By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team was closer to victory over undefeated Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State than any team has been this season Sunday evening, claiming a pair of sets in an eventual 3-2 (25-21, 27-29, 20-25, 25-17, 15-10) loss to the Eagles in the Hooper Eblen Center.
A stalemate nearly to its entirety, Morehead State (9-0, 9-0) pulled away late in the opening game for a 25-21 win. Neither side was able to build more than a two-point lead in the set until the Eagles went on a 6-1 run to end it.
Tech bounced back in set two, outlasting the visitors in a dogfight that saw multiple big runs from both sides. The Eagles started out with a 5-1 lead, but the Golden Eagles were quick to answer with an 8-1 sprint of their own, taking a 9-6 advantage.
The purple and gold threw together another 5-1 run a few points later, leaping out to an 18-11 lead. The visitors called timeout and used a 10-0 response to take 21-18 lead. Tech dug deep tying things immediately with three-straight points. The two sides then duked it out until a Skylar Boom kill officially gave the Golden Eagles a 29-27 win.
With momentum on its side, Tech was quick out the gates in the third set, establishing a four-point lead early. Morehead would battle back to square things twice, but the Golden Eagles broke a 16-16 tie and never looked back on their way to a 25-20 win and the first lead by an opponent against the Eagles this season.
"We've been working on trying to start a little faster," Tech head coach Jeannette Waldo explained, "because we've had some slow starts in these last few matches. We've really been working on trying to do that and having the right mentality from the get-go. Sometimes we're more successful at it than others."
The Golden Eagles used another quick start in the fourth set, earning as large as a four-point lead. This time, the veteran-laden Morehead squad showed more consistency, hitting .241 and pull away late for a 25-17 win to even the match.
The fifth and decisive set was a slobber-knocker up to a 9-9 tie. The Eagles turned in four kills and a service ace down the stretch to win the game 15-10 and the match, 3-2.
"I think at this point," Waldo said, "it's less about the opponent on the other side and more about managing our side and making sure that we have the confidence to execute no matter what the score is. We just need to make sure we put ourselves in position to do that more consistently."
For the third time this season, Tech registered at least 20 blocks, collected an even 20 on the night while tying its season-high of 54 kills. The Golden Eagles blew past its season-high mark for digs, totaling 77 on the night.
Five Golden Eagles tallied at least 10 digs in the contest, including freshman libero McKenna Young, who led the match with a season-high 22. Emma Osterbur finished the night with 10 digs while Ali Verzani posted 13 and Madeline Furtado captured 12. Both Verzani and Furtado also scored eight kills on the night.
Junior setter Ashley Hand rounded out the group with 11 digs for her third double-double on the year. She led the purple and gold with 46 assists, her second-highest total of the year. Hand also posted a season-high five blocks. Middle blocker Taylor Dorsey concluded the night with 10 kills and five blocks with 12.5 points.
A pair of sophomores turned in the best performances of their careers in the match, starting with right-side hitter Morgan Gish. She hit .200 with a career-best 13 kills while chipping in four total blocks.
"We knew we were going to use Morgan a lot on the right side," Waldo said. "We challenged her in knowing she was going to get a lot of sets and have a lot of open court to work with. She had a great week in practice and she really built her credibility up even higher than it was. She executed well tonight."
Skylar Boom also turned in a career-high 13 kills in the contest, hitting .207 while tying her season-high of six blocks. She paced the Golden Eagles with 16.5 points.
"Skylar always finds a way to do some things that I don't know how she does them sometimes," Waldo expressed. "We knew that she had to move around and be active to try to open some space up for the other attackers. We say that sometimes you are the attacker and sometimes you're the carrot. This was a match that she didn't have to be the carrot as much. She got to make some points happen and she gets to have a little more fun with that."
The Golden Eagles will get a second crack at Morehead State on Monday, squaring off with the Eagles for the second-straight day in a 5:00 p.m. CT tilt in the Eblen Center.
File photo by Jim Dillon
