By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MOSCOW, Idaho – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (4-7) opened up play at the Idaho Volleyball Classic Thursday evening, falling to Oregon State (5-4) on the opening day of the event, 3-0. The Beavers defeated the Golden Eagles by finals set scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-22.
Oregon State set the tone early in set one, sneaking out to an early 10-2 lead behind three kills each from Mary-Kate Marshall and Lila Toner. Back-to-back points scored by the Golden Eagles cut the advantage to 13-5 midway through the first game, but two, three-point runs late in the set proved to be for the Pac-12 squad to take the early 1-0 lead.
Set two seemed destined for a dogfight early as the Golden Eagles snagged the early 2-0 advantage behind a kill and block from Shealene Little. The two sides traded points before Oregon State responded with four straight markers for a 5-3 lead. A Kellie Williams kill and Beaver miscue knotted things at 5-5, but OSU answered right back, reeling off six straight points for an 11-5 advantage.
Following a kill courtesy of Abigail Duncan, Oregon State took control with a 10-1 run for a 21-7 lead. The Golden Eagles closed set two out strong, outscoring the Beavers 5-4 down the stretch before finally falling 25-12.
The momentum showed following the break, as the purple and gold came out firing and beat back Oregon State for an early 6-2 lead in set three. After sitting tied at 2-2, TTU squad rolled off four straight points behind the serving of Kirsten Brugere, thanks to a couple of OSU miscues sandwiched by kills from Rachel Thomas and Williams.
The Beavers came roaring back, tying the match at 6-6 before the two sides threw body blows back-and-forth. Oregon State eventually pulled out to a 17-13 advantage, but the Golden Eagles had one final surge in store. Tech blitzed the dam for seven straight points thanks to back-to-back kills from Thomas followed by five consecutive attack errors by the Beaver offense.
With the Golden Eagles holding a 21-18 lead, OSU refused to go away, notching four straight points to recapture the advantage. Tech squared things at 22 with a kill from Williams, but Oregon State closed the match out with three straight points for a 25-22 win.
Thomas and Williams shared the lead in kills for the Golden Eagles on the night, each tallying seven with Thomas' .400 hitting percentage leading the way. Brugere totaled a team-high 10 digs as well.
Tech will get right back after it Friday afternoon with a 2:30 p.m. CT match against tournament host Idaho. The Golden Eagles will then conclude play in Moscow with a tilt against Wyoming at 6:40 p.m.
Photo by Jim Dillon
