By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—Another day in Ohio Valley Conference play fared well for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (3-12, 1-1 OVC) as they competed against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) (3-9, 1-1 OVC). The Golden Eagles edged out the Cougars 3-2, taking winning set scores of 25-17, 19-25, 20-25, 25-21, and 15-7.
"We did a really great job today," Golden Eagle Cody Dodd said. "We played really well together and I'm really proud of us as a team."
A kill by Shaneice James got the match going for Tech. The Golden Eagles then took the early 10-6 lead over the Cougars, and pushed to pull ahead by seven off of a kill by Kellie Williams. Tech continued to capitalize and created another seven-point lead at 19-12 off kills from Cody Dodd and Shealene Little. From there, the Golden Eagles maintained a strong offense and closed out the first set off of two kills by Dodd followed by one from Little, 25-17.
SIUE took control at the beginning of the second set opening with a 6-2 lead over Tech. However, after a quick timeout, the Golden Eagles regrouped and came out with two kills by Little and a service ace from Kennedy Wade to tie the game at 6-6. However, SIUE pursued and pulled ahead by five at 16-11. Tech refused to back down and pulled within one, 16-15, with a block from Little and James, however, the Cougars held on and took a second set victory 25-19.
It was a tight third set. The Golden Eagles opened with slight advantages at 6-5 and 12-10. SIUE kept a close trail behind Tech, until the Golden Eagles took a four-point lead at 16-12 over the Cougars. SIUE kept in pursuit of Tech and came back to tie the set at 17-17, and then take the lead at 18-17, causing the Golden Eagles to break for a timeout. From there, the two teams remained neck-and-neck with each other until went on a 5-1 run to take the third set 25-20.
Tech and SIUE continued to battle into the fourth set. The Golden Eagles and Cougars held ties of 10-10 and 14-14, and remained within one point of each other from there. Dodd took control for the Golden Eagles and with three kills in a row followed by a Cougar attack errors, Tech pulled out the fourth set 25-21.
"We got in the right rotation," Head Coach Dave Zelenock stated. "We had an offensive advantage and capitalized on the few attempts we did have in the fifth."
A block by Dodd and James got things going in the fifth set. The Golden Eagles held a strong defense to take a three-point lead at 5-2. Kills by Alyssa Povey and two from Williams extended the Tech lead to five-points at 9-4, and brought SIUE to take a timeout. The Golden Eagles remained dominant off of the time out and pulled ahead to 13-6 from back-to-back kills by Williams and then sailed to a fifth set and match victory 15-7.
"Cody does this every night," Zelenock remarked. "She is a really strong player and this is the first team that actively double-blocked her. It's kind of that Michael Jordan syndrome. Teams have to choose whether they are going to really try and stop her or stop everyone else, which is why some of the other players numbers go up. But in the end it doesn't matter. Cody still gets those kills.
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with an impressive 20 kills, 21 digs, three blocks and a .261 hitting percentage. Anderson totaled 51 assists and 12 digs in the match, while teammate Williams contributed 18 kills and a .235 hitting percentage. Ashley Witt led SIUE with 13 kills and seven digs.
"It will be a friendly grudge match," Zelenock commented. "We bumped Jacksonville out of the tournament last year and it should be a slug fest. Hopefully it will be a good show for the fans."
The Golden Eagles play host to conference opponent Jacksonville State on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in a 7 p.m. contest at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.
