By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The excitement in the Eblen Center at the Golden Eagle Invitational presented by Hampton Inn was at an all-time high as fans gathered to cheer on the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (2-10, 0-0 OVC) who competed in two matches on day one of the tournament. The Golden Eagles opened tournament play against Towson (12-1) and then closed out match play against Western Carolina (6-8). Tech put up a fight against the Tigers, but were topped 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, and 25-23). The Golden Eagles then faced off against Western Carolina and proved superior after downing the Catamounts 3-1, taking winning set scores of 25-17, 18-25, 27-25, and 25-21.

"It feels good to get that first win at home," head coach Dave Zelenock remarked. "It's nice to put on a show for the fans. Winning is always great, but I would have been happy either way because of the way the team played tonight. We really learned our lesson from previous matches and put it in to practice."

Starting off the day against the Tigers, the Golden Eagles opened the first set with a tie of 5-5.  The two teams remained in a tight battle, with Tech taking a slight edge at 13-12 off of a kill by Alyssa Povey. The two team remained neck-and-neck until Towson created a four-point lead, 22-18, and then continued to hold a strong defense and closed the first set 25-21.

"We hit a couple of lulls." Golden Eagle Shealene Little commented. "We had good intensity and worked hard together, but we need to work on finishing at the end."

The Tigers took an early lead in the second set opening with a 7-4 lead over the Golden Eagles. Senior, Cody Dodd brought Tech within one, 7-8, after serving three aces in a row. A kill by Shealene Little tied the match up at 11-11, and allowed the Golden Eagles to create a two-point lead at 16-14 off of a kill by Shaneice James. Towson and Tech continued to battle in the latter portion of the set, holding ties of 16-16, 17-17, and 18-18. The Tigers pulled ahead 21-19, and continued to capitalize on their lead finishing the second set 25-20.

"We need to start faster," Zelenock said. "We got nervous at first hitting against a bigger and more physical team, and we just need to produce more."

The Golden Eagles began the third set with a 10-8 lead over the Tigers until Towson went on a 7-1 run to take the lead 15-11. The game remained close and a service ace by Kennedy Wade allowed Tech to pull ahead by one at 18-17. Towson responded to the Golden Eagles lead to take their own lead 20-19, after a Tiger kill from Haley Pa'akaula. Tech tied the game at 20-20 off of a kill by Dodd, and then created a two-point lead at 22-20. A Towson timeout helped the Tigers regroup and they came out on the attack and closed out the third set and the match 25-23.

"Cody and Shealene were the bright spots in the match against Towson," Zelenock remarked. "Towson tried to pick on Shealene a little bit, but she hit great. It was a solid performance by her."

The Golden Eagles were led by Dodd who acquired 12 kills and a .323 hitting percentage in the match. Shealene Little gathered nine kills and eight digs, while teammate Sharon Anderson totaled 13 digs and 13 assists. The Tigers were led by Jocelyn Kuilan who posted 15 kills and a .542 hitting percentage.

"We had a great crowd tonight," Golden Eagle Sharon Anderson said. "Hopefully this will get the fans excited and bring more people to our home matches."

Against Western Carolina, Tech opened with a slight edge at 6-5, and then went on a 7-3 run to pull ahead 13-8. The Golden Eagles continued to extend their lead to 16-9 off of a kill by Little, to then pull head by 5 at 21-16 from a kill by Kellie Williams. Tech continued to control the pace of the match and minimized errors to end the first set with a kill by Williams 25-17.

It was a rocky second set for the Golden Eagles. Tech came out strong at the beginning, taking a seven-point lead over Western Carolina, 14-7. However, the Catamounts showed why they are such a tough competitor and went on a commanding 13-1 streak to take their first lead in the match (15-10) since being up 5-4 in the first set. From there, Western Carolina continued to capitalize on the Tech deficit and took a second set victory 25-18.

"We got in a rut with serve receives," Anderson continued. "We knew it was getting us down, so we got out of it and started to perform really well together."

The Golden Eagles and Catamounts battled going into the third set. Opening with ties of 4-4 and 11-11, neither team was going to back down. Tech took a two-point lead at 15-13, however, Western Carolina quickly responded and tied the match at 16-16 with a kill by Katie O'Connor. The set remained tight from there, with Tech taking a two-point lead again off of a kill by Williams. Western Carolina persisted and tied the match back at 22-22, and continued to keep a close battle with Tech. It wasn't until Little had back-to-back kills that the Golden Eagles sealed the third set 27-25.

It was truly an exciting fourth set. Tech took the early four-point lead, 7-3, but Western Carolina was determined to put up a fight and tied the game at 8-8. From there, the two teams remained within one point of each other until the Golden Eagles went on a five-point run and pulled ahead 16-11 due to three service aces from Dodd and a kill by Little. The Catamounts responded and went on their own run to tie the game again at 17-17. Tech fought hard and a kill by Williams took the 20-17 lead. Western Carolina pulled within one point, 21-20, however the Golden Eagles held strong and closed the set and the match with a kill by Dodd, 25-15.

"The upper classmen really led the freshman tonight," Zelenock continued. "We also ran a great offense and made tactical changes and executed them properly."

Anderson led Tech with 55 assists, tying her career-high that she posted on 9/27 in a match against SIUE, and 14 digs. Dodd also posted a double-double earning an impressive 25 kills, 10 digs and .404 attacking percentage. Teammate, Little also contributed to a Tech victory grabbing her first career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. The Catamounts were led by Savannah Kohlhagen who totaled 12 kills and 10 digs in the match.

Other matches taking place during the day featured Idaho versus Western Carolina, followed by Idaho versus Towson. Western Carolina topped Idaho 3-1, with winning set scores of 25-17, 19-25, 28-26, and 25-21. While Towson edged Idaho 3-2, with winning set scores for the Tigers of 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, and 15-10.

The Golden Eagles continue play Saturday at 8:30 a.m. when they face off against Idaho at the Eblen Center. Afterwards, an 11 a.m. match against Western Carolina and Towson will conclude tournament play.