By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It was a heartbreaker for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Friday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to in-state rival Tennessee State in both teams' Ohio Valley Conference opener in the Hooper Eblen Center, 3-2.
Playing shorthanded throughout the match, the purple and gold went back and forth with the defending OVC Tournament champions throughout the night. Tech looked particularly strong in the opening set, cruising to a 25-18 victory. The Golden Eagles piled up a whopping 17 kills while hitting .256 in the opener, holding the Tigers to just seven terminations despite falling behind 9-4 early.
TSU flipped the script in the second set, besting the purple and gold, 25-17, while hitting .345 and tallying three blocks. Tech struggled with consistency in the set, making nine attack errors and hitting .053.
In set three, Tech seemed to be well on its way to a 2-1 lead in the match after breaking a 12-12 tie and taking a 24-20 lead down the stretch. Tennessee State delivered an impressive rally, compiling six straight points to win 26-24 and shock the Tech squad.
The sudden loss didn't seem to affect the Golden Eagles much, as the Cookeville crew rebounded to break an 11-11 tie in the fourth set. Tech dominated down the stretch, using a 14-5 run to square the match at 2-2 following a 25-16 victory.
The Tigers looked like a completely different team in the fifth and final set, using an eye-popping combination of four blocks, eight kills, just one error, and a .467 attack percentage to win 15-5. The Golden Eagles struggled on the attack, making seven mistakes while securing one kill.
Despite the loss, there were a number of individual highlights for the purple and gold on the night, none shining brighter than freshman Jillian Shaneyfelt. Brought to Cookeville as a libero and defensive specialist, the rookie took over the setter role due to a pair of injuries among the Golden Eagle roster and delivered an incredible performance.
Shaneyfelt tallied a whopping 51 assists in the match, including 50 through the first four sets alone. She also registered a team-high 16 digs to secure her first career double-double.
Picking up her team-leading fifth double-double of the year was outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen. The junior registered a season-high 19 kills and locked down 14 digs of her own. Fellow outside Bella Powell tallied her second double-double of the campaign, matching Isringhausen with a season-best 19 kills to go along with 11 digs and two blocks.
Freshman Ava Schubert tied her season-high showing of 12 kills in the match while chipping in six digs and two blocks of her own. Middle blocker Skylar Boom led the purple and gold with five total rejections and added six kills to the mix. Libero McKenna Young collected 13 digs while Aleeya Jones produced eight.
Tech will look to even the score with the Tigers on Saturday, when the Golden Eagles host TSU in a rematch in the Hooper Eblen Center at noon CT. Admission for all TTU volleyball matches is free and open to the public.
Photo by Jim Dillon
