By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
Click here for the 2016 schedule
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—Excitement for the fall seasons is stirring amongst Tennessee Tech fans as they patiently await the announcement of the Golden Eagle's schedules. Well, the wait is over! Tennessee Tech head volleyball coach Dave Zelenock has officially announced the 2016 schedule.
The upcoming slate is highlighted by four tournaments before beginning conference play. With the addition of six newcomers and the loss of just one from the Purple and Gold team, things are looking promising for this Tech squad who ended last season with a 10-21, 7-9 OVC mark and a trip to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
"We are going to be a young team with 12 underclassmen this season," remarked head coach Zelenock. "Having 18 on a team is a big number, but when 12 of them are first and second year players it could present some challenges on the youth side. However, athletically, I think this will be one of the best teams we've had since I've been here. The six that we bring in are all really good volleyball players, but they still have to get their feet wet in college volleyball. Their teams are competing for national titles in club and they are doing big things in the club scene that we think will translate well."
The Golden Eagles travel to Cullowhee, N.C. for their first tournament of the season on Aug. 26-27, where they will face opponents of Charleston Southern, UAB, and host Western Carolina. Tech and Western Carolina competed against each other last season, and the Golden Eagles saw victory on their home court, defeating the Catamounts 3-1.
"Western Carolina will be tough," said Zelenock. "Yes, we beat them at home, but it was still a tough match. Now that we are going to their place, it will be interesting to see how we do when we are their Saturday feature match, and they will probably have a decent crowd. The Catamounts have a lot of good players. They were mostly freshmen and sophomores last year, so they are kind of a year ahead of schedule from where we are now."
Next up on the docket, the Tennessee Tech squad travels to Birmingham, Ala. for the UAB-Samford Tournament on Sept. 2-3. Here, the Golden Eagles will face opponents of Radford, Northwestern State, North Carolina Central University, and co-host Samford.
"Playing two matches a day will be easier on our freshmen than our seniors because we kind of train that out of them with college playing one match a day," continued Zelenock. "These club kids are used to playing five to six matches a day, so I think it will be easier on our younger kids. We are also playing a lot of teams that didn't lose a lot last year. Samford may have been the only one with a winning record, but all the others bring back a lot of players, and experience is huge in college. It will be tough for different reasons. We aren't playing Penn State or extremely difficult teams, but it will be a hard format for us."
Next, the team will return to Tennessee on Sept. 9-10 for a tournament at Middle Tennessee. The Tech team will face off against host MTSU, Illinois State, and Seton Hall over the two-day event.
"Week three at MTSU will be a tough tournament," remarked Zelenock. "There's an average RPI of 149 between the three teams, and that's helped a lot by Illinois State who has a 73 RPI. The Redbirds were 22-10 last year in a very good conference. Seton Hall has an RPI of 142 and MTSU was down and had a new coach last year, but anyone who has seen them knows they can be down and just go off on a highlight reel. If they pass well, they are pretty unstoppable so I think that's going to be the match that we really have to be on with our serves. If we can get them off the net, then it will be a tighter match for us. But the tournament will be a good one because we are starting to get more and more kids from Tennessee. Being at MTSU, players' families can come watch us and we are heavily recruiting in Tennessee, so now recruits can come see us play, which is a good situation for us."
Finally, the Golden Eagles round out their four-tournament trek at the Idaho Invitational on Sept. 15-16. Here, opponents of Oregon State, host Idaho, and Wyoming will prove to be some of the strongest competition the Purple and Gold team will face this season. Pac-12 team Oregon State comes into this year with a 6-24 overall and 4-16 conference mark. Idaho, a Big Sky conference affiliate, returns to the court off of a 14-16, 10-6 conference season. Idaho will also be a familiar opponent for the Golden Eagles as the Vandals traveled to Cookeville last year and split matches with Tech. Finally, powerhouse Wyoming is fresh off a 23-7, 13-5 Mountain West season and will be a fierce competitor on the court.
"Idaho came to us last year, so we are doing our return this season," stated Zelenock. "That tournament will be, by far, our toughest. Idaho worked us pretty good at home, and they are, of the three teams we play there, the lowest RPI. It only gets harder. Oregon State is a PAC-12 team and will bring back the majority of its players. They are going to be tough because they are used to playing teams like Stanford, UCLA, and USC, so even though they are towards the bottom of the PAC, it's still the PAC."
