By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
CULLOWHEE, N.C.—With the first tournament of the 2016 season in the books, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (3-0) ended the weekend on top winning all three of their matches to mark the best start a Purple and Gold squad has had since 2000, when the Golden Eagles opened with a 5-0 record. Tech kicked off day two of the Catamount Volleyball classic with a 3-2 victory over UAB (0-2). Tech saw winning set scores of 25-19, 25-20, 14-25, 23-25 and 15-11 in the match. Later that evening, the Golden Eagles faced-off against tournament host Western Carolina. Tech defeated the Catamounts (2-1) three sets to one, taking winning set scores of 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, and 25-21.
"Starting off 3-0 is a great feeling," head coach Dave Zelenock remarked. "Not many teams can say that right now, but we know in preconference each week is only going to get tougher and tougher."
"I thought we all did really well today," freshman Golden Eagle Rachel Thomas commented. "We had a lot of energy on and off the court and I thought we all just got in the zone and focused."
Against UAB, a 6-2 mark opened up set one in favor of the Purple and Gold team, however, the Blazers quickly battled back to tie the game at 10-10. Here, Tech called for a timeout and then came out strong to take a four-point lead at 15-11. The Golden Eagles went on to extend their lead to 17-12 with a kill from sophomore Shaneice James. UAB then went on a run to pull within two points of Tech (17-15), however, the Golden Eagle team held on and pulled ahead by five (21-16) with back-to-back K'Vonna Johnson and James kills before UAB stopped to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, freshman Rachel Thomas put another point on the board for Tech, giving the squad the momentum to close out a 25-19 first set victory.
"We used a lot of people throughout these matches," Zelenock continued. "We had almost every player in every position going into the game and our bench was going nuts, which really helped us on the court. We are kind of a unique team in that we celebrate our errors as long as they are aggressive. So at some points, our side might be cheering just as loud as the other even if we didn't get the point."
The Golden Eagles and Blazers started off the second set neck-and-neck with ties of two, three, four, and six. Finally, the Tech team gained a bit of control when they pulled ahead by three points (9-6) thanks to kills from Johnson and James. The Blazers continued to fight with the Golden Eagles, pulling within one point at 9-8 and again tying the set at 10-10. The two teams wavered back-and-forth fighting for control, holding a tight match, while advancing the score to 15-15. Once more the Tech team took a three point lead (18-15) with a Shealene Little kill, Kirsten Brugere service ace, and UAB attack error, causing the Blazers to call for a timeout. Tech came out of the break ready to fight, putting themselves ahead by five at 21-16, before UAB stopped for another timeout. The Golden Eagles remained dominant and sealed a second set victory, 25-20, with an Allison Morrett service ace.
The Blazers came out with vengeance in set three, taking a commanding 12-4 lead over the Golden Eagles to start. UAB continued to put pressure on Tech by taking a nine-point lead at 20-11, before closing out a quick third set 25-14.
Set four started out in favor of the Blazers, who opened with an 8-4 advantage. The Golden Eagles came back to tie the match at 12-12 with back-to-back kills from Johnson, pushing UAB to take a timeout. From here, the Blazers once more pulled ahead slightly at 15-13, however, Thomas put down two kills to retie the set at 15-15. The battle for control of the match continued, as the Golden Eagles took their first leads of the set at 18-17 and 19-18 with kills from freshman Abigail Duncan. Tech now took a slight two-point lead at 20-18 as Johnson notched her 18th kill of the match (surpassing her former career-high). UAB refused to back down easily and fought back to tie the set again at 22-22. Another kill from Johnson gave Tech the advantage at 23-22, however, the Blazer's Victoria Young responded with two kills in-a-row to give UAB the 24-23 lead, setting them up to sneak out a fourth set victory 25-23 over the Golden Eagles.
The fifth set started off just as close as the others with a tie of 6-6 to open. Tech took a three-point lead at 9-6, however, UAB quickly fought back within one point at 9-8. The Golden Eagles called for a timeout to regroup and extended their lead to 11-8 with a Thomas kill. Now, the Blazers broke for a timeout hoping to throw off Tech's momentum, however, the Golden Eagles remained unfazed and sealed a fifth set and match victory 15-11.
Johnson led Tech with a career-high 21 kills, while teammate Thomas put up 14 kills and five blocks in the match. Golden Eagle Sharon Anderson posted her first double-double of the season with 53 assists and 22 digs, leading Tech in both. Erika Zembyla led UAB with 21 kills in the match.
