2024 Tennessee Tech Beach Volleyball Schedule
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Year two for the Tennessee Tech beach volleyball program will get off to a start in late February, as head coach Zach Weinberg announced the 2024 schedule for the purple and gold Thursday afternoon.
Looking to build off a highly impressive inaugural campaign in 2023, one that saw the Golden Eagles finish 8-12 overall and 4-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play, Tech will ride the momentum into a demanding slate featuring four tournament-style weekends and a pair of single matches prior to the league tournament.
"The team is excited to get back in the sand and kick off year two of Tennessee Tech beach volleyball," Weinberg expressed. "This schedule will certainly be more challenging than that of our inaugural year, and I think that's a great thing for the direction of this program."
Kicking off the 2024 season is another trip to Mount Berry, Ga. for the Berry Kick-Off hosted by Berry College. The Golden Eagles will square off with LaGrange and Berry College on Friday, Feb. 23 to open the weekend. Things will come to a close on Saturday, Feb. 24, featuring match-ups against Erskine and Carson-Newman.
"Starting our season at Berry once again will present us with a great challenge as Berry was the Division III runner-up at the national tournament and return a ton of talent from that team," Weinberg explained. "We once again face Carson-Newman, who caused us a great deal of trouble last year. Getting another crack at these two teams, on top of seeing two new opponents in Erskine and LaGrange, is a great way to kick off our season."
Two weeks later, the purple and gold will face its stiffest test as a program to date, competing at the Carolina Challenge hosted by South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. On Saturday, Mar. 9, Tech will begin things with a morning tilt with the host Gamecocks before finishing the day off with a match against Eastern Kentucky. Contests with North Florida and New Orleans on Sunday, Mar. 10 will bring an end to the second tournament of the year.
"The Carolina Challenge will be exactly that, a challenge," Weinberg said. "This is by far the hardest weekend of competition in program history, but facing this level of competition will be a great barometer for the progress we've made. South Carolina is a perennial top-20 team, North Florida and New Orleans both won over 20 duals last season, and EKU is coming off its best season in program history. We will learn a lot about ourselves heading into OVC play after we finish in Columbia."
The first of two OVC weekends follows, with the Golden Eagles heading south to Chattanooga for affairs with UT Martin and Lindenwood on Friday, Mar. 22. The league weekend concludes on Saturday, Mar. 23 as the Cookeville crew tangos with Eastern Illinois and Chattanooga.
Tech wraps up the month of March with home matches against Morehead State on Friday the 29th and Saturday the 30th, featuring times of 4:00 p.m. CT and 11:00 a.m., respectively. Heading into April, Tech will compete with a pair of familiar institutions in a one-day tournament, making the short drive to Clarksville, Tenn. to take on Jacksonville State and Austin Peay on Tuesday, Apr. 9.
"We have a tri-match in Clarksville with Jacksonville State and Austin Peay, two historical rivals that we're excited to meet in the sand for the first time," Weinberg added. "I'm thrilled with the quality of competition we'll see in the non-conference portion of our schedule."
The regular season will culminate with the second OVC weekend of the year, taking place in Martin, Tenn. The Golden Eagles will square off with Lindenwood and Chattanooga on Friday, Apr. 19 before finishing things off on Saturday, Apr. 20 with tilts versus UT Martin and Eastern Illinois.
"Now that we have the familiarity of a beach season, we will know exactly what to expect in OVC play, and our goal is to make a jump in the standings in year two," Weinberg said. "Finishing fourth in our first season was an accomplishment, but the standards and expectations have risen this year. Our goal is to be playing our best volleyball at the end of April and to feel great heading into the conference tournament. This schedule will do just that."
Rounding out the 2024 season is the OVC Beach Volleyball Championship Tournament, hosted by Morehead State in Morehead, Ky. Scheduled of Apr. 25-27, the event will feature double-elimination action up to a winner-take-all all championship match on Saturday, Apr. 27.
Photo by UTM Sports Information
