Golden Eagles defeat Eastern Illinois in four sets
After beginning their OVC schedule with three consecutive losses, the Golden Eagles have rebounded to win four of their last five matches, including Friday evening’s match against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
CHARLESTON, Ill. - After beginning their OVC schedule with three consecutive losses, the Golden Eagles have rebounded to win four of their last five matches, including Friday evening's match against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The Tennessee Tech volleyball team avenged a three-set loss earlier this season to the Panthers with a four-set victory (19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 26-24) as the Golden Eagles move to 5-12 overall and even their OVC record at 4-4.
After losing the first set, Tech came back to take the next three sets and send the Panthers (7-14, 1-8 OVC) to their seventh consecutive loss.
TTU led EIU in kills (51-47), assists (47-45), aces (6-5) and digs (77-71), while EIU had the upper-hand in hitting percentage (.112-.102) and blocks (14-11). In addition to having one more ace than the Panthers, the Golden Eagles also committed five less services errors.
Four players finished with double-digit kills for Tech, including freshman Kelsey Gray (11), junior Marie Peddicord (11), senior Amanda Lindgren (10), and junior Leah Meffert (10). Senior Teresa Craig finished with five kills, while freshman Katrina Dvorken posted three kills on four attempts. Gray also led the team with a .296 hitting percentage.
Junior setter Melanie Culp handed out 44 assists and narrowly missed her sixth double-double of the season as she totaled nine digs. Culp also led TTU with three service aces, while Craig, Lindgren and Meffert each added one.
Defensively, senior Katie Kenline led four Golden Eagles with double-digit digs. The libero notched 17 saves while Meffert (15), Craig (13) and Lindgren (11) each had 10-or-more digs.
At the defensive side of the net, Gray finished with six blocks to lead the team and Peddicord chipped in with four. Lindgren and Meffert each tallied a pair of stuffs, while Culp and Craig added one apiece.
The Golden Eagles will look to move to above .500 in the conference for the first time this season on Saturday evening when they take on Southeast Missouri. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
