By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – It was nearly déjà vu for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles fell to SIUE at First Community Arena by a score of 3-1 after rolling in the opening set.
It seemed to follow the script from Friday evening's loss to the Cougars in Edwardsville, one where the purple and gold triumphed with a 25-17 win in the opening set before falling in three straight to finish the match.
In the opener, the Golden Eagles pushed out front quickly and cruised the rest of the way, easily claiming a 25-17 victory. Tech rocked out 16 kills while hitting .286 in the set while holding the Cougars to just 10 terminations with seven errors.
The purple and gold took the early advantage in set two, but SIUE battled back and flipped the script to move out front of a 16-16 tie. The Cougars clinched a 25-21 win to even the match by simply outhitting the Golden Eagles in the set, .367 to .235.
Again the Cookeville crew moved into an early lead in set three, only to see the home squad bounce back to overtake the top spot. After falling behind by seven points, the Golden Eagles closed the gap to just one at 23-22, but the Cougars snapped the Tech comeback in half by scoring the final two points for a 25-22 win.
Both sides traded the lead in the fourth set, with the Golden Eagles eventually forcing a draw at 19-19. SIUE pushed out to a 24-20 advantage before Tech responded one final time with a three-point swing. After calling a timeout to calm things down, the Cougars secured the final kill needed for a 25-23 win to clinch the match.
Edwardsville native Madolyn Isringhausen delivered another strong performance for the purple and gold, racking up a match-high 15 kills with seven digs. Middle blocker Emma Pabon registered a career-high 10 kills while hitting an impressive .364.
Graduate middle Skylar Boom just missed out on her first double-double of the year behind 10 kills and nine total blocks, including four solo stops. The Louisville native moved to seventh on Tech's all-time career charts for total blocks and remained 10th on the program's all-time career list for solo blocks.
Libero McKenna Young led the Golden Eagles with 19 digs and aided the attack with five assists. Sophomore setter Jordan Karlen notched her seventh double-double of the season with a match-high 41 assists and 12 digs.
Outside hitter Brooke Amann compiled season-highs of seven kills and 12 digs, tacking on three blocks to the effort as well. Rookie right side Ava Schubert turned in six kills while defensive specialist Aleeya Jones tallied eight digs.
The Golden Eagles return to the Hoop to host Eastern Illinois in a pair of tilts next weekend. Action will start Friday evening with a 6:00 p.m. CT match and conclude Saturday night with a 7:00 p.m. affair following the Tech football game against Southeast Missouri.
File photo by Jim DIllon
