Golden Eagles rally back to top Little Rock in five sets
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tennessee Tech won the first two sets and looked to be in cruise control, but Little Rock battled back, stunning the Golden Eagles in the third and fourth sets to force the decider. Even then, it took extra points in the fifth set for Tech to emerge victorious on Thursday night, winning 3-2. Tech led 14-10 in the fifth, needing just one point to end the match, but the Trojans tied the match on two straight blocks, a kill and an attack error. Dariana Valencia had a serve error to put Tech up 15-14, then A’lanae Margaritha evened things back up again with a kill.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
19 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 2 |
|
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25 | 25 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 3 |
Team Stats
Tennessee Tech
Little Rock
| Game Statistics | Tennessee Tech | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | 0.14 | 0.221 |
| Blocks | 7 | 6 |
| Digs | 77 | 85 |
| Aces | 5 | 3 |
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tennessee Tech won the first two sets and looked to be in cruise control, but Little Rock battled back, stunning the Golden Eagles in the third and fourth sets to force the decider. Even then, it took extra points in the fifth set for Tech to emerge victorious on Thursday night, winning 3-2.
Tech led 14-10 in the fifth, needing just one point to end the match, but the Trojans tied the match on two straight blocks, a kill and an attack error. Dariana Valencia had a serve error to put Tech up 15-14, then A'lanae Margaritha evened things back up again with a kill.
The Golden Eagles moved back into match point as Sophia Garrido had an attack error, then Alayna Pierce finished things off with a kill off of Jordan Karlen's assist to win the deciding set 17-15.
Tech won the first two sets with a 25-19 and 25-22 score. The Trojans countered with dominating sets, winning 25-13 and 25-11.
Pierce led all attackers with 19 kills and 14 digs for a double-double, while Bella Powell finished with nine kills and 19 digs. Ava Schubert and Jordyn Milhouse each had eight kills.
Garrido led the Trojans with 17 kills, while Margaritha had 12 kills. Andrea Roman led the team with 38 digs, while Valencia had a double-double with 29 assists and 13 digs.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles move into sole possession of fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, one game back of Southern Indiana and three back of Eastern Illinois and Morehead State with three matches remaining.
Tech (13-14, 10-5 OVC) returns to action on Friday as it closes out the series with Little Rock (14-13, 9-6 OVC). First serve is scheduled for 6 PM.
