By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.— In a local battle between the Purple and the Orange, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (0-4, 0-0 OVC) took to the road on Thursday to compete in a backyard brawl against the University of Tennessee (5-0) at the Tennessee Volleyball Invitational. The Vols topped the Golden Eagles 3-1, taking winning set scores of 25-15, 25-19, 22-25, and 25-15, in front of 825 fans.
"I'm proud of us," commented Golden Eagle senior Cody Dodd. "We could have done better, but we fought hard and got one set off of them."
The Golden Eagles and the Vols came out fighting at the beginning of the first set, continuously battling back-and-forth to be the first to take a lead in the match. The two teams kept the score close, opening with ties of 4-4 and 8-8. Tennessee then got on a 7-0 run to pull ahead, 15-8. Vol errors allowed the Golden Eagles to pull within four-points, 16-12, however, Tennessee capitalized on its lead and claimed a first-set victory, 25-15.
"We are a pretty athletic team for our conference," remarked head coach Dave Zelenock. "We don't get to see a lot of teams that are bigger and more athletic than us and it was a great opportunity to be able to play such a high caliber team. A lot of these kids grew up on UT [University of Tennessee], and it was great for them to see that they can hang with them."
The second set began again with a battle for control. The game opened with a score of 4-4 before the Vols took a slight lead at 9-5. Tech continued to fight to keep it close, pulling within two points, 13-11, on a service ace by Dodd. The Vols then got on the attack and pulled ahead, 18-11. Tech held a strong defense to close the gap 22-17, however, Tennessee finished out the second set, 25-19.
The Golden Eagles took the lead in the third set, opening 5-2. Tennessee quickly recovered and tied the score 7-7. The two teams continued to fight, keeping within two- or three-points until Tech went on a run and pulled ahead 17-13. The Vols pursued and tied the score again at 18-18. The Golden Eagles kept strong and held the advantage, and took a third set win, 25-22.
A 5-5 tie kicked off the start of the fourth set. Tennessee went on an 8-1 run and pulled away to a fourth set win, 25-15.
"We were effective blockers," said Zelenock, "Last week our blocking wasn't great, but we worked on it, and today we out-blocked them, 11-7."
Dodd led Tech with 14 kills, seven digs, and five blocks. Teammate Kennedy Wade posted 16 digs, while Kellie Williams acquired nine kills and two blocks. The Vols were led by Kanisha Jimenez who totaled 15 kills and 14 digs.
"Cody has a huge target on her back," continued Zelenock. "They served her a lot of balls, double-blocked her every time, but she still worked out how to get around those things. She had a slow start, but became more efficient at the end. She may have led us, but she's better than what those numbers show."
The Golden Eagles will continue tournament play Friday at the Tennessee Volleyball Invitational when they face the North Florida Ospreys in an 11:30 a.m. matchup.
