By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Things are looking up from here. The Tennessee Tech volleyball (1-7, 0-0 OVC) team fared well at the first day of the Memphis Invitational. The Golden Eagles captured their first win of the season after taking down Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-8), 3-0, with winning set scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-14. Tech then saw a strong competitor in Little Rock (3-5) who is ranked 29th in the nation, and put up a tough battle against them. In the end, the Trojans defeated the Golden Eagles 3-0, taking winning set scores of 25-19, 25-20, and 25-15.
"It's good to get the first win over with," said head coach Dave Zelenock. "Now we don't have to worry about when we are going to get it. We did okay against Pine Bluff, but it wasn't our best showing."
In the match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Tech took an early 9-1 lead in the first set. The Golden Eagles remained dominant and extended their lead to 14-6 with a kill by Shaneice James. Tech continued to capitalize and pulled ahead by 11, 19-8, off of a kill from Cody Dodd. From there, the Golden Eagles cruised to a first set victory, 25-16, ending with a service ace from Alyssa Povey.
It was a close second set between Pine Bluff and Tech. The Golden Eagles opened with a slight advantage over the Golden Lions, leading 9-8. Pine Bluff kept a close match holding within two at 12-10, however, Tech went on a 6-3 run to take a five-point lead at 18-13. The Golden Lions fought back to pull within two, 20-18, but the Golden Eagles remained strong and finished out the second set 25-21.
Tech took a commanding 12-7 lead in the third set, and continued to dominate from there. The Golden Eagles kept a strong offense and pulled ahead by nine, 21-12, off of a kill by Kellie Williams. Sharon Anderson sealed a third set and match victory with a service ace 25-14.
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 11 kills, four blocks, and a .333 hitting percentage. Kennedy Wade acquired 10 digs, while teammate Anderson totaled 21 assists and seven digs. The Golden Lions were led by Whitney Harris who acquired seven kills in the match.
"We got so much better this afternoon," said Golden Eagle Cody Dodd. "We played the best we have so far."
Against Little Rock, the Golden Eagles and Trojans opened match play with ties of 5-5 and 9-9. Little Rock took a slight four-point lead, 15-11, but back-to-back kills from James and Dodd brought Tech back within two, 15-13. The Trojans maintained control of the match, again pulling ahead by four at 19-15. Little Rock remained solid despite Tech's effort to fight back and won the first set 25-19.
"We played much better this afternoon than we did in the morning," continued Zelenock. "We played very well in the first two sets and we didn't make a lot of errors and took the necessary risks. In the third set, we started to make a few silly errors, but we played well against a team that showed why they are ranked 29th in the nation."
Once again, the Golden Eagles and the Trojans started the set neck-and-neck with each other opening the second with a tie of 5-5. Little Rock then took a slight lead at 9-6, but kills by Dodd brought Tech back within one, 9-8. The Golden Eagles continued to battle and two service aces in a row from Dodd tied the match at 12-12. Little Rock remained unshaken by Tech's gain and again took the lead, pulling ahead 18-14. The Golden Eagles put up a fight and came within one point of the Trojans, 20-19, however, Little Rock edged out the second set 25-20.
Into the third the Golden Eagles and Trojans continued to battle. Little Rock took a slight lead early on over Tech 8-7, and then continued to pull ahead by eight, 18-10. From there, The Trojans sailed to a third set victory 25-15.
"Cody was great," Zelenock remarked. "She got good numbers, and she, for the first time in her career or maybe in her life, matched up with a kid who was bigger than her. But she did a great job of going over and around her. She was also served about 80-percent of the balls so she not only led us in passing, but also in kills as well. She made some great plays and competed like the senior she is, I wish we had a couple more of her."
The Golden Eagles were again led by Dodd who put up 11 kills, nine digs, and a .250 hitting percentage. Anderson had 30 assists and eight digs in the match, while teammate Wade contributed 13 digs. Little Rock was led by Edina Selimovic who totaled 14 kills in the match.
"We face two incredibly tough opponents tomorrow," Zelenock said. "They are both ranked higher than us in terms of RPI [rating percentage index] and are super physical teams that play fast. But we like going up against teams like that and are more comfortable with that style of play. If we can carry over how we played today we will be okay tomorrow."
"It's going to be tough," Dodd continued, "but we have the potential to beat both teams [Memphis and Auburn] tomorrow, we are just going to have to work our butts off."
