COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the third time this season, Tennessee Tech's senior libero Courtney Smith picked up the adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the week award.
Smith, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, tallied 54 digs over Tennessee Tech's two matches last week. She had 24 versus Tennessee State and followed that up with a match-high 30 digs against Belmont. She recorded 16 digs in the first set versus the Bruins. She now had 562 digs on the season, and is averaging 5.16 digs per set, good enough for 24th in the nation.
This is the first time since 2007 that a TTU player earned three defensive awards in the same season, when Katie Kenline, Tech's all-time dig leader, accomplished the feat.
Smith will lead the Golden Eagles into an important match on Tuesday night as Tech host Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. CT.
Jax State is currently tied for fourth place with Austin Peay with an 8-6 OVC record. Tech is currently tied with Eastern Illinois for seventh place as both squads have a 7-7 record. Tech does have the upper hand over EIU as the Golden Eagles topped the Panthers in the only pairing of the season. The top eight teams will make it to the conference tournament.
In the last meeting, the Gamecocks took a 2-0 advantage leading into the intermission, but the Golden Eagles came out fighting in set three. Behind five kills from both junior Cody Dodd and freshman Kellie Williams, Tech put down 18 kills on a match-high .222 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles also dug up 28 digs as a team, to help Tech take the third set from the Gamecocks, 25-20.
In the fourth set, the Golden Eagles fought Jax State tooth and nail to try and bring the match to a fifth set. Williams finished the match with a game-high 18 kills on an impressive .268 hitting percentage. Joining her with double-digit kills were Dodd and redshirt-sophomore Alyssa Povey. Both put down 11 kills. Dodd added 16 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Povey's 11 kills were a season high, and she added four blocks.
Senior Courtney Smith continued her defensive prowess as she scooped up 23 digs in four sets. Freshman Jordan Wachowiak added five blocks. Sophomore Sharon Anderson tallied 12 digs, while dishing out 47 assists for her sixth double-double of the season.
The Gamecocks were led by senior middle blocker Nicole Merget, who put away 13 kills while only committing one error for a notable .500 hitting percentage. Allyson Zuhlke and Emily Rutherford also put away double-figure kills. Zuhlke led the way with 15, while Rutherford added 10 and 14 digs.
