Offensive outburst lifts Golden Eagles past Leathernecks in four sets
MACOMB, Ill. – Incredible offensive efforts across the board lifted the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to a 3-1 victory at Western Illinois Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles secured a critical victory over the Leathernecks in their first meeting as Ohio Valley Conference foes.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
25 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
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21 | 25 | 22 | 22 | 1 |
Team Stats
Western Illinois
| Game Statistics | Tennessee Tech | Western Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .284 | .279 |
| Blocks | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| Digs | 75 | 77 |
| Aces | 5 | 7 |
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MACOMB, Ill. – Incredible offensive efforts across the board lifted the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to a 3-1 victory at Western Illinois Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles secured a critical victory over the Leathernecks in their first meeting as Ohio Valley Conference foes.
In three of the four sets at Western Hall, the visiting purple and gold couldn't be stopped, piling up 55 kills between the first, third, and fourth games of the night. Tech (7-16, 3-9) hit .284 in the match and kicked off the evening in style.
The Leathernecks (7-15, 6-5) opened the match with a three-point lead, but the visitors from Cookeville quickly flipped the script. After squaring things at 8-8, the Golden Eagles rolled off a 9-2 run and never looked back, eventually clinching the opener 25-21.
Junior outside hitter Bella Powell paced the effort with seven of the team's 17 kills in the set. Sophomore setter Jordan Karlen paved the way for an offensive surge that saw Tech hit .359, dishing out a whopping 16 assists.
Set two was a near reversal of the first, as an early TTU advantage was swiftly erased and a late run by the home squad led WIU to a 25-18 victory to square the match. Western Illinois held the Golden Eagles to just 11 kills and a .171 attack in the game, but Tech only used the loss to fuel the fire.
Down early in the third set of the night, the Cookeville crew took control midway through with a five-point lead. The Golden Eagles held off a late surge by the Leathernecks, holding on for a 25-22 victory behind 19 terminations.
Western Illinois worked hard to push the match to a fifth set, holding the lead for a large majority of the fourth. The visiting purple and gold mounted a comeback, however, eventually ending the evening with a 4-0 run for another 25-22 win.
Trailing 22-21, Tech used a kill from junior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen and a service ace from Powell to leap-frog the Leathernecks. A WIU timeout couldn't stop the inevitable, as the Golden Eagles used the same formula of an Isringhausen termination and Powell aces to secure the victory.
Another 19 kills on a .368 attack were enough to help the Tech crew snap a tough, five-match skid. Powell again registered seven kills while libero McKenna Young doled out an impressive six helpers to go with Karlen's 12.
Powell led the match with a season-high 21 smashes and tied her season-best effort of 14 digs – established in her previous match against Eastern Illinois – to secure her fourth double-double of the year. She also led the Tech squad with three aces and hit an eye-popping .400 for the match.
Karlen fired off a career-high 53 assists, averaging an impressive 13.25 per set on the evening. Her 15 digs provided her ninth double-double of the season and third in the last four matches.
Isringhausen smashed .273 while racking up 16 kills and 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the campaign. The Edwardsville, Ill. native provided a season-high four blocks to share the team lead as well. Also producing four rejections, not to mention a career-high eight terminations, was middle blocker Emma Pabon.
Rookie right side contributed 14 kills to the Golden Eagle effort for the second straight match, hitting a robust .306 while securing two blocks. Graduate middle blocker Skylar Boom tacked on six kills and three blocks for good measure.
Defensively, Young piled up 19 digs to lead the Tech team, just missing a double-double of her own with a career-high-tying nine assists. Fellow defensive specialist Aleeya Jones added eight digs to the mix.
Tech and Western Illinois are set to tango once more in Macomb on Friday afternoon, squaring off in a 3:00 p.m. CT affair to close out the weekend.
Photo by Baldwin Martinez
