Two teams with big cats for mascot: Cougars and Panthers

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --- Returning from its last road trip with hopes that the homecourt can key a couple of victories, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team will host a pair of Ohio Valley Conference teams from the Land of Lincoln this weekend in SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois.

TTU is currently led on offense by a pair of young hitters in sophomore Natalie Penrod and freshman Ellen Conti. Penrod leads the team in kills with 170, followed closely by Conti who has 157.

Junior Kelsey Gray has continued to put up a solid wall on defense, accounting for 55 of Tech's 116 total blocks. Sophomore Allison May has beeen steady on defense as well, posting a team-leading 316 digs.

The Golden Eagles begin the weekend with a 7 p.m. contest against OVC newcomer SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars sit in ninth place in the conference standings with a 2-7 OVC record, to go along with an overall record of 7-14. This will be the first meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Cougars.

SIUE sports a balanced attack on offense as six players have at least 109 kills. Kelsey Augustine currently leads the Cougars with 180 kills, and she is followed closely by Jessica Hermann's 163. Sammi Minton has run the offense with 830 assists, Chelsea Colclasure has shored up the defensive side of the net with 393 digs.

TTU wraps up the weekend Saturday, at 2 p.m., against EIU. The Panthers sit in 10th place in the OVC standings with a 2-7 conference record, and a 4-15 overall record. EIU leads the all-time series against Tech with a 17-14 record, but recently the Golden Eagles have taken control of the series, winning four of the last six encounters.

The Panthers currently have five players with at least 109 kills including Emily Franklin, who leads the team with 194. On defense, EIU is led by Alison Berens who has posted 46 total blocks. Brittany Wallace has also chipped in on defense with a team-high 213 digs.

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