By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was smooth sailing for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles completed the weekend sweep of new Ohio Valley Conference foe Southern Indiana with a second straight 3-0 win over the Screaming eagles.
The purple and gold clinched a 2-0 start to OVC play for a second consecutive year for the first time since the 1993 and 1994 campaigns. The Golden Eagles offense got better in each set throughout the match while the defense was solid and came up huge several times in keeping plays alive.
Tech accumulated 45 kills on the day while hitting .264 as a unit. The Cookeville crew also racked up 63 combined digs while punishing the other side with nine service aces.
The two sides battled back and fourth in a relatively sloppy first set, with the Golden Eagles prevailing 25-21. The Tech squad held the Screaming Eagles to just six kills and seven attack errors, but struggle with consistency of its own. The Golden Eagles tallied 11 terminations with nine errors on the attack, but used four blocks and four service aces to get the job done.
USI pushed the purple and gold in the second set, taking as large as a three-point lead at 12-9. Tech answered with a three-point run to tie things up and the two sides kept it even up to an 18-18 stalemate.
From that point on, the Golden Eagles took over, using a four-point streak to force a timeout by the visitors. Tech went on to take the second game 25-21 with a much-improved 16 kills and .364 attack percentage. Southern Indiana tacked on 15 terminations of its own, but struggled with five service errors.
The Screaming Eagles looked to get off to a fast start in the third set, jumping in front 8-5. The Golden Eagles regrouped on a service error from the opposition and never looked back, rattling off 11 straight points to take complete command of the match at 16-8.
That domination continued the rest of the set, as the purple and gold cruised to a 25-13 win to clinch the match. The Golden Eagles piled up a whopping 18 kills while hitting .395 in the set while holding USI to just eight of its own.
For the second match in a row, senior Taylor Dorsey led the Tech offense with 12 kills, hitting a healthy .417 along the way with a pair of blocks. Outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen just missed out on a double-double, producing nine kills and 15 digs.
Libero McKenna Young put together another strong showing on defense, finishing the night with a match-high 16 digs, as well as a pair of aces. Fellow defensive specialist Aleeya Jones added to the mix with 13 digs of her own.
Madeline Furtado had a huge third set, accounting for six of her eight kills on the day in the final game alone. Right side Morgan Gish hit .389 with nine kills while middle Skylar Boom smashed .455 with six terminations.
Brooke Amann had another spectacular night serving the ball, pouring in three service aces while also collecting six digs. Freshman setter Jordan Karlen performed at a great pace for a second straight match, recording 38 assists, a pair of aces, and eight digs.
The Golden Eagles will continue OVC play next week with a pair of evening tilts at in-state rival Tennessee State. The two sides will square off in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6:00 p.m. CT before finishing off the week with another 6:00 p.m. affair on Friday, Sept. 30.
Photo by Jim Dillon
