Golden Eagles get by defending OVC champ Tennessee State, 3-1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - After falling to the Tennessee State Lady
Tigers in extra points last season, the Tennessee Tech volleyball
team got a measure of retribution by knocking off the defending OVC
Tournament champions in four sets Saturday afternoon to split the
opening weekend of league play.
Junior Amanda Lindgren led Tech with a double-double, tallying 15
kills and 12 digs in the win. Fellow juniors Katie Kenline and
Teresa Craig both recorded double-digit digs with 13 apiece.
With an all-around effort, the Golden Eagles improved to 4-8 and
1-1 in the OVC while the Lady Tigers remained winless in the
conference at 0-2.
"We had much more consistent focus," said head coach John Blair,
"and had more intent on the floor. We showed a willingness to make
the plays and had fewer lapses."
The first set saw three different lead changes with Tech out to as
much as a three-point lead at several different points. Lindgren
scored six of her 15 kills including the final point off a set from
senior Kappy Lang.
With Tech holding onto a 23-22 lead, a TSU serving error coupled
with the Lindgren kill gave the Golden Eagles the first set,
25-22.
It almost looked like the tides had turned in the second set with
the Lady Tigers clinging onto a 9-6 lead. But Tech went into a
frenzy and forced three straight attacking errors by TSU and then a
bad set by the Lady Tigers evened the set up at 10-10.
With a kill from junior Teresa Craig, the Golden Eagles were set up
for match point. A timely substitution of sophomore Laura Pierce
allowed the jump server to collect the final point of the set with
a service ace. The point gave Tech the 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead
heading into the intermission.
"I thought we did a pretty good job defending the things we needed
to defend against that team," Blair said. "We wanted to limit
Lowe's effectiveness, and I thought we did that well. We showed
better discipline and poise, and we were patient and didn't try to
force things."
The Lady Tigers wouldn't go quietly and held Tech to a .105 hitting
percentage in the third set while collecting 13 kills to cut the
Golden Eagle lead to only one set, 2-1, with a 25-23 win.
Not wanting the match to go any further, the Golden Eagles used a
strong offensive attack and jumped out to an early 5-1 lead after a
kill by Lindgren. Tech never trailed in the match and led by as
many as nine at 23-14 before kills from senior Caitlin Bullock and
sophomore Leah Meffert sealed the match for the Golden Eagles. The
final score was 25-17.
Tennessee State was led by Christian Lowe who had 11 kills and six
digs. On the defensive side, Candace Saleaumua posted a
double-double with 13 assists and 18 digs.
The Golden Eagles return to the floor on Sept. 23 when they travel
to defending regular season OVC champion Jacksonville State. Match
time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
