By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team was selected to finish fourth in the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference standings in its second season as a program in a poll of head coaches and communication directors released Friday afternoon.
"We were expecting to be chosen fourth in the poll, so I'm not surprised to see that is where we landed," Tech head coach Zach Weinberg said. "Our focus isn't where we're chosen in the preseason, but rather how we finish in the postseason. The team is getting better every day, and now that we are armed with the knowledge of what to expect, we are working on the parts of our game that are going to lead us to victories. The team is antsy to compete, and I know that our schedule will have us prepared to play our best beach at the end of April in the OVC Tournament."
In their inaugural campaign in 2023, the Golden Eagles delivered a highly impressive 8-12 overall record, including a 4-6 mark in OVC play. Part of that 8-12 record included a pair of wins in the team's first-ever OVC Tournament.
"I've been really impressed with many of our players and how they seemingly picked up in the sand right where they left off last beach season," Weinberg explained. "We have a ton of athleticism on this roster and it's really fun to watch the players use that athleticism while continuing to grow through this sport. We have a number of new pairings currently and I'm looking forward to seeing their continued chemistry on the sand once we finally have an opponent on the other side of the net."
The 2024 beach volleyball season gets underway Friday, Feb. 23 with the Golden Eagles competing at the Berry Kick-Off in Rome, Ga. Tech will square off with LaGrange and host Berry College on the first day of action before wrapping things up with tilts against Erskine and Carson-Newman on Saturday, Feb. 24.
The first OVC weekend will take place on March 22-23 at Chattanooga followed by the second weekend on April 19-20 at UT Martin.
The 2024 OVC Beach Volleyball Championship will be held at Morehead State on April 25-27.
2024 OVC Beach Volleyball Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted on by the league's head coaches and communication directors)
1. UT Martin (7 first-place votes) - 47 points
2. Chattanooga (5 first-place votes) - 45
3. Morehead State - 30
4. Tennessee Tech - 24
5. Lindenwood - 20
6. Eastern Illinois - 14
2024 OVC Beach Volleyball Preseaon Player Top-10 List
(as voted on by the league's head coaches and communication directors)
1. Neva Clark, Chattanooga
2. Maider Soto, Lindenwood
3. Dylan Mott, UT Martin
4. Joy Courtwright, Chattanooga
5. Katie Malzahn, Lindenwood
6. Olivia O'Keefe, UT Martin
7. Sydney Wyman, Morehead State
8. McKenna Faychak, Chattanooga
9. Maddie Lecik, Chattanooga
10. Haeleigh Paulino, UT Martin
Photo by Emily Armstrong