"The hardest team there will beWyoming, which across the country is not a name you think of with volleyball," continued Zelenock. "They are scary good. They have a 42 RPI, and only lost their L1 and M1 from last year. Wyoming plays strong teams and they win. It's going to be a really tough tournament because you play three teams who are not only big, but super good. Then the next weekend we come into the OVC matchups. We could just schedule tournaments where we could win a bunch of matches, but to me, I want to play great competition so when we play OVC teams it's not that big of a deal."
With tournament play in the wraps, the Golden Eagles will then begin conference match-ups, beginning with opponents of Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State on Sept. 23-24.
"I like that our first matches are at home, that's always helpful," said Zelenock. "But EKU plays with such fire and intensity and that comes a lot from their head coach, so they will be tough opponent no matter where you play them. Even on a neutral court it's always a tough match."
"Then looking at Morehead, they've got arguably one of the best outsides in the conference, number two or three easy. When she's on, she can put up 30 kills like it's nothing. They also have some really nice young kids that are extremely athletic. They lost their M1 last year, who I thought was phenomenal, but other than that, they are a pretty steady team. Hopefully, we can get a good crowd there both days because I think those are matches that the crowd can play a big role in because they are both emotional teams. Also, they are on our side of the division so we see them twice and the matches can get really heated," remarked Zelenock.
"Since I've gotten here, the OVC level has gotten dramatically better," said Zelenock. "When I first got here, the teams that had two 10-foot attackers were the best teams in the conference, but now everybody's got those players. The athleticism is way up. I think it could be the difference between one or two matches putting us in second or not even in the tournament at all. Other than Murray, Belmont, and EIU last year, it was a dogfight. I think this year it gets even bigger. Right now, I could see five or six teams easily winning the conference, and after that I can't even pick anyone and say 'okay, they won't make the tournament;' really anyone can make the postseason. Every single night is going to be really tough. There are no give-mes anymore."
Returning to the team, and player to watch is junior Kellie Williams. Williams stood as Tech's second leading scorer averaging 2.90 kills per set with a .181 hitting percentage. On the 2015 season, Williams saw action over 113 sets notching 328 kills, 52 digs, and 44 blocks.
"Kellie is going to be interesting to watch," continued Zelenock. "She had her shoulder rebuilt in the spring, so she wasn't able to play at all. It's a long and difficult recovery, so we will see how well she comes back. I would say she's one of the top five L1s in the conference; she just scores."
Other key players on the Golden Eagle squad will be sophomores Shaneice James and Shealene Little. James led the freshmen in scoring last season with 102 kills over 115 sets with a .096 attacking percentage. She tallied 18 digs and put up 85 blocks (second best on the Tech team). Little had a solid freshman season as well, posting 99 kills over 63 sets with a .088 hitting percentage. She gathered 105 digs, 11 blocks, and five service aces.
"I think we've had a lot of players make some big improvements this spring," said Zelenock. "Shaneice made some advances, and I think Shealene did too. Shealene's jump went up a couple inches, and she already had a big arm, it was just a matter of getting her to play on a higher level. In spring play she was scoring and passing really well, so I think she's going to be fun to watch."
Another play on the rise will be sophomore Susie Jeziorowski. As a freshman, Jeziorowski didn't see a lot of action on the court only playing in 18 sets, but is expected to be a big presence on the team this fall.
"Susie had to run the team all spring because Sharon was out," commented Zelenock. "She didn't get a lot of time in the fall, but she had to run the team in the spring and did great. She really cleaned up her skills and is a good size setter, so she can block and score, and has a really nice serve. It will be interesting to see if she can push Sharon off, or if we end up in a 6-2 and they are both on the floor."
Six freshmen will be joining the Golden Eagle squad this upcoming season including Liz Bossong, Emily Brooks, Rachel Thomas, Abigail Duncan, Lexi Kingree, and Taylor Houck.
"Mostly it's going to be the freshmen and seeing what they can do," continued Zelenock. "We have to fill Cody Dodd's shoes on the right side, and I think it's going to be a freshman because we don't have a lot of returners that suit that position. Povey can play right, Shaneice can play right, and Sydney can play right, but they all thrive in the middle. Those freshmen, Rachel and Taylor, played right side in club at a very, very high level. But they are exactly opposite in how they play the position, so it's going to be really interesting if one of them comes in and wins it outright, or if they are both so good we have to run a 6-2, we really have no idea at this point."
Admission to all Tennessee Tech volleyball regular season matches are free of charge. Dates and times are subject to change.
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