COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A whole lot of people came out Saturday to watch Golden Eagle senior Cody Dodd play the final home match of her volleyball career at Tennessee Tech, including family, former teammates and former coaches.
"I'm so proud of us," senior Golden Eagle Cody Dodd said. "We played really well, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end it."
And, as the match against Belmont went on, the crowd grew with first-time fans arriving to watch the Golden Eagle women's basketball team play its first exhibition game of the year and the second game of a unique doubleheader.
The former Cookeville High School standout and Golden Eagle leader had what was arguably the most memorable match of her sensational career, leading Tech in an improbable comeback to a 3-2 victory.
And there is no doubt that the enthusiasm of the expanding crowd played a role as the Golden Eagles 7-20/5-9 OVC) rebounded from a bad loss in the third set to trail 2-1, to win the final two sets in emotional fashion.
Dodd finished the night with 26 kills on a .351 hitting percentage, 21 digs, four blocks and three service aces. K'Vonna Johnson added 10 kills, while Sharon Anderson joined Dodd in producing a double-double with 49 assists and 14 digs. Allison Morrett (14) and Kirsten Brugere (10) also had double-digits digs. Alyssa Povey led Tech at the net with eight total blocks.
The Bruins (14-12, 11-3 OVC) had four players in double figures for kills, led by Jocelyn Youngdahl with 18 and Arianna Person with 16. Brie Lewis had 12 and Alexa Nichols added 10. Emma Price had 58 assists and 11 digs. The Bruin back line also had 18 digs each from Person and Emily Richards, 14 from Lewis and 10 by Ellie Ivancich.
"We still had our ups and downs," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "But when it got tough, we had more energy and really stepped it up."
Belmont won the first set, 25-21, then bounced back after Tech had tied the contest with a 25-17 win in set two. The Bruins cruised to a 25-13 win in the third set, but Tech refused to fold, winning the fourth set by a 25-23 count and clinching the match with a 15-10 decision in the fifth.
Tech held a 21-18 lead in the opening set following a kill by Johnson, her fourth of the set, but Belmont scored the final seven points for the 25-21 win. Tech was called for two ball handling errors and Brie Lewis had back-to-back aces in the winning stretch.
The Golden Eagles built an early lead in set two, and maintained it all the way to the win behind seven kills and three blocks fro Dodd. The leads bounced around between four and five points throughout, until Tech took it to a seven-point bulge at 21-14 on Johnson's third kill of the set. The final eight-point difference for Tech came three times in the late going, including the 25-17 winning margin as James put down her only kill of the set.
Belmont dominated in the third set on the way to its 25-13 win, hitting .444 and getting four kills each from Youngdahl, Person and Lewis. Belmont had runs of five and six points in the set, offsetting a seven-kill effort from Dodd.
The crowd in Eblen Center really began to make noise in the fourth set, and Dodd and her mates didn't disappoint. Trailing 17-13, Tech rallied to tie the set. Down 19-18, Tech got back-to-back service aces from Anderson and a kill by Williams for a 21-19 lead.
Dodd's back-to-back kills made it 24-21, and with Belmont a point from tying it at 24-23, James hammered down a set from Anderson for set point to send the match to the fifth.
Tech pulled on top, 11-5 on a service ace from Dodd that showed some divine intervention when it danced along the net and dropped over.
Up 12-7, Dodd and Povey put up a wall at the net for the block to make it 13-7, but Belmont rallied with the next two to make it 13-9. A service ace from Youngdahl made it 13-10, before Dodd went the soft route and dumped in a point to make it 14-10.
Twice Tech escaped losing the next point in a rally with tremendous defensive plays, then celebrated with their fans when a Belmont shot came down out of bounds to end the marathon.
"I'm happy we took down Belmont," Zelenock continued. "This was the first time we beat them since I've been here."
The Golden Eagles play at Jacksonville State on Tuesday night then wrap up the regular season Friday with a match at UT Martin.
"JSU beat us at home and now we are going in looking for payback," Zelenock remarked. "They have been playing really well, so it's going to be tought but we are going to focus and hopefully pull out a win."
