Tech gets chance to play spoiler as EIU wraps up regular season slate at The Hoop
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s down to the final two matches of the regular season and Tennessee Tech will be facing a tough test as the Golden Eagles face off against the Ohio Valley Conference’s top team with Eastern Illinois coming to town. Tuesday’s match will be at 6 PM, while Wednesday’s finale will be at 4 PM. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Mandy Thatcher on the call.
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Team Stats
Eastern Illinois
| Game Statistics | Eastern Illinois | Tennessee Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | 0.194 | 0.316 |
| Blocks | 6 | 6 |
| Digs | 44 | 47 |
| Aces | 5 | 5 |
Eastern Illinois
| Game Statistics | Eastern Illinois | Tennessee Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | 0.131 | 0.059 |
| Blocks | 18 | 3 |
| Digs | 61 | 67 |
| Aces | 4 | 4 |
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's down to the final two matches of the regular season and Tennessee Tech will be facing a tough test as the Golden Eagles face off against the Ohio Valley Conference's top team with Eastern Illinois coming to town.
Tuesday's match will be at 6 PM, while Wednesday's finale will be at 4 PM. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Mandy Thatcher on the call.
So where does the race stand heading into the final two matches? Tennessee Tech currently stands in a three-way tie for fourth with Southeast Missouri, Little Rock and the Golden Eagles each at 10-6. SIUE (7-9) and Lindenwood (6-10) can't catch those three teams, leaving them in a battle for seventh and eighth. SIUE hosts SEMO and Lindenwood hosts Little Rock.
But Tech's couplet with the Panthers plays an important role as it could determine the OVC champion and site of the conference tournament as the Golden Eagles get a chance to play spoiler.
If the Golden Eagles defeat the Panthers twice and Morehead State sweeps UT Martin, MSU will be the conference champ and host the OVC Volleyball Championships next week. If Eastern Illinois wins either or both matches – or if EIU and Morehead end up tied – the event and the crown go to the Panthers.
However, there is still a chance Southern Indiana can sneak in and take it all. If the Screaming Eagles sweep at Western Illinois and the combination of Tech sweeping EIU and UT Martin sweeping Morehead State, USI will finish first by virtue of the tiebreaker, and the tournament will be in Evansville.
So there's still a lot to play for this week as the Panthers come to the Eblen Center.
EIU enters the week with the conference's longest win streak, claiming 12 straight victories with a 14-2 league mark. You have to go back to October 3 and 4 for the Panthers' two conference losses as Southern Indiana snuffed them out in back-to-back 3-0 decisions.
Since then, the Panthers have been a wrecking ball. They collected their most impressive victories this past weekend as they topped Morehead State 3-0 and 3-1 to leapfrog the Eagles and take over the league lead.
EIU has two of the top attackers in the league in Destiny Walker with 374 kills and Katie Kopshever has 275 kills, the top setter in the conference in Catalina Rochaix with 1,004 assists – eight more than Tech setter Jordan Karlen, the top blocker in the league with Emma Schroeder with 97 blocks at 1.11 per set and the second-best defender with 482 digs at a 4.97 per set.
The Golden Eagles won a nail-biter last Thursday at Little Rock, winning the first two sets before the Trojans knotted the series at 2-2 and Tech claimed the victory in the deciding fifth set. Little Rock got payback on Friday, topping Tech 3-1.
Despite the setback, the Golden Eagles (13-15, 10-6 OVC) have still won six of their last eight matches and are in good shape before the start of the conference tournament.
Bella Powell leads the offense with 359 total kills, ranking fifth in the OVC, while Alayna Pierce has 218. Freshmen Jordyn Milhouse and Tuva Falk have 150 and 144, respectively, and Ava Schubert (131) and Audrey Berkebile (126) each have over the century mark.
MK Roberts leads the team in digs with 337, while Falk and Milhouse each have a team-best 56 blocks.
Admission to the matches at the Eblen Center is free.