"K'Vonna [Johnson] went off in our first two matches," Zelenock said. "It was almost like she was unstoppable unless she was in a bad situation from a bad set. She really wasn't feeling well in the thir match because her knee was bothering her so Kellie, a preseason All-OVC selection, came off the bench for her and did great things. We are fortunate in that matter that we have a lot of options available to us on our bench."
"Rachel had her ups and downs, as is expected as a freshman," Zelenock continued. "When she goes really hard she gets great results. And not to compare her to Cody Dodd, but when she swings away at the right angle, she is really hard to dig like Cody was."
In Tech's second match of the day versus Western Carolina, the Golden Eagles opened with a dominating 8-2 lead over the Catamounts, with James kicking off the match with a kill. Tech continued to add a buffer to their lead pulling ahead by nine points at 11-2 with a kill from Little. The Golden Eagles continued to dominate in the set taking advantage of numerous Catamount attack errors. Tech lengthened the gap, holding a seven-point lead at 16-9 with a kill from James. Western Carolina attempted to stage a comeback, pulling within four-points of Tech (16-12), causing the Golden Eagles to break for a timeout. Out of the timeout, Tech got back on the ball and pulled ahead 19-14 with a kill by Thomas, before closing out a first set victory 25-21.
Tech and Western Carolina started off set two neck-and-neck with a tie of 5-5. The two teams held a tight match, staying within one or two points of each other. The Golden Eagles and Catamounts again tied the match at 11-11, however, Western Carolina found some momentum and reeled off three straight to take a 14-11 lead and push the Tech team to call a timeout. The Golden Eagles came out of the break focused and two kills and a block from Povey as well as a Kellie Williams kill tied the set at 15-15, this time causing the Catamounts to take a timeout. After the break, Western Carolina took a two point lead at 19-17, however, the lead did not last long as Tech battled back to tie the match at 19-19 with a kill from Anderson and Sydney Lemon. Williams then followed up with another kill to put the Golden Eagles back in front at 20-19. The Catamounts refused to relent and tied the match at 21-21, before taking a 23-21 lead over Tech. A kill from Williams and a block by Lemon and Thomas tied the match back up at 23-23, and set up the Golden Eagles to sneak out a second set victory 25-23.
In set three, Tech and Western Carolina once again started off in a see-saw affair holding numerous ties up to 17-17, with each team trading off who would take the momentary lead. The Catamounts held the slight favor heading into the latter portion the set with a 20-18 lead over the Golden Eagles. However (as was the theme of the set), Tech tied the match again at 20-20 forcing Western Carolina to take a timeout. After the break, the Golden Eagles took advantage of a Catamount attack error and Lemon kill to pull ahead by two at 22-20. Western Carolina once again called for a timeout and after they finished regrouping came out fighting to tie the set at 22-22. A Catamount ball handling error gave the Golden Eagles the 23-22 lead, however, Western Carolina kept the match alive and tied things up again at 23-23, before stealing the third set 25-23.
The Catamounts took charge at the beginning of the fourth set, opening with an 8-5 lead over the Golden Eagles. However, Tech battled back to tie the set at 8-8 capitalizing on two Western Carolina attack errors and an Allison Morrett service ace. The Golden Eagles went on to hold a slight lead at 14-12 with a kill by Williams. Tech continued to pull ahead further with a kill from Lemon to bring the score to 16-13. The Golden Eagles found their momentum and extended the score to 22-17 with a kill by Povey. The Catamounts attempted to force a comeback, pulling back within two points of the Golden Eagles at 23-21, however, Tech held on and closed out the set 25-21 with two kills in-a-row from Williams.
Williams led the Golden Eagles with 13 kills. Anderson posted her second double-double of the season with 48 assists and 11 digs in the victory, while sophomore Little put up her first double-double of the year with 11 kills and 11 digs. Alyssa Zupan led Western Carolina with 17 kills in the match.
"Going into next week, we have to focus on sideouts, not letting our opponents go on runs, and keeping our energy levels up," Thomas continued. "For me, it's all about staying focused and making smart shots."
The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 2-3, at the Samford-UAB Challenge. Here, Tech will face opponents of Radford, Northwestern State, North Carolina Central, and Samford in the two-day, double-header tournament.
"One thing I did notice after this weekend, is that we need to work on our energy reserves," Zelenock stated. "We put a lot into each match, and playing these two-a-days can take a lot out of us and make it hard to get into the next match. The bench is losing their voice, and I think we just need to go a bit harder in practice to keep working on maintaining a high intensity."
You can follow the Tech volleyball team online on Facebook on the Tennessee Tech Women's Volleyball and TTU Sports pages, or on Twitter @TNTechVball and @TTUGoldenEagles.
Photo by Jim Dillon
