Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky, facing a must-win situation to keep its hopes alive for a berth in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, defeated Tennessee Tech, 3-1, tonight at McBrayer Arena. The Colonels must beat Eastern Illinois on Sunday in order to earn a postseason trip.

EKU and Eastern Illinois will play at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday at the University of Evansville. The two teams were originally scheduled to play on Nov. 6 in Charleston, Ill., but that match was postponed. The Colonels will be playing for the third time in three days, needing all three wins to make the OVC tournament. EKU handed Jacksonville State its first conference loss of the season on Friday and then avenged a 3-0 loss earlier this season to Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

Set scores were 25-17, 23-25, 25-17 and 27-25. Eastern Kentucky honored seniors Lindsey Loescher, Nicole Mulhall and Jessica Meads before the match.

Lauren Snyder led EKU (9-18, 8-9 OVC) with 19 kills. She also had 14 digs and a block assist. Loescher finished with 16 kills, a .333 attack percentage and nine digs. Kate Hendle registered a match-best 52 assists and #Abby O’Connor# led all players with 27 digs.

Leah Meffert led the Golden Eagles (10-17, 9-9 OVC) with 12 kills. Amanda Lindgren and Kelsey Gray each recorded eight kills.

As a team, Eastern finished with 62 kills and a .232 attack percentage. Tennessee Tech posted 44 kills and a .149 hitting percentage. TTU held a 10-6 advantage in blocks.

After splitting the first two sets, the Colonels scored first in the third set and never trailed. After an EKU attack error tied the set 7-7, Eastern took the lead for good on a TTU service error. A 4-0 run allowed the home team to open up a six-point advantage, 17-11. Eastern went up by eight, 20-12, on an ace by Hendle. A kill by Harms finished off the set 25-17 and put EKU on top 2-1.

The fourth set was tied 12 times and saw six lead changes. An ace by Loescher and an Eastern Kentucky attack error gave the Colonels an 18-12 lead, but the Golden Eagles fought back. Four unanswered by Tech tied the score at 21-21. Meffert’s ace capped the run. The set was tied four more times.

A kill by Loescher gave Eastern match-point 24-23. Then TTU scored two straight, reaching set-point on a kill by Lindgren and an EKU attack error. Then the Colonels scored two straight to reach match-point again. A kill by Loescher and a Tennessee Tech attack error put EKU in front 26-25. On the next series, a kill by Amanda Fago ended the match.