Utah Tech volleyball struggled in a four set loss to Tarleton State Thursday evening. 

What Head Coach Camilla Hafoka said: "I have to give it to Tarleton, they played a really good game and executed their scout. I thought Kate Hardy really stepped up for us tonight and performed.  Overall, we didn't compete today. When we don't compete it's hard to win matches. We have to bounce back because we have another match Saturday with Abilene Christian and we need to get back on track."
 
How it happened: Utah Tech started out slow in the first set as Tarleton State jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Kate Hardy established herself with two kills and a block with the help of Taela Laufiso to tie the match up at 6-6. Hardy came up with another kill and a service ace to push the momentum in favor of UT. Later in the set, tied 15-15, Utah Tech went on 6-2 run to take a 21-17 lead. 

Tarleton brought it back within one point by kills by Bridget Talia and Chayse Daugherty helped space the score out. Hardy came up with big back-to-back kills to end the first set with a 25-21 Trailblazer victory. 

Tarleton wasted no time getting an 11-5  jump on Utah Tech in the second set. The Trailblazers brought the score within one point but could never capture the lead and the Texans went on a 6-0 run to end the second set 25-16. 

The Texans had all the momentum going into the third set and it showed as they jumped out to a 11-3 lead over the Trailblazers. Utah Tech couldn't shift the momentum and lagged as Tarleton claimed the third set 25-11. 

Utah Tech found some life early in the fourth set starting things off with a 6-3 over Tarleton. The Texans pushed back and tied things up and took the lead with an 8-2 run. Trailing 20-13, Utah Tech came up with three consecutive points but couldn't finish as Tarleton took the fourth set 25-17 and the overall match in four. 

Killin' It: Hardy led the way with a season high of 16 kills from 23 attacks with only two errors for a stellar .609 percentage on the night. 

Taela Laufiso led the Trailblazers with 34 assists on the night. 

Diggin' it: Utah Tech had two Trailblazers record double digit digs. Mykenna Nelson and Daugherty each had 16 for UT. In total Utah Tech had 55 digs. 

Notes to know: Utah Tech is now 7-7 overall on the season and 1-4 in WAC action. 

Next Up: The Trailblazers will host Abilene Christian on Oct. 8 before hitting the road to Sam Houston on Oct. 13.