By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Facing its stiffest competition of the season, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team made it a perfect 10-0 start to the 2024 campaign Friday afternoon before dropping its first contest of the year in the second match of the day at the Greensboro Invitational.
Competing in the final non-conference tournament of the season, the Golden Eagles (10-1), bested the host Spartans (4-6) on their home court to start the day, capturing a 3-1 win. Forced to turn right around and play a back-to-back with Marshall (8-4) immediately following the win over UNCG, the Golden Eagles fell for the first time on the year, 3-0.
It was a total team effort in the opening win over UNCG for the purple and gold, with Tech compiling 63 kills, 58 digs, eight service aces, and 8.0 total blocks to collect the team's 10th straight win to open the year. The 10 consecutive victories tied for the second-longest streak in program history, matching the 2022 team's effort and just two behind the 1983 squad's 12 straight dubs.
The Golden Eagles outlasted the Spartans in the opening set, eking out a 25-23 win with a tone-setting 17 kills and .306 hitting percentage. Tech made it a quick, 2-0 lead with the same formula in set two, amassing 18 terminations and a .455 attack to blow away with a 25-15 set win.
UNCG flipped the script to take a 25-16 victory in set three, with the Cookeville crew making nine attack errors to their one. The purple and gold right the ship enough in the final game, tacking on 16 more kills for a 25-22 conquest.
Junior setter Jordan Karlen quarterbacked the offense to a .252 attack percentage as a unit, doling out 48 assists across the four sets. She also tallied a season-high seven kills and 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the year.
Senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen paced the team with 14 kills, chipping in two service aces, two blocks, and five digs as well. Fellow senior outside Bella Powell tacked on 13 terminations of her own, smashing .310 with total rejections.
Rookie outside Alayna Pierce rounded out the Tech trio with double-figure kills, registering 13 swats to go with a season-high 13 digs and her first career double-double. Senior libero McKenna Young rocked out a match-high 17 digs while adding five assists and an ace to the mix.
Senior middle blocker Emma Pabon contributed six kills and three blocks to the effort while fellow senior middle Elena Wallace delivered three blocks of her own. Rookie middle Mallory Jenkins notched a pair of stops and six kills as well.
In match two of the day, Marshall took advantage of the back-to-back matches by the Golden Eagles, using Tech attack errors and blocks to take the win. The Thundering Herd picked up set wins of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-18 to hand the purple and gold its first defeat of the season.
Tech matched or topped Marshall in kills in each set, but its own, unforced mistakes proved too costly to overcome. The Golden Eagles tallied 10 terminations and nine errors in the opener and seemed in better shape in the second, producing 12 kills with just four miscues.
The Thundering Herd landed five aces in the second set, however, making up the difference while making just two attack errors of their own. Tech's count went back to 10 kills and nine mistakes in the final set, as Marshall accounted for 12 terminations for the win.
Isringhausen still shined throughout the loss, slamming down an eye-popping 14 kills to lead the match while hitting .344. She also scooped four digs and delivered another ace. Karlen totaled 25 assists and six digs while Young led the team with seven digs. Jenkins chipped in six kills and a block while Powell added five kills.
The purple and gold wrap up the Greensboro Invitational Saturday morning with a 10:00 a.m. CT test against Georgetown.
File photo by Jim Dillon
