By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – In stunning and inspiring fashion, the Tennessee Tech volleyball delivered a remarkable comeback victory over Little Rock on Friday evening, as the Golden Eagles rallied to win the final three sets in a 3-2 triumph in their first-ever trip to Jack Stephens Center and the campus of Little Rock.
Securing the team's first Ohio Valley Conference win of the year required an incredible surge of resiliency by the Golden Eagle attack, as well as a heroic performance off the bench by setter Jordan Karlen. The purple and gold struggled with consistency in the first set, posting just eight kills with nine errors in the 25-13 win for the Trojans.
Little Rock crept out to a 17-11 lead in set two when Tech head coach Jeannette Phillips went to the bench and called on the league's reigning Setter of the Year and Freshman of the Year. After sitting out the opening two matches of OVC play due to an injury, Karlen (a game-time decision heading into the weekend) provided a spark for the Golden Eagles that resulted in five kills and just one error for the remainder of the set. The Trojans prevailed in the end, 25-19, taking a 2-0 lead.
The purple and gold used the adrenaline rush of their quarterback returning to the lineup to start set three, exploding out of the gates for a 9-2 lead. Little Rock closed to within four points before the Golden Eagles just pushed away and rocked its way to a 25-13 victory to force a fourth set.
Karlen accounted for an insane 16 assists on all 16 of the team's kills to help stave of defeat, leading to a .464 hitting percentage for the Tech unit. Middle blocker Skylar Boom clearly excelled, smashing .714 with five kills while fellow middle Emma Pabon went a perfect 4-for-4 on attacks in the set.
Tech carried the intense momentum into set four, pushing out to an 11-7 lead before the Trojans responded to take a two-point lead of their own at 17-15. The two sides fought tooth-and-nail down the stretch, deadlocking the score at 23-23. The purple and gold closed things out with a huge kill from outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen and a solo block by Skylar Boom.
The 25-23 win to force a fifth and final set saw the Golden Eagles soar to a mighty 20 kills while hitting .292 as a squad. Karlen upped her performance to an eye-popping 18 helpers in the fourth, leading to freshman right side Ava Schubert securing seven kills on a .417 attack percentage and Isringhausen smashing six strikes for scores on .357 efficiency.
The tides changed quickly in the match as the Golden Eagles rode the train of success into a 9-3 lead in the fifth. The Trojans turned in one final surge to close the gap to 12-10, but the purple and gold showed no doubt down the stretch, cementing a comeback for the record books with a 15-11 victory in the set.
It marked Tech's first win after falling in the first two sets since accomplishing the feat in the program's first-ever trip to Lindenwood last season on Oct. 7. It also represented the third time in the past three seasons the Golden Eagles had earned a three-set, walk-off win.
Karlen was the star of the night in her return to the floor, locking down 44 assists in just four, official sets of action. While she technically averaged 11.00 assists per set for the night, in reality, the sophomore from Janesville, Wis. averaged more along the lines of 12.57 assists over three-and-a-half sets.
Isringhausen tied her season-high with 19 kills and registered a career-high 21 digs in the match, hitting .220 along the way. She chipped in a pair of blocks and a service ace as well. Libero McKenna Young led the match with a season-best 22 digs, her third match of 20 or more this season. The junior also led the team with three aces.
Boom collected a season-high 13 kills while hitting .370 and piling up three total blocks. For the second straight match, Pabon set a new career-high in kills with seven on the evening. She hit .220 with a trio of rejections.
Schubert turned in her fourth straight match with double-digit kills, producing 11 with three blocks of her own. Outside hitter Bella Powell tacked on 11 kills, two aces, eight digs, and two blocks to the Tech effort as well.
The Golden Eagles will lock horns with the Trojans once more Saturday afternoon, with a 2:00 p.m. CT rematch scheduled at the Jack Stephens Center.
File photo by Jim Dillon
