By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
MARTIN, Tenn.—It wouldn't be the last regular match of the season if it didn't go down to the wire in every set. The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (9-20, 7-9 OVC) battled until the end against UT-Martin (9-24, 5-11 OVC) and had a record-breaking night for many Golden Eagles. Tech saw victory in a five set (3-2) match that forced the Golden Eagles to bring everything that they had to the table, while capturing winning set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 24-26, 28-26, and 19-17.
"I think Martin was definitely more fired up than we were at first," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "They had what looked to be about every athletics team in the building for their senior night and all were screaming. Their team was just an animal tonight and in the first two sets they could do no wrong. As for us, we need to come out a little better, we never overtook them tonight, we just matched them and the game really could have gone either way."
It was truly a battle in the first set. Tech and UT-Martin kept a tight match, opening with a 10-10 tie and neither team leading by more than two points. The Skyhawks then broke the trend and took a three-point lead at 13-10, pushing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. After the timeout, Tech got back on track and tied the match again at 14-14 with a kill by K'Vonna Johnson. Lael Ceriani then took the reins for UT-Martin and put down back-to-back kills to give the Skyhawks the three-point lead again at 18-15. From there, UT-Martin pressed on and extended their lead to 22-17. Tech refused to back down and kills by Kellie Williams and Shaneice James accompanied by a Kirsten Brugere service ace helped pull the Golden Eagles within one at 22-21. However, the Skyhawks persisted and edged out a first set victory 25-22, outhitting Tech .289-.140.
"There was a lot of people at this game tonight," Golden Eagle setter Sharon Anderson remarked. "It was their senior night and the arena was full so they were pretty excited and we tried to match that."
UT-Martin came out strong in the second set taking the early 9-4 lead over Tech. The Golden Eagles responded to the Skyhawk lead and went on a 7-2 run to tie the set at 11-11. Tech then continued to take the lead at 13-11, before UT-Martin retied the game at 13-13. Once again, the Golden Eagles and Skyhawks fought to gain control of the set, keeping the set score within one point of each other. Finally, Tech took a two point lead at 22-19 with two kills in-a-row from Alyssa Povey and Williams, which caused UT-Martin to take a timeout. Out of the break, Williams picked up another two kills giving the Golden Eagles the 24-19 lead, before Tech took the second set 25-19 to tie the game score at one a piece.
A tight game it continued to be going into the third set with a score of 10-10 opening play for the two teams. The Skyhawks were first to create more than a two-point lead with a kill from Madison Wessling to put UT Martin up by three at 17-14. From there, the Skyhawks continued to hold a slight advantage over the Golden Eagles, holding three point leads at 19-16, 20-17 and 21-18. Kills by Williams and Johnson brought Tech back within one at 21-20, and then allowed them to tie the set once again at 21-21 before taking the 22-21 lead with a big block from Cody Dodd and Povey. UT Martin pushed to take the 24-22 lead, however, Tech pursued and retied the set at 24-24 with two kills in a row from Dodd and Johnson. The Skyhawks called for a timeout and then came out of the break to put up two kills and close out the third set winning 26-24 over the Golden Eagles.
The fourth set was another nail-biter. A tie of 9-9 began set play between Tech and UT-Martin. Again, the two held each other to a maximum of a two-point lead. The Golden Eagles were the first to snap the chain and took the three-point lead at 17-14 with kills from Williams, Shealene Little and Dodd. Tech continued to expand their lead and pushed ahead by four-points at 19-15. UT-Martin would not back down easily and came back within one at 20-19. The Golden Eagles maintained a slight advantage and a kill by Williams pushed Tech to 22-20, however, the Skyhawks fought right back and tied the game at 23-23 and then take the lead at 24-23. A UT-Martin service error retied the set at 24-24, but the Skyhawks came right back with a kill by Alisha Erves to take the 25-24 lead. Dodd then stepped up for the Golden Eagles with a kill and tied the game back at 25-25. UT-Martin's Ceiriani responded with a kill of her own to again give the Skyhawks the slight lead at 26-25, however, UT Martin could not close and committed another service error to give Tech the 26-26 tie. The Golden Eagles took full advantage of the error and a kill by Williams followed by a service ace from Allison Morrett gave Tech the fourth set 28-26.
The Golden Eagles came out revved up and took the early 4-2 lead in the fifth due to three-kills in a row by senior, Dodd. However, the Skyhawks came to battle and tied the set at 4-4 to create another tight set, true to the theme of tonight's match-up. Control switched over to UT-Martin as they took the 7-5 lead with kills from the Skyhawks' Ellie Cain and Alisha Erves, and caused Tech to call for a timeout. Out of the break, UT-Martin continued to dominate and created a four-point leads at 10-6 and 12-8. The Golden Eagles continued to fight and three kills from Dodd brought them back to tie the set at 13-13. A kill from the Skyhawks' Kiah Cheatham gave UT-Martin match point, however, Dodd continued to take things in her own hands and tied the match at 14-14. A kill from the Skyhawks again gave them the edge at 15-14, however, the Golden Eagles responded with a kill from Little followed by a block from James to take the slight lead at 16-15. The teams continued to battle back-and-forth for control until a kill by Williams followed by a Kennedy Wade service ace sealed a fifth set and match victory 19-17.
"Kellie was our savior tonight," Zelenock remarked. "When we were at our worst, Kellie really stepped up and was an unstoppable outside for us."
Williams picked up a career-high 28 kills to lead the Golden Eagles in the match, while teammate Dodd posted her 18th double-double of the season gathering 25 kills and 21 digs in the match. Sharon Anderson and Allison Morrett also hit career-highs in digs, Anderson tallying 22 for the Golden Eagles and Morrett chalking up a solid 24, while Anderson also posted a career-high number of assists (61) to add to the Tech triumph.
"It looked like they had been preparing for Cody for weeks," Zelenock continued. "They had her number right away and it took awhile for Cody to get going and find ways for her to score, but once she got back on track she really did well."
"We are so excited to move on," Anderson continued. "We think we might be playing Belmont and we just faced them and got them at home so I think we can really rise up to the occasion and beat them again."
Victory over the Skyhawks sealed Tech a spot in the OVC Tournament next week, which will kick off at Murray State on Thursday, Nov. 19.
"It would nice to be able to play another team from the same division," Zelenock remarked about the possibility of facing Belmont first. "We just saw them last week, but on the other hand, they are still the number two team and when we got them it was at home on our senior night with all of those extra fans and emotions, etc. So now both of us would be on neutral ground with no home fans or extra support so it could present a challenge, but I know everyone is really excited to have made it to the tournament and will work really hard against whoever we face."
