By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

CHARLESTON, Ill.—Opening weekend of Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) play brings the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (2-12, 0-1 OVC) to Charleston, Ill. to compete against Eastern Illinois University (EIU, 6-9, 1-0 OVC). This is the 40th time the two teams have faced off against each other, as well as both the Golden Eagles and Panthers first conference match-up in the 2015 season. EIU came out on top in this match-up against Tech, with the Panthers taking winning set scores of 25-14, 26-24, and 25-15 over the Golden Eagles.

"This is when it counts," said Golden Eagle Cody Dodd. "We still have a lot of things we need to work on, and we could have done better today, but we will keep fighting and hopefully do well tomorrow."

EIU took the early 10-6 lead over Tech in the first set. The Panthers continued to push and pulled ahead by six-points, 15-9, causing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. From there, EIU continued to capitalize on their lead and created a nine-point gap at 19-10. The Panthers then continued to hold strong and took the first set 25-14.

A kill by Shealene Little opened the second set with a 6-4 lead for The Golden Eagles, however, EIU recovered its three-point deficit and persisted to take a six-point lead at 13-7 over Tech. Back-to-back kills brought the Golden Eagles back within four, 16-12, and allowed Tech to continue closing the gap with EIU off of a kill by Sharon Anderson and a Dodd service ace (18-15). The Golden Eagles battled and kills by Dodd helped bring Tech pull within four at 24-20. The Golden Eagles persisted and Panther errors allowed Tech to further close-in at 24-22, and then forced EIU to take a timeout. The Golden Eagles came out strong off of the Panther timeout and back-to-back kills by Dodd tied the set at 24-24. However, EIU held on and edged out a second set win 26-24.

"Cody got angry," head coach Dave Zelenock commented about the Tech second set comeback. "That's the worst idea for any OVC team to do. If you get a kill, you don't want to taunt her because she will put one right back at you."

In the third, the Panthers created a six-point lead at 7-1 early on, but the Golden Eagles fought to pull back within three off of back-to-back kills from Dodd, 10-7. EIU was not jostled by the Tech gain, and against pulled ahead by six at 16-10. From there, the Panthers pursued and sailed to a third set and match victory 25-15.

"Cody is doing it all for us," Zelenock continued. "Without looking at any stats, I think it's safe to say that she is leading us in aces and kills and probably in second with digs. She has always been a great attacker and has cleaned up her blocks a lot from last year. She is an all-around great player."

As a team, Tech hit .132 compared to EIU's .326 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles out blocked the Panthers 7 to 3, however, EIU committed only 12 attack errors to Tech's 17. Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 17 kills, five digs and a .237 hitting percentage. Teammate Anderson contributed 26 assists and seven digs in the match. Kayla Nesbitt led Eastern Illinois with 11 kills and a .579 hitting percentage.

"We are the underdog going in to tomorrow," Dodd remarked. "We are going to have to fight and earn every point."

The Golden Eagles continue match play on Saturday when they take on conference opponent Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) in a 2 p.m. contest at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill.