By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
MURRAY, Ky.—Day two of the OVC tournament brought the number sixth seed Tennessee Tech volleyball team (10-21, 7-9 OVC) to face Belmont (16-14, 11-5 OVC), the No. 2 ranked team in the competition. The Bruins saw victory over the Golden Eagles in a four-set match (3-1), and took winning set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, and 26-24.
"It was a tough way to go out," Golden Eagle Kennedy Wade said. "We waited too late to show up, but we fought really, really hard and I couldn't be more proud of us."
Belmont came out hot in the first set jumping straight to a 5-0 lead over Tech. After a Golden Eagle timeout, Tech put their first point on the board (5-1) with a kill from Cody Dodd. The Bruins went on to extend their lead to six-points at 11-5. Belmont's offense continued to dominate control of the set and pushed them ahead to 15-7 forcing Tech to take a timeout. After the break, a kill from Alyssa Povey and K'Vonna Johnson followed by a Bruin attack error brought the Golden Eagles back within five at 15-10, however, Belmont kept the pressure on and lengthened their lead further to 19-12. From there, the Bruins sailed to a first set victory 25-17, outhitting the Golden Eagles .282 to .083.
"Both teams started really flat," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "The only difference was Person [from Belmont] went for 30 kills in four sets and we had trouble answering that. Then we started to do much better in third and our offense and serving came to life, and I think if we could have pushed it to five it could have had a different end result."
Dodd opened the second set with a kill to give Tech the 1-0 lead. Belmont and the Golden Eagles kept close at the start, Tech holding the 7-5 advantage with another kill from Dodd. The Bruins tied the set at 7-7, and then took their first lead of the set at 8-7 with a kill from Belmont's Emma Price. The Golden Eagles then called for a timeout to regroup and get back in focus. Out of the break, the two teams continued to battle for control as a kill from Johnson followed by a block from Povey and kill from Kellie Williams gave Tech the lead once again at 10-8. Belmont came back once again and tied the set at 11-11. The two teams continued to battle back-and-forth for control. Finally, the Bruins broke the chain and took a three-point lead at 16-13 over the Golden Eagles. Belmont continued to take advantage of their lead and pulled ahead by five-points at 19-15. Tech pulled back within one at 20-19 with a kill from Dodd, and then tied the set at 21-21. The Bruins stayed strong defensively and pulled ahead 23-21 before sneaking out a second set victory 25-21, leading the Golden Eagles two sets to none.
Belmont took the early 6-2 lead in the third set and then continued to pull ahead to 9-5. Tech continued to fight back and pulled within one at 9-8 from a kill by Dodd and then went on to tie the set at 11-11. The Golden Eagles then took their first lead of the set at 13-11 with back-to-back service aces from Kennedy Wade. Tech continued to hold onto their lead and pulled ahead by four-points at 19-15, pushing Belmont to take a timeout. Kills by Dodd helped to push the Golden Eagles further ahead at 22-17. The Bruins refused to relent and closed the gap to two at 22-20. After a quick Tech timeout, Dodd put down another kill to give the Golden Eagles the 23-20. A kill from Povey then gave Tech set point 24-21, however, Belmont continued to close in on the Golden Eagles to pull within one at 24-23. Tech held strong and a kill from Williams finished the third set off for the Golden Eagles with a 25-23 win.
In the fourth, Belmont opened with a five-point lead over Tech at 8-3. From there, the Bruins continued to capitalize on their lead and took a seven-point lead at 11-4. The Golden Eagles battled back to pull within three at 11-8 with kills from Dodd and Williams. Tech kept in pursuit and cut the Belmont score down to one at 14-13 with a kill from Dodd before tying the set at 14-14 with a kill from Sydney Lemon. The Bruins, feeling pressure from the Golden Eagle gain, then called for a timeout to refocus. After the break, Tech refused to relent and pulled ahead 16-14 with a kill from Dodd, however, Belmont would not back down easily and kept close to tie the set back at 16-16. Both teams continued to fight for control holding within one of each other until the Bruins broke the chain to lead by two at 21-19, The Golden Eagles tried to make up their deficit and pulled within one at 23-22 with a kill by Williams. Belmont put up set point at 24-22 with a kill from the Bruin's Arianna Person, however, senior Dodd responded with a kill to force another point and the score to 24-23. Belmont again called for a timeout, however, Tech stayed motivated and Dodd put down another kill to tie the set at 24. The Bruins took set point once again with a kill from Person and this time followed up with another kill to close out a fourth set and match victory 26-24.
"Cody really did well in sets three and four," Zelenock continued. "Her blocking picked which helped to slow Person, and she started dropping bombs, where even if she didn't get the kill, it still left Belmont scrambling to get the ball back over. She's great and we are going to miss her, she's such a bail out player."
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 25 kills and 16 digs in the match for her 20th double-double of the season. Williams posted 12 kills in the match, while teammates Wade gathered 29 digs and Anderson tallied 42 assists. Person led Belmont with 30 kills and 15 digs in the match.
"We definitely improved as the season went on," Wade continued. "We got so much better and improved on the things we had been working on all year long and I'm really proud of where we got this year.."
