 14 kills and Anderson racked up 19 kills in the match.

Also displaying exceptional performances were freshmen Shannon Phillips with 13 kills and Jillann Walker with 11 digs.