By Jocelyn VerVelde, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Tennessee Tech women's volleyball team went 1-1 on the opening day of play at the East Carolina Invitational, and it was not without some excitement.
The Golden Eagles closed the day with a grind-it-out match over Norfolk State, where they came from behind 0-2, to win 3-2; 23-25, 15-25, 25-20, 29-27, and 15-10.
In the five-set thriller against the Spartans, junior Cody Dodd showed why she is a force to reckoned with. The 6-foot-4 right-side hitter opened up the match a little slow, with just one kill in the first two sets combined. After the second set, head coach Dave Zelenock threw her in as an outside hitter instead, and once Dodd got rolling, there was no stopping her. The Cookeville native put away 17 kills in the final three sets and just three errors. She finished with a career-high 18 kills while hitting a clip of .389, and along with that she added 11 digs for the first double-double of her career. She also added a team-high five blocks and one service ace.
Freshmen K'Vonna Johnson and Jordan Wachowiak both had breakout games for the Golden Eagles. Johnson put away 14 kills and added two digs and two blocks. Wachowiak was a force on the front line as she put away nine kills and committed just one error, for an impressive clip of .500. She also added four blocks.
"K'Vonna and Jordan led the way for us today," Zelenock said of his freshmen. "We asked them to hit hard, and do what we told them, and they did. When the rest of the team saw that it was working, it helped them step up and meet the challenge as well."
The offense would have been nothing without sophomore setter Sharon Anderson who orchestrated the offense to .199 team hitting percentage for the match, but an impressive .280 over the last three sets. She dished out 39 assists and added a team-high three service aces.
As a team, the Golden Eagles tallied 11 blocks and 11 aces for the match.
NSU was led by four hitters, who all tallied double-digit kills. Hope Forsythe and Jessica Johnson each put away 14 kills, while Janay Frazier and Clarke Tyler added 10 apiece.
In the first match of the day, the Golden Eagles faced host East Carolina and home court advantage was definitely in the Pirates favor, as they swept Tech 3-0, 25-11, 25-18, and 25-20.
Johnson put away a team-high seven kills, followed by Dodd who added six, and fellow freshman Kellie Williams who also added six. Williams and Dodd both added two blocks. Sharon Anderson distributed 23 assists and added five digs.
Defensively, Wachowiak added a game-high four blocks and senior libero Courtney Smith added a team-high 14 digs.
The Golden Eagles will look to pick up where they left off as they face Morgan State at 9 a.m. CT and UNC Wilmington at 3 p.m.
