By Jocelyn VerVelde, Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech Volleyball team heads to UT Martin Friday to take on the Skyhawks at 7 p.m. CDT in an Ohio Valley Conference match. The Golden Eagles head west looking to capture their first OVC win of the season.
"UT Martin plays with the rhythm and intensity that we are
trying to get to as a program," said Golden Eagle head coach Dave
Zelenock. "They have good size, they are athletic and have some
players who can hit really hard. They remind me of a lot of the
teams from the Mid-American Conference that I'm used to seeing."
Junior Emily Keaton leads UT Martin offensively. Keaton is an outside hitter who is averaging a team-high 2.89 kills per set while maintaining a hitting percentage of .234. Keaton is also a top server for the Skyhawks. Sophomore setter Amanda Crask leads the offense with 9.8 assists. Defensively, sophomore libero Chelsea Bowles leads the way. She is averaging 5.25 digs in conference play, third best in the league.
To get past the Skyhawks, the Golden Eagles will need to see the best from every position on the court.
"Getting them out of system is going to be the biggest thing," said Zelenock. "If we can neutralize their very aggressive setter and make the offense more predictable we will have a good shot. More important than all of that, if we play fast and aggressive like we have been in practice, we will gain an advantage."
The Golden Eagles have been seeing time from both senior setter Ashleigh Hancock and freshman setter Sharon Anderson. Each has been doing an efficient job of distributing the ball as Tech leads the conference during OVC play in both assists (14.25) and kills (14.83) per set.
"Most of the switches we've made haven't had anything to do with the setter's ability," said Zelenock. "Each of them have different strengths, but both are very capable setters. Our changes have had to deal with match-ups versus opponents and whom our hitters seem to be connecting with. In our eyes, both of them are "starting setters" regardless of who is in the lineup."
Live stats will be available here: http://www.utmsports.com/livestats/volleyball/xlive.htm
