Coach Dave Zelenock reviews the growth and development
exhibited by the 2015 Golden Eagle volleyball team
By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The journey to the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) tournament seemed long and arduous to the Tennessee Tech volleyball team early in the season. Plagued with early season losses to top-ranked teams, the Golden Eagles started the year off a little down in spirits, not collecting their first win of the year until the seventh match when they defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-0.
"I think it's always tough to decide, do you schedule teams that are easy wins, or the big teams that are confidence wins," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "We went a little aggressive at the beginning. Some of it was by chance, however some of it was on purpose. But then, when we played anyone in the OVC, we were never intimidated like we have been in years past because we had already played several top 20 teams. What's a team like Morehead State when we played Arkansas-Little Rock, who made it to the Sweet 16 the year before? In a sense, it definitely did prepare us, but is also hurt us a little in the confidence side of things."
Facing injuries across the lineup, Tech had to battle not only on the court but off as well to get healthy for their matchups. Finally, OVC matches began, and the Golden Eagles built up their stride, really picking up momentum in the second half of the conference season.
After a beginning that felt as if they would not even qualify for the OVC tournament field, Tech surprised everyone when they made it in as the sixth seed. The Golden Eagles faced off against Eastern Illinois, the No. 3 seed, in the first round and showed just how strong a contender the Golden Eagles were. Tech defeated Eastern Illinois in a five-set thriller, fighting right to the finish. The Golden Eagles took winning set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24, and 16-14, battling through the tight match until the final point.
Into the second round, Tech was more determined than ever to make it to the finals and competed against the No. 2 seeded team, Belmont. Tech battled but fell short, falling 3-1 with Belmont claiming by set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, and 26-24. Belmont went on to knock off top-seeded Murray State in the finals to win the OVC tournament.
"Two years in a row we lost to the eventual champ, and both years, I felt like we were their best match," Zelenock remarked. "Murray, the year before, they went 3-0 with everyone. But we actually pushed them and made it tight. Belmont's first match was 3-0, and ours was as close as you could get. Even Murray after that first set, Belmont just trounced them. So we feel like we are in a good place. We have to find a way to get over that hump and find a way to win a semifinal and get into the finals. That's the next step for us, getting into the finals."
Throughout the season, there was one player that really stood out on the Golden Eagle squad: senior Cody Dodd. Dodd received numerous OVC Player of the Week accolades throughout the season and was named to the All-OVC first team as well as to the All-Tournament team.
"The way I look at things is percentage of loss," Zelenock said. "She (Dodd) is about 34% of our offense, which losing 34% of your offense is a big number. That's what most people lose in a year when they graduate four people, so it's good and it's bad. We won't have that bail out player over there anymore who can save the day, but I think overall it's good for the team because they all know they have to get better. People know that when the ball gets set to her (Dodd) the play is over; either she's going to get the kill or she's going to get blocked straight down, so people let up in their play. Now our team won't be able to do that because they won't have that player anymore."
Dodd finished her Golden Eagle career with 1,261 kills, 776 digs, 284 blocks, and 128 service aces. She had a stellar senior season, and will be a big loss to the Tech program next season.
"Cody had a good senior year," Zelenock continued. "She didn't have many breakdowns this year. Last year she had a good year, but she broke down a lot more often. There were a few matches here and there like the first time we played Jacksonville or the first time we played TSU, she still ended up with 15 kills, but it wasn't 15 kills and .400, it was 15 kills and .000. It's hard junior to senior year, there's generally not a lot of improvement. But she found a way to actually improve as a senior and really got better, skill-wise."
Other standout players were junior setter Sharon Anderson and junior libero Kennedy Wade. Anderson finished the 2015 season with 1,087 assists and 307 digs, and received OVC Setter of the Week honors on two occasions.
"She (Anderson) got better as the year went on," Zelenock said. "It's part of maturing and growing up in a program. She's really starting, especially in the second half of OVC, to understand the offense and how to use players effectively, how to run play-sets, and how to manage the team, so that's why her numbers the second half of OVC were so good. She finally got it. We expect good things. She has to clean up some consistency things on the physical side, but her brain developed a lot this year."
Wade led the team in digs, gathering 464 on the season, while averaging 3.87 digs per set.
"Kennedy jumped into that libero position this year," Zelenock remarked. "Her dig numbers weren't phenomenal because of where we put her, but they were fine. Our other two, Kirsten Brugere and Allison Morrett, happen to be better at left-back position where the libero generally plays, and she (Wade) happens to be really good at reading the gap, so it just kind of fit. Her dig numbers didn't show how good she actually was. I think that the OVC respected her quite a bit. I think it was against UT Martin that she only passed four balls because they refused to serve her. I think for a first-year libero, how she performed really got people's attentions."
The freshmean class also showed a few promising players to the future of the Tech team.
"Shaneice (James) showed she could be a blocking force, and also hitting at times," Zelenock continued. "But the big question for her was could she stay healthy. Shea (Shealene Little) was up there with some of our best kids in the conference, we just need to work on some athleticism with her. Lemon (Sydney Lemon), you wouldn't know it from the numbers, but man was she good the last three weeks. In practice, she really showed how good she could be. And in the Belmont match, she was actually on the floor at the end, and she was doing good things. She didn't have the freshman year she wanted, but I'd be shocked if she's not on the floor a lot more her sophomore year."
The Golden Eagles closed out the 2015 season with a 10-21 overall record, posting a 7-9 conference mark.
"The overall record turned out okay, as expected," Zelenock remarked. "Obviously we would have preferred the conference record to be 8-and-8 or higher, but we didn't really hit our stride with health until the second half of conference. I think that late rally at the end to get us in the tournament was good. We finished on a good note with young girls so that's a positive for the future."
Numerous young players figure to play prominent roles for Tech next year, and the addition of six signees will only add to the strength and depth of the program.
"We've got more players coming in, so that will give us more depth," Zelenock continued. "That was our biggest issue this past season -- we didn't have that depth. It was like 'well she's not very good right now, do we rest her?' We should definitely be better off next year and be able to put out a healthy lineup more often. Ultimately, I'd like to see the team win the conference tournament. It's tough every year. The conference has gotten so good these last three years. Up until the last weekend, there were 10 teams that could have filled those eight spots. It was pretty tight. So phase one is to qualify for the tournament and then win it."
