MOREHEAD, Ky. – For the first time since 2009, the Tennessee Tech women's volleyball team got the best of perennial power Morehead State, winning the match 3-1; 23-25, 25-20, 30-28, 25-19.
Heading into the intermission, the match was tied at one set a piece, the Eagles taking the first, while Tech claimed the second.
The third set proved to be most pivotal, and Tech opened on a 4-0 advantage after a Cody Dodd and Alyssa Povey block foreshadowed the match. While Morehead was able to eventually close gap, forcing the Golden Eagle to call a timeout as the match became tied at 20. From there on, the squads traded points. Morehead took a 28-27 advantage, but back-to-back kills from Sharon Anderson and Povey gave the Golden Eagles the lead by one, and the match closed out on a Morehead hitting error.
In the fourth set, the Golden Eagles got under the skin of the host Eagles, outhitting them .233-.083, while tallying five team blocks to Morehead's one. Tech was able to take the set and the match on a 25-19 win.
The Golden Eagle (9-14, 4-3) were led by the junior Cody Dodd and freshman Kellie Williams. Dodd put down 15 kills, adding 10 digs and four blocks. Williams tallied 14 kills on an impressive .464 hitting percentage.
Sophomore setter Sharon Anderson had a stellar match, dishing out a match-high 46 assists, adding seven digs, five blocks, and three kills.
The Golden Eagles saw great play from freshmen K'Vonna Johnson and Jordan Wachowiak, as well as redshirt sophomore Alyssa Povey. Johnson and Povey each registered nine kills, while Povey added four blocks. Wachowiak put away seven timely kills, and added a team-high six blocks.
While Morehead (0-21, 0-7) has been in a slump of sorts this season, the team has been in most of its matches, just unable to find success. They were led by four different players who tallied double-digit kills. Laura McDermott and Hannah Sigala both registered 14 kills. Sigala added a match-high seven blocks, including three solo. Sydney Schuler added 12 kills and Bailey Nichol added 10 and eight digs.
The Golden Eagles are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they head to Richmond, Ky., to face Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT.
