Golden Eagles triumph over longtime OVC foe Morehead State, 3-1

Golden Eagles triumph over longtime OVC foe Morehead State, 3-1

By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Several strong performances lifted the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to a big, midweek victory over longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State Wednesday evening, as the Golden Eagles rallied from a 1-0 deficit to down the visiting Eagles, 3-1.

The victory marked the first for the purple and gold over Morehead State in their previous 10 meetings, snapping a nine-game skid dating back to the 2017 season. Tech racked up 10 more kills, seven more digs, and four more service aces during the match, easily claiming each of the final three sets of the night.

The two sides waged war early to open the match, with neither side gaining much traction until the visiting Eagles jumped out by three at 15-12. That advantage grew to as much as four as late as 24-20, but the Golden Eagle showed some fight. Tech rolled off three straight to cut the deficit to just one, but a timeout allowed Morehead State to regroup long enough to collect set point for a 25-23 win.

Early in the second set, the purple and gold slowly built up a three-point lead at 11-8. After a service error provided Morehead a quick respite, Tech setter Jordan Karlen took her squad on a journey. With her at the serve, the Golden Eagles piled up seven straight points for an 18-9 advantage.

Even a small run by the Eagles couldn't do much to sway the Cookeville crew, as the visitors followed it up with five consecutive errors to end the set. Tech took home a dominant, 25-15 win to even the match, backed by 11 kills, three aces, and two blocks. The team also held Morehead to just five kills and an -.094 attack percentage.

In set three, the Golden Eagles just quietly chipped away at the visitors, breaking an 8-8 tie with four straight points and adding to the lead two and three points at a time. The success led to another strong showing, with an eight-point lead eventually leading to a 25-18 decision. The purple and gold fired up 15 terminations in the set, hitting a solid .286.

Morehead showed plenty of fight early in the fourth set, snapping a 5-5 draw and moving in front by as many as four points at 14-10. Tech slowly worked back into the thick of things, eventually squaring things back up at 16-16 with a three-point run.

After some trading of points, Tech broke the final tie of the match at 18-18 with three consecutive tallies. The visiting Eagles collected one more point before the Golden Eagles rolled off four more in a row to capture the contest 25-19 and the match 3-1. Again, Tech delivered 15 kills, hitting .243 while limiting Morehead to an .081 attack.

Middle blocker Taylor Dorsey enjoyed a huge day on the attack, producing a season-high of 16 kills while hitting .371. The senior also led the purple and gold with three blocks. Karlen quarterbacked the offense to a great showing, piling up 43 assists to lead the way. She added eight digs and a kill to the mix as well.

Right side Morgan Gish joined the double-digit kills club with 11 of her own, hitting .292 along the way. Outside Madolyn Isringhausen chipped in 10 terminations with eight digs. Middle Skylar Boom connected for eight kills and a pair of solo blocks.

Libero McKenna Young provided a huge night defensively, totaling a season-high of 28 digs. She also delivered a pair of service aces to tie for the team lead. Matching her aces total was Aleeya Jones, who also finished with 10 digs in the match. Brooke Amann provided eight digs as well.

The Golden Eagles will continue its short homestand with a pair of tilts against SIUE this weekend. Tech will host the Cougars at 6:00 p.m. CT Friday evening and follow it up with a noon tilt Saturday.

Photo by Jim Dillon