Tech falls in Friday rematch with Lindenwood
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team showed much improvement on the offensive side of the net Friday evening, but the effort wasn’t enough to slow down a red-hot Lindenwood squad on its home court as the Lions defeated the Golden Eagles, 3-0.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team showed much improvement on the offensive side of the net Friday evening, but the effort wasn't enough to slow down a red-hot Lindenwood squad on its home court as the Lions defeated the Golden Eagles, 3-0.
After the purple and gold struggled with consistency and errors in its first showdown in St. Charles, Mo. of the week on Thursday, the offense played much more up to the standard it had set coming into the weekend. Lindenwood (12-7, 6-1) had just a little bit more in its bag of tricks on Friday, edging the visitors from Cookeville along the margins just enough to earn the win.
The two sides battled back and forth in the opening set, with Tech (15-3, 4-2) holding an early advantage before the Lions delivered a run to take control. The Golden Eagles fought back from a five-point deficit, squaring things at 20-20, but the home team took the opener, 25-22.
Set two saw Lindenwood erase a two-point deficit to Tech early on before jumping on top and holding a three-point lead or better the rest of the way. A 25-20 victory in the set pushed the Lions in front 2-0.
The script was similar in the third and final set, with a tight affair suddenly leaning in favor of the Lions. Lindenwood rolled off five consecutive points and never looked back on its way to a 25-17 decision.
Tech tallied 45 kills as a unit in the match, hitting a solid .270, but the Lions used a more efficient showing to earn the win, accounting for 48 kills on a .352 attack. Lindenwood also held a nine-point advantage at the serving line on the night.
Golden Eagle senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen turned in an inspired effort in the contest, piling up 18 kills while hitting .349 try and will the purple and gold back into the win column. She tacked on six digs as well.
Junior setter Jordan Karlen dished out 33 assists in the match, adding four kills and eight digs to her tally for the night. The Janesville, Wis. native climbed up to seventh on Tech's all-time career charts for assists, passing Jenny Pruett Turner (1984-87) with 2,880 to her name.
Senior libero McKenna Young turned in a team-high 11 digs while chipping in three assists while defensive specialist Aleeya Jones produced nine digs. Senior outside Bella Powell chalked up nine strikes to go with one block assist and freshman outside Alayna Pierce totaled six kills with five digs.
The Golden Eagles wrap up their four-match road stretch, making a trip north to Charleston, Ill. next weekend. Tech will square off with the Panthers in a 6:00 p.m. tilt on Friday, Oct. 18 and finish the weekend with a 4:00 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 19.
File photo by Jim Dillon
