Golden Eagles fall short at Morehead State; need win Saturday to clinch OVC berth
The Tennessee Tech volleyball team got off to the right start against Morehead State on Friday beating the Eagles 25-18 in the first set, but Morehead State stormed back and took the next three sets, winning 25-11, 25-15, 25-17 to top the Golden Eagles 3-1.
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team got off to the right start against Morehead State on Friday beating the Eagles 25-18 in the first set, but Morehead State stormed back and took the next three sets, winning 25-11, 25-15, 25-17 to top the Golden Eagles 3-1.
The loss combined with Eastern Kentucky's 3-0 win over Jacksonville State sets up a win-and-you're-in contest between Tech and EKU Saturday afternoon for the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles will advance to the six-team OVC tournament with a win. However, if Tech loses to EKU, it will have to await further results from around the league to determine its tournament status.
Morehead State improves to 19-9 overall and 11-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play and avenges a 3-1 loss to the Golden Eagles in Cookeville earlier in the season. Tech falls to 10-16 overall and 9-8 in the conference.
Amanda Lindgren led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills and had a .226 attack percentage. Kelsey Gray had six kills and only one error and finished with a .417 attack percentage. Leah Meffert had seven kills for the Golden Eagles and Melanie Culp had 24 assists and seven digs. Katie Kenline led Tech's defense with nine digs.
Morehead State held the advantage over the Golden Eagles all over the stat sheet, including 61-34 in kills, .314-.121 in hitting percentage, 57-31 in assists, 8-1 in aces, 50-31 in digs, 13-6 in blocks and 82-41 in points.
Tech got off to an 8-3 start in the first set before Morehead State came back to tie the match at eight. But the Golden Eagles wouldn't give up the lead, and took a 17-11 advantage en route to the 25-18 win.
After a 10-point loss in the second set, Tech and Morehead found themselves in another 8-8 tie in set number three. But Morehead State went on a 6-0 tear and wouldn't look back.
The regular season finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. The OVC tournament will be hosted by regular season champion Jacksonville State next weekend.
