By Jocelyn VerVelde, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team hits the road this weekend to take on Ohio Valley Conference west division foes SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. The Golden Eagles will take on SIUE on Friday at 7 p.m. and EIU on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Coming off back-to-back losses last weekend, the Golden Eagles are focusing on their own performance rather than that of their opponents.
"Mentally, as usual, we are focusing mostly on our play and how we want to do things," said first-year head coach Dave Zelenock. "The players will see film on the opponents just so they can see some things like arm speed and approach angles, but not much beyond that. SIUE and EIU don't do anything crazy that we need to prepare for, just solid play that keeps coming at you."
What's In Store This Weekend
"SIUE is a very young team, five of their seven starters are underclassmen," Zelenock said. "That being said, they are very good young players who are learning on the fly how to win in the OVC, and with young players you're going to have good and bad days. Their overall record is surprising because I think they are much better than 9-16 (5-7 OVC). I know every starter on that team from recruiting in that region and know these kids can play ball."
Versus SIU Edwardsville (6-19, OVC 5-7)
The Cougars are currently sitting in fourth place in the
west division with two weekends left to play. Led by Cori Harris
(2.78 kills per set) and Kelsey Augustine (2.53 K/S), SIUE sit in
the top half in kills per set at 13.48 in conference play. Setter
Mallory Mangun is orchestrating the offense by dishing out 11.04
assists per set, good for third in conference play. SIUE also leads
the conference in digs per set at 18.62.
Versus Eastern Illinois (15-10, 9-3)
The Panthers, the west division leaders, have not lost
since October 11-12 weekend where they lost to back-to-back games
to Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. They are led offensively by
Reynae Hutchinson (3.33 kills per set) and Chelsea Lee (3.27 K/S).
Hutchinson is current second in conference play at 3.70 kills per
set. Dishing them the ball is setter Marah Bradbury who leads the
conference at 12.47 assists per set. As a whole, EIU's
offense is tops in conference play, holding down first in both
kills (14.98 K/S) and assists (14.40 A/S).
Things You Should Know
In The Rankings
Seniors Natalie
Penrod and Ashleigh
Hancock and junior Courtney
Smith all hold spots in the conference rankings for stats
achieved during conference play. Penrod is currently ranked sixth
in kills per set at 3.35 and 10th in points scored at
3.62. Hancock is eighth in assists per set with 9.21, and Smith is
fifth in digs by tallying 4.67 per set.
Last Weekend Recap
Tech fell to Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky last
week. Sophomore Cody Dodd led the
team points with 20. She recorded 14 kills, 7 blocks, two aces and
a .312 hitting percentage. Hancock dished out 60 assists to go with
three kills, seven digs and two blocks.
Quotes from Coach
"With four matches left, we are placing a real premium on
keeping things loose in the gym and getting better at one thing
each time we take the floor. The last two weeks we have done a
great job as a group attacking one aspect of the game each day to
work on and carrying it forward into live play. We played really
well last weekend despite the 3-0 losses. This weekend we want to
keep improving in a few areas while holding onto the growth we had
the last few."