Golden Eagles battle in OVC semifinals, fall in four sets
Riding the momentum of Thursday's victory, the Tech volleyball team raced out to a 1-0 lead Friday evening but couldn't sustain the effort, dropping a 3-1 contest to second-seed Austin Peay in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Four seniors wrap up careers as season comes to a
close
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Riding the momentum of Thursday's opening round
victory, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team raced out to a 1-0 lead
Friday evening but couldn't sustain the effort, dropping a 3-1
contest to second-seed Austin Peay in the semifinals of the Ohio
Valley Conference Tournament at Morehead State.
Tech, the sixth seed in the tournament, ended the season with an
11-20 overall record and bid farewell to seniors Melanie Culp, Laura Pierce (shown
in photo), Marie Peddicord and Leah Meffert.
Meffert, an all-OVC outside hitter, led the Golden Eagles Friday
with 16 kills while sophomore Kelsey Gray added 13 kills and five
blocks, posting a .462 hitting mark with just one error in 26
swings. Freshman Natalie Penrod also reached double figures in
kills with 10 and added two blocks. Peddicord matched Gray at the
net with five total blocks.
On the back row, freshman Allison May had 17 digs and Madison Comperry 11.
Culp directed the attack with 44 assists and added eight digs.
Nikki Doyle topped the Govs with 20 kills while Jessica Mollman
added 16 kills and Ilyanna Hernandez managed a double-double with
10 kills and 10 digs. Setter Sarah Alisaeh also posted a
double-double with 55 assists and 17 digs, and libero Paige
Economos had 20 digs.
Peay hit .280 with 65 total kills while Tech attacked with a .199
hitting percentage and had 48 kills. The Govs dug 66 balls and Tech
had 48 digs. Tech won the blocking battle with 10 total blocks.
With the win, APSU advances to the championship game Saturday. It
gave Austin Peay a three-game sweep of Tech for the season.
Tech jumped on top quickly in the opening set, using an ace and
a kill from freshman Allison May to claim a 3-0 lead. The Govs tied
the match three times early on at 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. Kelsey Gray and Natalie
Penrod followed with kills to put Tech on top, and the Godlen
Eagles pecked away for a 15-10 lead. The lead was five at 20-15 and
the Golden Eagles made it 22-19 before a rally by Austin Peay close
the gap to 23-22.
Leah Meffert's
kill made it 24-22, but the Lady Govs fought back to tie things at
24-24. Elise Robertson and Marie Peddicord
teamed up for a block on an attack by Alyanna Hernandez for a 25-24
Golden Eagle lead, and Penrod's tip fell to the floor for the
winning point in a 26-24 Tech victory.
The Golden Eagles had an early lead in the second set, saw the Govs
come back and take their first lead of the match at 9-8, but Tech
managed to knot things again at 13-13. The next two points went to
Tech on a service ace by Melanie Culp and a hitting
error by the Govs, but Austin Peay regained the lead.
After a kill by Gray brought Tech to within 22-20, the Lady Govs
put the final three points on the board for a 25-20 win to send the
squads to the break at one set apiece.
Set three was close early before APSU snuck out to a 13-7 lead,
but Tech answered with a 5-1 run to pull to within 14-12. Tech was
within one point, 20-19, before Austin Peay took control to the
finish line. Jessica Mollman and Taylor Skinner had kills, and the
final two points came on a pair of throw-downs by Nikki Doyle for a
25-21 final.
Austin Peay built a small lead early in the fourth set, and kept
the Golden Eagles at bay by three to five points throughout. Within
three points, 19-16, the Golden Eagles couldn't find a defense for
the Gov attack as Sarah Alisaleh and Doyle got kills to make it
21-16.
Following a Tech timeout, the Govs added two quick points on attack
errors by the Golden Eagles to make it 23-16. Meffert drilled a
kill and an APSU service error kept Tech alive at 24-18, but
Skinner's kills ended the action.
