By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Tennessee Tech volleyball will have a very short off-period after splitting a pair of matches this past weekend, as it will make the three and a half hour drive southeast for a 6 p.m. matchup with Jacksonville State on Tuesday night.
Tech is coming off its first conference win on Friday against Belmont, and what was essentially an even match with Tennessee State, a team that now sits at 4-0 in the league. The three sets Tech lost against TSU were all by two points: 25-23, 26-24, 26-24.
Playing well in back-to-back league matches fosters a certain degree of self-belief, and with such a quick turnaround ahead of the JSU match, Tech is hoping to ride some of that residual momentum into another good showing on Tuesday.
Jacksonville State sports the same league record as Tech, 1-3, having picked up their lone win Saturday afternoon at home against Belmont, 3-1.
JSU has produced a pair of conference match results identical to Tech's, having been defeated by Eastern Kentucky in five sets on September 22, and dropping a 3-1 decision to Tennessee State this past Friday.
North Alabama is the only other common opponent played by both the Golden Eagles and Gamecocks, as JSU defeated UNA in straight sets in its first match of the year during the Jax State Invitational.
Jacksonville State took three of four matches in that season-opening tournament, lost all three a week later at the GCU (Grand Canyon University) Invitational, and then won all three at the Gamecock Classic held in Gadsden, Ala. They won one of three matches in their final tournament, the Troy Invitational, before opening their OVC slate.
Jax State's team hitting percentage is fourth-best in the OVC at .203, and it holds opponents to a .186 percentage, which is third in the league.
Stellar middle blocker Lena Kindermann leads a JSU offense that ranks second in the conference 12.97 kills per set. The freshman from Germany accounts for 2.94 kills per set individually, and her .297 hitting percentage is second only to outside hitter/middle blocker Kaylee Frear's .306. Frear's percentage ranks third in the conference and Kindermann's is fourth.
Kindermann, Frear and another middle blocker, Mackenzie Rombach, are the main components of the Gamecocks' 1.85 blocks per set, which ranks fifth in the OVC. Rombach leads the group with 0.85 blocks per set, while Frear and Kindermann contribute 0.78 and 0.54, respectively.
Sophomore setter Lexie Libs is No. 3 in the OVC with 10.39 assists per set, and was honored as the conference's Setter of the Week on Sept. 10.
Following Tuesday's match, Tech will travel to Southeast Missouri for a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Oct. 6.
Live Stats/Broadcast Information
Tennessee Tech vs. Jacksonville State
OVC Digital Network Live Stream
Photo by Thomas Corhern