By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Continued success found the Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team Friday, as the Golden Eagles split its opening day of the second Ohio Valley Conference weekend in Morehead, Ky.
After falling to undefeated UT Martin (22-8, 8-0) early in the morning, 5-0, the first-year Tech squad (5-9, 3-5) rallied to edge Lindenwood (8-10, 2-6) by a final score of 3-2.
"I'm really proud of how we battled with UT Martin," Tech head coach Zach Weinberg expressed. "We were executing exactly what we've been working on in practice and it allowed us to stay with UTM the whole dual. I wish we had been able to respond better once they made adjustments, but it was still a good fight."
The Golden Eagle victory over Lindenwood was particularly sweet Friday afternoon, as Tech avenged a close, 3-2 loss to the Lions from the first OVC weekend of competition in Chattanooga.
Tech's No. 4 duo of Morgan Gish and McKenna Young gave the purple and gold a strong footing early, besting their counterparts in straight sets, 21-12 and 21-19. The two were the first to finish on the day, providing a 1-0 lead.
Lindenwood evened the score at the No. 5 slot, with Katie DiRaimondo and Jazmine Yamilkoski fighting to the very end in an eventual 2-1 loss. The Lions cruised to a 21-11 victory in the opening set, but the Tech duo answered back with a 21-11 win of its own to square things up. Lindenwood took the point in the third set, besting DiRaimondo and Yamilkoski 15-12.
The purple and gold moved back out front following the completion of the No. 3 position, with Brooke Amann and Madolyn Isringhausen providing the spark. The Tech combo rolled to a straight-sets victory behind scores of 21-15 and 21-12 for a 2-1 lead.
Once again, the Lions responded to tie the dual, this time capturing a victory at the No. 1 slot over Tech's duo of Aleeya Jones and Bella Powell. Lindenwood powered its way to wins of 21-12 and 21-14 to make it a 2-2 match with everything hanging in the balance of the No. 2 position.
In that spot, Tech's Skylar Boom and Jordan Karlen fought valiantly, eking out a pair of two-point victories to come out on top in three sets. After taking the opener 21-19, the Golden Eagle pair fell in the second set, 21-15. With the entirety of the match hinging on the final race to 15, it was the Boom and Karlen that paced the way, edging the Lions 15-13 for a valuable OVC win.
"I'm so proud of the response from the morning in picking up the dual win against Lindenwood," Weinberg said. "Maddie and Brooke and Morgan and McKenna came out and took care of business in dominant fashion, and Jordan and Skylar were as clutch as it gets pulling out a tight, third set with the dual tied 2-2 to clinch the win. What a great moment for our team and a great jumping-off point heading into tomorrow's duals."
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the 2023 regular season Saturday, hitting the courts at 9:00 a.m. CT for a meeting with Chattanooga in the morning before concluding the weekend with a 3:00 p.m. tilt with Eastern Illinois.
File photo by Emily Armstrong
