By Jocelyn VerVelde, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team hits the road for a two-match weekend swing where they will match-up with the Morehead State Eagles and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Tech will face the Eagles on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT; they will then travel to EKU to face the Colonels on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
This weekend, the Golden Eagles will face both a team at the top of the OVC and a team at the bottom. EKU is tied for first with three other teams, while sitting at 5-1. Morehead State is in sole possession of last place with a 0-6 record.
"With the OVC any team can beat you any given day," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "Morehead is a perennial top team who just happens to be at the bottom. I've watched five matches and in every one of them Morehead plays hard, they play smart, and just aren't winning the right points. EKU is really complete. They pass and serve very well and have a lot of offensive weapons. Defensively, I think they are the best team we will play this year, it's very hard to score on them."
"For both of these matches we need strong starts and consistent play. Morehead is still searching for that first win, and have come really close many times over, so there is a lot of pressure on us to not be the team that lets them get it. So we are focusing on them pretty heavy this week."
What's In Store This Weekend
Versus Morehead State (0-20, 0-6)
Morehead State is off to its first 0-20 start in school history. The Eagles started their varsity volleyball program in 1972, and the Ohio Valley Conference began sponsoring the sport in 1981. Junior Hannah Sigala leads Morehead State with 3.20 points, 2.55 kills and 0.84 blocks per set. In the midweek match versus Dayton, the Eagles were downed 3-0, 25-20, 25-13, 28-26. Sophomore middle blocker Sydney Schuler led Morehead State with nine kills, while Sigala added a team-high five blocks and eight successful attacks.
Versus Eastern Kentucky (15-7, 5-1)
EKU is tied with three other teams right now for first place in the OVC. Eastern is 15-7 overall and 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Alexis Plagens leads the Colonels with 3.17 kills per set, while Dena Ott guides the backcourt with 4.91 digs per set. Ott earned adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week after helping EKU in two OVC victories over the weekend, averaging 8.29 digs per set. The Wauconda, Illinois native led all players with 30 digs in a four set victory over Southeast Missouri on Friday. She followed that with a match-high 28 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Tennessee-Martin on Saturday.
Things You Should Know
Last Time Out
Tech went 1-1 last weekend as they hosted Belmont and Tennessee State. In the win over TSU, freshman Kellie Williams led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills, adding two digs and two blocks. Junior Cody Dodd finished with nine kills, adding eight digs, four blocks, and two service aces. Freshman Jordan Wachowiak led Tech in blocks, tallying six, while putting away a total of eight kills. Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Povey had five timely kills while adding three blocks as well. Sophomore setter Sharon Anderson dished out 38 assists while recording 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Seniors Return
Seniors Ellen Conti and Allison May have missed a majority of the season so far with injury. May returned for the first time against Jacksonville State after having offseason knee surgery. In her third game against TSU, she tallied a season-high nine digs for the Golden Eagles. Conti played in the opening tournament of the season before having a shoulder injury that kept her out of action. The 6-0 senior saw her first action against Belmont, tallying four kills on 10 attempts. She got her first start since the opening tournament against TSU.
Honor Corps
The Golden Eagle have taken home three weekly awards from the Ohio Valley Conference so far this season. Cody Dodd earned her first adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 19 following an impressive performance at the Cowgirl Classic at McNeese State. Courtney Smith has earned back-to-back adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors (9/21 & 9/29) for averaging over six digs a set.
Where We Rank
OVC Team Overall Rankings:
Hitting Percentage: 12th - .153
Opponents Hitting Pct.: 5th - .201
Assists: 11th – 10.41
Kills: 12th – 10.87
Blocks: 2nd – 2.03
Service Aces: 6th – 1.35
Digs: 5th – 15.49
OVC Overall Individuals:
Kills: 3rd – Cody Dodd, 3.31
Assists: 8th – Sharon Anderson, 9.31
Service Aces: 1st – Cody Dodd, 0.36
Blocks: 1st – Jordan Wachowiak, 1.18
Digs: 1st – Courtney Smith, 4.98
Points: 2nd – Cody Dodd, 4.07
OVC Only Team:
Hitting Percentage: 12th – .157
Opponents Hitting Pct.: 4th – .187
Assists: 12th – 10.78
Kills: 12th – 11.48
Blocks: 9th – 1.78
Service Aces: 7th – 1.13
Digs: 2nd – 17.61
OVC Only Individuals:
Kills: 5th – Cody Dodd, 3.70
Assists: 9th – Sharon Anderson, 9.83
Service Aces: 6th – Cody Dodd, 0.35
Blocks: 5th – Jordan Wachowiak, 1.09
Digs: 2nd – Courtney Smith, 5.70
Points: 4th – Cody Dodd, 4.38
National Rankings
Team
Digs per set: 92nd
Total Aces: 48th
Total Digs: 39th
Total Blocks: 80th
Individual
Digs Per Set: 27th – Courtney Smith
Blocks Per Set: 78th – Jordan Wachowiak
Total Digs: 13th – Courtney Smith
Total Service Aces: 45th – Cody Dodd
Total Assists: 59th – Sharon Anderson
Total Kills: 92nd – Cody Dodd
Total Blocks: 83rd – Jordan Wachowiak
