By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn. – It was a historic day on the sand for the Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team Thursday, as the Golden Eagles picked up their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Tournament victory to open the league's postseason event.
Squaring off with No. 5 seed Lindenwood (8-13) in the OVC's Tournament opening dual, the No. 4 Tech squad looked good on its way to a 3-1 win, advancing to a match-up with No. 1 UT Martin later in the day. The Golden Eagles (7-11) fell to the regular-season champion Skyhawks (25-8) in the second tilt of the afternoon, a 3-0 decision in favor of the league's top program.
Matching up with the Lions for the third time this season, the purple and gold claimed the rubber match to own bragging rights for the year. Lindenwood took home the win in the first meeting, 3-2, but the Tech crew bounced back for a 3-2 win in the rematch last weekend.
On Thursday, a heroic rally helped set the tone for the Golden Eagles for the rest of the day. Competing at the No. 4 position, McKenna Young and Morgan Gish withstood an early deficit in the open set and fought tooth-and-nail for a huge win.
Outlasting their Lion counterparts in the longest set in program history, the duo eked out a 30-28 victory. Young and Gish made sure not to waste the hard-fought win, putting the Golden Eagles up 1-0 in the match with a 21-16 victory in the second set.
"What a historic day taking home the first postseason win in program history in our first crack at it," Tech head coach Zach Weinberg expressed. "I'm really proud of how we played and battled adversity against Lindenwood. Morgan and McKenna pulled out a marathon first set, even without playing their best volleyball, and that springboarded them to staying in control to take that match."
Lindenwood evened things up one point each following the outcome of the No. 5 match-up, despite a strong first set put forth by Tech's Jazmine Yamilkoski and Katie DiRaimondo. The Golden Eagle pair picked up the first postseason set win in program history, besting the Lions 21-18. Lindenwood bounced back for decisions of 21-15 and 15-9 to tie things up.
Tech's No. 2 pairing of Aleeya Jones and Bella Powell put the purple and gold back on top with a big win in straight sets. The two all but cruised to a 21-13 victory in the opening set before clinching a point with a 21-16 dub.
Brooke Amann and Madolyn Isringhausen drove the truck home for the Golden Eagles at the No. 3 slot, besting the Lindenwood duo 21-15 to open the match-up. The Tech duo polished off the program's first postseason win, delivering a 21-13 triumph in the second set.
"Maddie and Brooke handled business against the 3's just as they have all season," Weinberg explained, "and it was great to see Bella and Aleeya play to their full potential and win in the 2's. I'm really proud of the way we handled the task at hand and picked up the win."
Competing for a second time on the day, Tech fell to OVC Tournament host UT Martin in a 3-0 decision. The Skyhawks claimed straight-set wins in the Nos. 1, 4, and 5 positions to earn their 25th win on the year.
"Martin went to a different level tonight and we didn't have a response for them," Weinberg said. "They're the No. 1 seed for a reason and tonight, we weren't good enough to compete with them."
The Golden Eagles will continue on in OVC Tournament action Friday morning, looking to avoid elimination with a 10:00 a.m. CT dual against No. 6 seed Eastern Illinois. The purple and gold finished 2-0 against the Panthers this season with a pair of 4-1 victories.
"Now, we look to a good Eastern Illinois team in the morning that pushed us to the brink in Chattanooga last week," Weinberg added. "We'll be ready for them and will do our best to move on in this championship."
Photo courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information
