Golden Eagle volleyball team to face Austin Peay in battle for first place
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- There will be a showdown for first place in
the Ohio Valley Conference Saturday in Clarksville when Tennessee
Tech faces Austin Peay.
But, while much of the attention is on the football stadium for the
game between the two schools at dinnertime, the first place
showdown will take place four hours earlier inside the Dunn Center
when the Tech and APSU volleyball teams clash.
Senior Caitlin Bullock led the way as the Tennessee Tech volleyball
team overpowered Tennessee State Friday night, 3-0, allowing the
Golden Eagles (12-9/9-2 OVC) to climb into a tie for first place in
the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Golden Eagles moved into a tie for first in the OVC with
Morehead State and Austin Peay, all owning 9-2 league records. The
MSU Eagles lost to Southeast Missouri, 3-1, on Friday, while Austin
Peay grabbed a 3-0 win over Jacksonville State.
Tech and APSU will battle Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. as part of
Austin Peay's Homecoming.
On Friday, Tech won the first set, 25-16, then posted back-to-back
25-19 wins to sweep to the road victory.
Bullock had 11 kills without any errors in 18 attempts for a gaudy
.611 hitting percentage, helping Tech hit. 293 for the match. She
also had five total blocks.
Marie Peddicord (six kills with a .417 hitting percentage) and
Jessica Asplund (five kills and a .364 hitting mark) also had
effective nights at the net. Tech also got plenty of offense from
Leah Meffert (10 kills) and Amanda Lindgren (nine kills).
Senior setter Kappy Lang had 35 assists, just one short of
averaging 12 per set. She also had seven digs. Junior libero Katie
Kenline headlined the back row work with 11 digs. Teresa Craig also
dug seven balls.
Tech captured the lead early in set one and extended the advantage
to 16-8 on a TSU attack error. The Golden Eagles maintained a
comfortable lead throughout the rest of the set en route to the
25-16 win.
Set two was played close until Tech used a 7-3 run to capture a
19-14 lead. TSU pulled to within four (19-15), but the Golden
Eagles were able to hold on for the 25-19 win.
With TSU trailing 12-10 in set three, five unanswered points behind
the serve of Candace Saleaumua gave the Tigers a 15-12 lead. Tech
knotted the contest at 17-17 following another Tiger attack error.
With the score tied 18-18, four costly TSU errors coupled with two
Tech kills put the Golden Eagles ahead 24-18. The Golden Eagles won
the set 25-19.
Tennessee State finished the night with a .011 hitting percentage.
Saleaumua had nine kills and eight digs to top the Tigers (5-14/3-8
OVC).
