By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team fell to in-state and Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20), in its 2020-21 season opener Sunday in the Dunn Center.
Senior outside hitter and Preseason All-OVC selection Ali Verzani turned in a double-double and team-high 13.5 points. She also tied for the team lead with 11 kills and finished second among the Golden Eagles with 14 digs.
Tying with Verzani with 11 kills was sophomore middle blocker Skylar Boom, who matched her career-high total of 11 back in the OVC Tournament a season ago against Southeast Missouri. The Louisville native made just a single attack error, hitting a robust .579.
Setter Ashley Hand tallied 31 assists and 11 digs to record her first double-double of the year. The junior also hit .444 with four kills and zero attack errors. Verzani and junior middle blocker Taylor Dorsey each recorded two total blocks to lead the purple and gold.
Three Tech freshman made their collegiate debuts in the match, including Madolyn Isringhausen, Katie DiRaimondo and McKenna Young. A libero from Murfreesboro, Young paced the Golden Eagles with 15 digs while making her first start in a Tech uniform.
Isringhausen, an outside hitter from Edwardsville, Ill., gathered three kills and a solo block in her first taste of the collegiate game. Hailing from Manitowoc, Wis., DiRaimondo turned in a pair of kills and a solo block as an outside hitter.
"We are very encouraged by our first match against an opponent we don't see day-in and day-out," Tech head coach Jeannette Waldo said. "They have some powerful pin attackers and we have to do a better job at slowing them down in order for us to convert points."
The opening set was fought back-and-forth, with neither side taking more than a three-point advantage until late. Austin Peay eked it out to a 24-19 lead, but back-to-back kills from Morgan Gish and Boom closed the gap back to three. The Govs closed it out with a kill on the next point.
In set two, the purple and gold raced out to a 5-1 lead, but the Govs were quick to answer with a 5-0 run to take a 6-5 advantage. Tech responded in kind, jumping on top with a 14-9 lead after a Skylar Boom kill. Another Austin Peay response turned the remainder of the set into slobber knocker, with the home team coming out on top 25-22.
A couple of runs by the Govs in the third and final set saw Tech trailing by as many as 10 points, but the Golden Eagles refused to call it quits. The visitors clawed back to within four on two separate occasions before Austin Peay closed the match 25-20.
"It was obvious that we had some first-match jitters," Waldo expressed. "We are excited to have the opportunity to match up with Austin Peay again. You so rarely have a chance to play someone back-to-back and we plan to take full advantage of our second crack at it."
The Golden Eagles and Govs will square off for a second-straight day in Clarksville Monday evening. First serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT in the Dunn Center.
File photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
