By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—It's a quick turnaround for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (5-11, 1-2 OVC) as they head right back into action when they face in-state OVC opponent Belmont (8-4, 2-0 OVC) on Friday in a 6 p.m. contest at the Curb Event Center.
Tech recently faced Tennessee State in a midweek contest on Wednesday. There, the Golden Eagles fell to the Tigers in a five set match with TSU taking winning set scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 13-25, and 15-12.
Now 1-2 in OVC play, Tech will take on instate rival Belmont who is 2-0 in conference play, taking wins over Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois.
The Golden Eagles are currently led by sophomore Shealene Little who has 140 kills, 134 digs, and a .130 hitting percentage on the season.
Fellow sophomore Shaneice James is also doing big things on the Tech team. James leads the Golden Eagles with a .321 hitting percentage on the season, which also marks her second amongst OVC players. On the year, James has totaled 65 kills (1.76 per set) and 19 blocks (0.51) for Tech.
Senior Sharon Anderson stands as the Golden Eagle's lead setter. Anderson has notched 507 assists (9.57 per set) and 171 digs (3.23) on the season, and her 9.57 assists per set currently ranks her fourth in the OVC.
Alyssa Povey continues to serve as a dual threat on the Golden Eagle squad, being aggressive both offensive and defensively. In Povey's last showing versus TSU, the senior middle tallied an impressive .688 hitting percentage; notching 11 kills with no errors on 16 attempts in the match, while also putting up four blocks. On the season, Povey stands as Tech's leading blocker with 39 on the year (0.67 per set), while also marking herself as the Golden Eagle's third leading attacker with 103 kills and a .210 hitting percentage on the season.
Arianna Person leads Belmont thus far this season. Person has totaled 159 kills, 102 digs, 26 blocks, and 21 service aces on the year. Currently, Person finds herself ranked first in service aces and third in kills and points in the OVC.
Amongst OVC opponents, Tech ranks second in digs (17.31 per set), eighth in assists (11.02 per set), and 10th in kills (11.71 per set), while Belmont ranks 11th in digs (12.88 per set), fifth in assists (11.50 per set), and sixth in kills (12.07 per set).
Belmont leads the series over Tech 13-11.
The Golden Eagles and Bruins last faced in the 2015 season, twice in regular conference season play and once in the OVC Tournament.
Tech and Belmont split matches during the regular year, and then the Bruins topped the Golden Eagles in OVC Tourney play.
In their first meeting on the 2015 year, Belmont defeated Tech 3-1 with set scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-16, and 28-26. Former Golden Eagle Cody Dodd led the Purple and Gold squad with 13 kills and 10 digs, while teammate Sharon Anderson tallied 32 assists and 13 digs. Arianna Person led Belmont with 18 kills and 19 digs, while teammate Jocelyn Youngdahl totaled 13 kills and 11 digs in the contest.
As a team, the Golden Eagles hit .171 to the Bruins .170. Belmont put up 52 assists to Tech's 43, however, the Golden Eagles tallied 83 digs to the Bruins' 77.
In their second meeting last season, Tech defeated Belmont this time by a 3-2 margin. The Golden Eagles saw winning set scores of 21-25, 25-17, 13-25, 25-23, and 15-10. Dodd once again led Tech with 26 kills and 21 digs in the contest, while Anderson posted 49 assists and 14 digs. Person tallied 16 kills and 18 digs for Belmont, while teammate Brie Lewis totaled 12 kills and 14 digs.
As a team, Tech hit .255 to Belmont's .204. The Golden Eagles tallied 77 digs to the Bruins' 76, however, Belmont put up 61 assists to Tech's 52.
In 2015 OVC Tournament play, the Bruins topped the Golden Eagles 3-1 with set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, and 26-24. Dodd led Tech with 25 kills and 16 digs, while Person led Belmont with 30 kills and 15 digs.
As a team, Belmont hit .229 to Tech's .099 and tallied 98 digs to the Golden Eagle's 91 to knock Tech out of the race for the OVC title.
You can follow the Golden Eagles online on the TTU Sports and Tennessee Tech Women's Volleyball Facebook pages or on Twitter at @TTUGoldenEagles and @TNTechVball.
Photo by Jim Dillon
