COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The UWG Volleyball team fell short, 3-0, against the unbeaten Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in Friday night's matchup at the Golden Eagle Classic on TTU's campus.
West Georgia (5-4, 0-0 ASUN) struggled against unbeaten Tennessee Tech's (7-0, 0-0 OVC) high powered offense, led by Madoly Isringhausen, Alayna Pierce, and Bella Powell with 41 kills on a .450 hitting percentage.
In the opening set, the Wolves were off to a promising start with an early 11-6 lead. Sanai Young would contribute early to the Wolves success in the set, with two kills and a block. Tennessee Tech would slowly start to find their groove and make less mistakes. The Golden Eagles high powered offense would get their engine started by Isringhausen, Powell, and Pierce. The trio was the driving force behind Tennessee Tech's 11-4 run, flipping the script and giving TTU a 17-15 lead. The Wolves and Golden Eagles exchanged the lead four times before Tennessee Tech would command the back half of the set to secure a 25-21 win.
The Golden Eagles' momentum in the first set would carry over to the second, holding on to a lead from wire-to-wire. Pierce and Powell would continue their strong performance with nine combined kills. As it started to look as if Tennessee Tech was going to run away with the set, the Wolves were able to look adversity in the face and fight back. UWG went on an 8-2 run, with Zoë LaBreche accumulating two kills and an assisted block to keep West Georgia in striking distance. LaBreche would go on to have six kills in the set but the Golden Eagles offense would prevail, leading to a Tennessee Tech win, 25-21.
The Golden Eagles explosive offense would wear down the Wolves defense in the third set. They would come out on a blazing hot start and never looked back, starting the set out on a 7-1 run and eventually winning the set 25-14 to sweep West Georgia in the Friday night finale.
LaBreche would lead the Wolves with nine kills offensively, while also tying her career high with five total blocks alongside Young with six.
West Georgia will be back in action tomorrow morning for the Tournament finale against Nicholls State at 11:30 a.m. ET.
