By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team heads back out on the road looking to continue its current hot streak, visiting defending Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champion Southeast Missouri this weekend for a pair of critical matches.
The Golden Eagles and Redhawks will square off in a 6:00 p.m. CT affair Friday evening before wrapping up the series Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. match-up. Both matches are slated to be streamed live on ESPN+.
THE MATCHUPS
Friday, October 21 – at Southeast Missouri, 6 p.m. | Live Video | Live Stats
Saturday, October 22 – at Southeast Missouri, 2 p.m. | Live Video | Live Stats
TEAM NOTES
The purple and gold were spectacular last week, racking up a trio of wins to move to 6-3 in league play. Tech picked up its first win over Morehead State since 2017, defeating the visiting Eagles 3-1. The Golden Eagles followed the big win with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over SIUE, backed by a number of impressive performances.
For the third time this season, freshman Jordan Karlen took home both OVC Setter and Newcomer of the Week honors, earning the recognition behind 11.50 assists per set. Her play led Tech to a .249 attack percentage as a unit. She currently ranks second in the OVC in both assists per set (9.61) and total assists (682).
Picking up her first career OVC Offensive Player of the Week honor, middle blocker Taylor Dorsey was pretty much unstoppable on the attack. She smashed .425 while accumulating 38 kills and 11 total blocks in 10 sets. In Friday's match, she hit .579 to for the fourth-highest attack percentage in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era in Tech history. Dorsey currently paces the league with a .356 hitting percentage.
Fellow middle Skylar Boom was just as potent offensively as her teammate, compiling 30 terminations with a .443 attack and 11 rejections of her own. In the same Friday-night tilt, she delivered the third-highest attack percentage in a three-set match in the rally era for Tech, crushing .588 on the night. The junior's .298 hitting percentage this season ranks fifth in the OVC.
Outside Madolyn Isringhausen was very impressive and efficient during the week, hitting .277 with 31 kills while racking up 20 digs and three blocks. The sophomore ranks sixth in the conference with 3.01 kills per set, 235 total kills, and 0.36 service aces per set. She is fifth with 28 total aces and 3.54 points per set and fourth with 276.0 total points.
Libero McKenna Young leads the purple and gold with 3.68 digs per set, a mark that ranks eighth in the league. Her 287 total digs rank sixth in the OVC while her 0.31 aces per set rank 10th. She's tied for sixth with 24 total aces.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
(2022 record: 11-11, 6-4 OVC | Series Record: 14-44 | H: 10-17 | A: 3-23 | N: 2-4)
Southeast Missouri picked up three wins last week before falling on the road in midweek action on Tuesday. Last week, the Redhawks upended Little Rock 3-0 during a midweek tilt before taking 3-0 and 3-1 wins at Southern Indiana. SEMO stayed on the road for a single tilt with Little Rock on Tuesday, falling 3-2 after leading 2-0 early.
Senior libero Tara Beilsmith was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week for the third-straight week, announced by the league on Monday. For Beilsmith, it is her league-leading sixth OVC Defensive Player of the Week award out of eight weeks this season. She ranks first in the league and second in the NCAA with 6.11 digs per set this season.
Mackenzie Meehan leads the OVC with 1.22 blocks per set, totaling 78.0 in 64 sets on the year to rank fifth overall. Zoey Beasley ranks fourth in the league with 3.24 kills per set, racking up 266 to rank second overall on the year.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles visit Morehead State for a midweek tilt next Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 5:00 p.m. CT. Tech then hosts Little Rock on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Photo by Emily Armstrong
