By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Resiliency was a key factor for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles secured their fifth straight victory with a 3-1 decision over longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State.
The purple and gold opened the match taking advantage of consistency issues by the Morehead State attack. The Golden Eagles (11-16, 7-9) broke ahead by as much as nine points and finished the job for a 25-20 win.
Tech tallied 12 kills with just three errors to begin the evening, while the visiting Eagles (16-12, 9-7) turned in 12 errors to match their 12 terminations. The Golden Eagles also notched three blocks for the effort.
Set two was an absolute war throughout, with neither side able to break away from the other until the purple and gold moved out to a five-point lead at 19-14. Morehead State kicked off a late rally, squaring the game at 23-23 before clinching the victory at 26-24.
The Cookeville crew took back control in set three, bursting out to a quick, 7-3 lead, one they would hold until a tie at 18-18. Morehead took their own advantage at 21-19, looking to move ahead in the match, but the Golden Eagles rallied for the first time on the night. Tech closed out the set with a 25-23 win.
Saving their best display of grittiness of the evening for the fourth set, the TTU squad fought a back-and-forth affair with the visitors from Morehead, Ky. The Eagles opened a 21-17 advantage over the Cookeville crew, but the Golden Eagles forced the visitors into three straight attack errors.
Rookie right side Ava Schubert poured on back-to-back kills to cap a 5-0 run for the lead. After MSU knotted the set at 22-22, Tech pushed back behind its trio of Preseason All-OVC Team honorees.
Sophomore setter Jordan Karlen assisted on two of the final three points, starting with a massive kill by graduate middle blocker Skylar Boom. The Louisville native immediately scored again for the purple and gold, turning back an Eagle attack with a huge solo block.
Junior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen, the third member of the honored trio, finished off the evening for the Golden Eagles, hammering home the winning kill for a 25-22 victory.
Karlen turned in a milestone as well as her 12th double-double on the night, racking up 41 assists and a career-high 22 digs. With her third assist of the match, the Janesville, Wis. native recorded her 2,000th career helper.
Schubert continued her inspired play during the team's five-match win streak, piling up a match-high 18 kills with a .244 attack and three blocks. Isringhausen delivered 15 terminations with 13 digs for her 14th double-double of the year. She also added a pair of blocks.
Boom bashed nine bombs for points and stopped four Morehead attacks, including two solo blocks. Fellow middle blocker Emma Pabon contributed three rejections to the mix.
Junior libero McKenna Young locked down a match-high 24 digs to go along with seven assists. With the performance, the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native moved into fifth place on Tech's all-time career list for digs, passing Laura Tyburski (2003-06) with 1,505 so far in her time in Cookeville.
Defensive specialist Aleeya Jones led the Golden Eagles with two service aces and tacked on seven digs. Junior outside hitter Bella Powell produced 10 digs to go along with seven kills.
The Golden Eagles close out their regular season with a pair of matches in the Hooper Eblen Center Friday and Saturday against Southeast Missouri. The weekend will open Friday with a 6:00 p.m. CT match. Saturday's finale will feature a 7:00 p.m. start and represent Senior Day.
Photo by Jim Dillon
