By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech claimed two of the Tennessee Sports Writers Association's awards this week as football's Daniel Rickert was named Football Co-Defensive Player of the Week and volleyball's Jordan Karlen was named the Volleyball Player of the Week when the organization announced its winners on Tuesday.
Rickert forced two fumbles, recovered two and set up two of the Golden Eagles' three defensive touchdowns in a 38-13 victory at Robert Morris. In the second quarter, Rickert sacked the RMU quarterback and picked up the loose ball himself, going 20 yards for the touchdown. In the fourth, Rickert sacked the quarterback again as the ball got over to Aaron Swafford, who returned it 52 yards for the second of three defensive scores.
Rickert, an honorable mention for the FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week, had seven total tackles – five solo – with two tackles-for-loss, both sacks. Tech forced six turnovers in the game – the third-most in a single game in program history, while Rickert became the first Golden Eagle to force two fumbles since Aderick Moore at Eastern Illinois in 2019 and recover two fumbles since Trey Thompson against Jacksonville State in 2014.
He shared the weekly honor with Tennessee State's Terrell Allen, who continued his tear as he collected a career-high 10 tackles – seven solo – while posting an FCS season-best 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles-for-loss in a 43-20 win over Lindenwood. Allen also forced two fumbles, including one on a sack in the red zone that was later taken in for a score.
It was the third-straight multi-sack game for Allen, while he also set a new Tennessee State single-game record for tackles-for-loss. He leads the FCS in sacks (1.69 per game), tackles for loss (2.6 per game) and forced fumbles (0.62 per game). Allen was named the FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Karlen, the Ohio Valley Conference Setter of the Week, collected 103 assists and 27 digs as the Golden Eagles collected back-to-back 3-1 victories against conference foe Western Illinois. Karlen averaged 12.88 assists and 3.38 digs per set, while also collecting four kills, three service aces and a block. She had a career-high 53 assists in Thursday's victory, averaging 13.25 per set with 15 digs, then had 50 assists on Friday with 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
Photos | Thomas Corhern, Jim Dillon
