By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State Match Notes
COOKEVILLE-Tenn.—With tournament play behind them, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (4-9, 0-0 OVC) will begin their Ohio Valley Conference slate on Friday-Saturday with contests versus Eastern Kentucky (5-7, 0-0 OVC) and Morehead State (4-9, 0-0 OVC).
Sophomore Shealene Little currently leads the Golden Eagles. On the 2016 year, Little has tallied 112 kills and 115 digs. She holds a .125 hitting percentage on the year and averages 2.73 kills and 2.80 digs per set.
Freshman Rachel Thomas is a player to watch on the Tech team. Currently named to the Idaho Volleyball Classic tournament team, the Okemos, Mich., native has gathered 99 kills and 27 blocks on the 2016 year. Thomas stands as the Golden Eagle's second leading scorer on the season and maintains a .162 hitting percentage on the year.
Other key players on the Tech team are Golden Eagle seniors Alyssa Povey, Sharon Anderson, and Kennedy Wade.
Povey has tallied 81 kills and 34 blocks (most on the Tech squad) with a .184 hitting percentage on the season, proving to be a dual threat on the court.
Anderson leads the Golden Eagles in assists with 386 on the year. She also stands as Tech's third leader in digs with 114 thus far this season. Anderson's 9.41assists per set rank her fourth in the OVC.
Wade leads the Purple and Gold squad in digs with 193 on the year. Her 4.20 digs per set marks her fifth in the OVC.
As a team, the Golden Eagles currently hit .142 on the season. Tech has tallied 525 kills, 495 assists, 771 digs, and 63.5 blocks.
Amongst OVC opponents, the Golden Eagles rank fourth in digs with 16.76 per set. Tech also finds itself fifth in service aces (49), 10th in blocks (1.38/set) and kills (11.41/set), and ninth in assists (10.76/set).
On the season, the Golden Eagles hold their opponents to a .235 hitting percentage, allowing 13.7 kills, 12.87 assists, 16.52 digs, and 2.57 blocks per set.
Last year, Tech compiled a 10-21, 7-9 OVC mark. The Golden Eagles made it to the semifinals of the conference tournament where the eventual title winner, Belmont, in the semifinals, knocked them out.
Eastern Kentucky is currently led by Celina Sanks who has tallied 144 kills and 55 digs on the 2016 season. Sanks' 3.15 kills per set rank her eighth amongst OVC opponents while her 3.40 points per set on the year mark her 10th.
As a team, the Colonels hit .182 on the season. They average 12.98 kills, 11.91 assists, 15.72 digs, and 1.71 blocks per set. EKU's 597 kills and 547 assists mark them second in the OVC, while their 78 blocks rank them seventh and their 714 digs place them sixth.
The Colonels lead the series over the Golden Eagles 56-20.
In the 2015 season, Eastern Kentucky went 2-0 in matches versus Tech. The Colonels defeated the Golden Eagles 3-1 in each of their meetings last season.
In their first match of the 2015 year, the Colonels saw winning set scores of 25-18, 16-25, 25-21, and 25-17. Cody Dodd led the Golden Eagles, posting 19 kills and 11 digs in the match, while Sharon Anderson totaled 39 assists and 10 digs. Celina Sanks led Eastern Kentucky, notching 10 kills and 13 digs, while Rachel Vick tallied 14 kills and 3 service aces. As a team, Tech hit .176 to Eastern Kentucky's .187. The Golden Eagles out dug the Colonels 66-61 and posted 9.0 blocks to EKU's 6.0.
In the second meeting of the 2015 year, the Colonels saw winning set scores of 25-21, 25-15, 15-25, and 25-14. Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills and 8 digs, while Sanks led Eastern Kentucky with 13 kills and 10 digs. As a team, the Golden Eagles hit .114 to the Colonels .184 and put up 3.0 blocks compared to EKU's 7.0.
Morehead State is led by Meredith Jewell who has tallied 182 kills, 172 digs, and 24 blocks with a .140 hitting percentage thus far this season. Jewell's 3.37 kills per set rank her fifth in the OVC, while her 3.75 points per set mark her sixth.
As a team, the Eagles hit .150 on the year. They average 11.28 kills, 10.56 assists, 15.59 digs, and 2.21 blocks per set. Morehead's 119 blocks on the year rank them third amongst OVC opponents, while their 58 services mark them fourth and their 842 digs rank them fifth.
The Eagles lead the series over the Golden Eagles 63-18.
Tech and Morehead State split games in the 2015 season. The Golden Eagles winning the first contest 3-1, while the Eagles won the second 3-1.
In the first meeting last season, Tech took winning set scores of 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, and 25-17. Kellie Williams led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills, while former teammate Cody Dodd posted 13 kills and 10 digs. Meredith Jewell led the Eagles, notching 11 kills and 17 digs in the contest, while teammate Hannah Sigala tallied 13 kills and 5 blocks. As a team, Tech hit .164 to Morehead's .203. The Eagles out dug the Golden Eagles 60-58 and notched 10.0 blocks to Tech's 6.0.
In the second match on the 2015 year, Morehead State took winning set scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, and 25-16. Dodd led Tech with 17 kills and 13 digs in the match. Jewell led the Eagles with 11 kills and 11 digs, while teammate Courtney Smith posted 10 kills and 14 digs. As a team, the Golden Eagles hit .205 to the Eagle's .279. Tech out dug Morehead 57-54 and tallied 4.0 blocks to the Eagle's 7.0.
The Golden Eagles face off with Eastern Kentucky on Friday in a 7 p.m. match, and then round out their opening conference weekend on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest versus Morehead State.
You can follow Tech online on Facebook on the Tennessee Tech Women's Volleyball and TTU Sports pages, or on Twitter at @TNTechVball and @TTUGoldenEagles.
Photo by Jim Dillon
