Golden Eagles go out fighting, fall to Tulane in NCAA Tournament
DAYTON, Ohio - Nobody will ever say that the Tennessee Tech
volleyball team went down without a fight. A great fight. A battle
that took the Golden Eagles right to the brink before falling to
Tulane, 3-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Golden Eagles overcame a 25-21 loss in the first set to lead
wire-to-wire and win the second set, 25-22. Tech led most of the
third set before a late Tulane rally gave the Green Wave a 25-22
win.
The Golden Eagles then led much of the fourth set, fell behind and
fought back to force three match points before Tulane - seeded 16th
overall in the 64-team tournament field -- was able to clinch the
victory, 27-25.
"It was a heck of an effort by a game team and I think Tulane knows
who Tennessee Tech is now," said TTU coach John Blair. "I think we
represented ourselves well, and I'm certainly proud of every one of
our kids.
"We talked about representing the conference, as well as Tennessee
Tech and ourselves, and I thought we did a good job of that," Blair
said. "Hopefully our conference can continue to move ahead and
think about moving forward instead of being happy just to be
here."
Tech matched Tulane in kills with 58 apiece, and the Golden Eagles
managed a better overall hitting percentage. Tech hit .292 for the
four-set match while Tulane hit .277. The Golden Eagles had more
digs (53 to 49), more assists (57 to 55) and were within one in
total blocks (10.5 to 9.5).
Even the difference in the service game, while it was a minor
factor, didn't turn the contest. The Green Wave posted 10 aces and
five errors, while Tech had six aces and eight serving errors.
Individually, Tech players had some strong numbers, led by junior
Amanda Lindgren with 19 kills and 11 digs. Lindgren, one of three
Golden Eagles to record a double-double, hit .417 with just four
errors in 36 attempts.
Sophomore Marie Peddicord didn't have a hitting error, and finished
with 13 kills in 25 swings for a .520 hitting mark, along with
three total blocks. Sophomore Leah Meffert had a double-double with
14 kills and 11 digs.
Senior setter Kappy Lang wrapped up her career with 50 assists and
a team-high 12 digs.
Jessica Asplund, another senior who saw her career come to a close,
had a solid night with eight kills and a .389 hitting percentage,
along with six blocks total.
Conference USA Player of the Year Sara Radosevic led a balanced
Tulane attack with 14 kills. She also had five service aces and
three blocks. Bridget Wells had 14 kills, while both Visnja
Djurdevic and Ksenjija Vlaskovic added 12 kills apiece.
Libero Jenn Miller had a match-best 20 digs, while both Green Wave
setters contributed - Visnja Djurdevic had 29 assists and Rachel
Lindelow added 21 assists.
Asplund kick-started the Golden Eagles in the second set, helping
Tech jump to a 5-0 lead by knocking down three early blocks. Tech
didn't give up an ace in the second set, and Peddicord had five
kills to lead the way to the win.
The Golden Eagles ran out to a 17-11 lead in the third set, and
held the edge late into the set before the Green Wave were able to
get the equalizer at 22-22. Tulane came up with a couple of blocks
to finish the set and grab the 2-1 lead.
Lindgren had six kills in the fourth set and Tech hit .433, as the
Golden Eagles worked to avoid elimination. Tech got up 6-2 in the
early going, and the score was tied 15 times as the two teams
hammered back and forth. The Golden Eagles pulled ahead 20-19 on a
block by Caitlin Bullock, then had to come back five times after
that after slipping behind.
Down 23-22, the Golden Eagles got things back to even at 23-23 on a
kill by Lindgren. Trailing 24-23 and facing the first match point,
Lindgren came up with another kill to tie it at 24-24. A kill by
Radosevic gave Tulane another match point at 25-24, and once again
Lang set Lindgren for a kill to make it 25-all.
Finally, Visnja Djurdevic recorded a kill for a 26-25 Tulane lead,
and the contest ended when Lang's attack came down outside the line
for the 27-25 final count.
"We got off to good starts," Blair said, after his team had leads
in all five sets. "I think we really had Tulane off balance because
we did the things that we knew we needed to do, and that was
control the ball. That would give us options. We did a real good
job of spreading the court early on, and giving our attackers more
of the court.
"I knew they were going to keep playing and stay aggressive, and
they had some individuals step up in certain situations and make
runs and close some gaps. We gave away a couple of points instead
of making them earn them. We put ourselves in position to win the
match, and it's hard to ask a whole lot more of this group than
that," Blair said.
The Golden Eagles, who won the Ohio Valley Conference regular
season and tournament championships, ended the year with a 19-13
overall record. Tech's win in the second set marked the first time
in eight years that an OVC school won a set at the NCAA
Tournament.
Tulane improved to 28-5 overall, and advanced to the second round
Saturday against the Dayton/Western Michigan winner.
