By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Returning to form with an electric, offensive attack, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team made quick work of its rematch at Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon, picking up a 3-0 win to head back to Cookeville with a 1-1 split on the weekend.
The Golden Eagles (16-4, 5-3) piled up 45 kills while hitting .266 on the attack, dialing up more terminations over three sets than in Friday's four-set loss. On the other side of the net, Eastern Illinois (6-13, 2-7) struggled to find any consistency with its own attack, totaling just 25 strikes with 22 attack errors.
While the purple and gold held control of the match the majority of the day, the effort did require an early comeback in the opening set. The Panthers jumped in front right out of the gate, taking a 4-0 lead an pushing it out to five points at 9-4.
Tech answered right back, dropping a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the day. It was a battle from that point up to a 19-19 draw, and then the Cookeville crew took over. Using a 6-1 run down the road, the Golden Eagles took the opener, 25-20, behind 15 kills and a .267 attack.
In set two, Tech took its turn with the early lead before the Panthers squared things at 5-5. The Golden Eagles replied with a 7-0 run and never looked back, racing to a 25-16 victory and 2-0 lead in the match. Another 14 terminations with just five errors proved plenty enough to get the job done when paired with EIU's 10 attack errors.
Another early fight quickly faded into Tech's favor in the third and final set, as the Golden Eagles broke a 6-6 stalemate with four straight points. The Panthers would get no closer than three points the remainder of the set, with the Cookeville crew pulling away for a 25-18 win behind 16 more kills and a .286 hitting percentage.
Senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhasuen set the tone for the day with a match-high 15 kills and .294 efficiency, adding five digs and an ace for good measure. She also registered a game-high 16.5 points.
Joining her in the double-digit kills club, fellow outside Alayna Pierce racked up 11 strikes of her own. The freshman chipped in seven digs and an ace of her own as well. Junior setter Jordan Karlen was a dishing machine in the match, doling out 35 assists to go along with four kills and nine digs.
Senior libero McKenna Young led the match with 15 digs while contributing a pair of assists as well. The veteran moved into third on Tech's career charts for sets played, passing Bonnie Zoss (1989-92) with 477 sets competed in her Golden Eagle tenure.
Rookie middle blocker Mallory Jenkins tacked on seven kills to go along with three blocks. Senior outside Bella Powell tied her for the team lead with three rejections of her own and added four kills to the mix. Senior middle Elena Wallace tallied four strikes and two blocks.
Tech returns to the Hooper Eblen Center to host Little Rock in a pair of matches next weekend. The Golden Eagles will square off with the Trojans in a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt on Friday, Oct. 25 before wrapping up the weekend with a 7:00 p.m. affair on Saturday, Oct. 26.
File photo by Jim Dillon
