By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – It was another successful day for the Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team Saturday, as the Golden Eagles wrapped up their inaugural weekend with a 1-1 day and 2-2 start to the season at the Berry College Tournament.
The purple and gold rallied back from a 4-1 loss to host Berry College to open the morning with a stellar showing in a 5-0 sweep over Bob Jones University to close out the weekend.
During the morning session, it was the No. 4 duo of Brooke Amann and McKenna Young securing Tech's lone, countable victory. The sophomores downed Olivia Mallow and Lura Underwood behind scores of 21-15 and a dominant 21-10.
Hitting the sand later in the morning, the Cookeville crew bounced back in a big way, making a clean sweep of Bob Jones, including the exhibition match-up.
Setting the tone early for the Golden Eagles was none other than the team of Amann and Young. After picking up their first win of the year in the first tilt of the day, the No. 4 combo dominated the Bruins' Maddy Golstrom and Anne Lloyd in straight sets, 21-5 and 21-5.
"I'm really pleased with another 1-1 day," Tech head coach Zach Weinberg said. "Despite coming out on the losing end, we competed really well with Berry. It was great to see McKenna and Brooke pick up their first win of the year, only to follow it up in the next dual against Bob Jones."
Moving into the No. 5 role for the second match of the day, Katie DiRaimondo and Emma Pabon turned in another Tech victory, besting Holly Taylor and Anna Fleming by scores of 21-16 and 21-10.
The No. 3 Golden Eagles duo of Madolyn Isringhausen and Jazmine Yamilkoski kept the momentum rolling with another straight-sets win, taking down Bob Jones' Andrea Villaverve and Emily Lewis with a 21-12 victory and 21-6 dominant display.
With the win clinched, Tech didn't let up, gathering yet another win in straight sets, this time from the No. 2 squad of Morgan Gish and Jordan Karlen. The purple and gold pair produced wins of 21-10 and 21-6 over Emma Riddle and Sophia Vosburgh to take a 4-0 lead.
Wrapping up the sweep was the No. 1 combo of Skylar Boom and Aleeya Jones. The two Golden Eagles battled back from an early 1-0 deficit after falling 21-18 in the first set, edging Timrz Cruz and Faith Blalock 21-19 and 15-10 for the victory.
In exhibition action, Olivia Taylor and Bella Powell teamed up for a pair of strong showings, earning wins of 21-4 and 21-8.
"Aleeya and Skylar battled to a three-set win in the ones, which was awesome to see them come out victorious after dropping a three-setter earlier in the morning," Weinberg explained. "Morgan and Jordan, 'Team MoJo' as we've started calling them, had a great weekend going 3-1 as well. Across the board, [assistant coach] Haley [DeSales] and I are thrilled with the significant improvement we saw from point one all the way through to the final point. We're excited to get back into practice next week and start preparing for Ohio Valley Conference play."
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will have a month to prepare for the first of two OVC Weekends of competition, kicking off league play at Chattanooga on Mar. 24 and 25. Tech will face Eastern Illinois in a 9:00 a.m. CT match and Lindenwood at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 24, followed by a 9:00 a.m. tilt with reigning champ UT Martin and a 5:00 p.m. affair against the Mocs on Saturday, Mar. 25.
File photo courtesy of Berry College Sports Information
