By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (4-3) split matches on day two of the Samford-UAB Challenge. The Golden Eagles opened up the day with a 3-0 victory over Northwestern State (4-5), while taking winning set scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 25-19. Tech then went on to fall to UAB (3-4) 3-0. The Blazers saw winning set scores of 25-23, 26-24, and 28-26.

"I think the middles really played up to their standards tonight," assistant coach Cassandra Joyner remarked. "They had great hitting, good numbers, and capitalized on their swings even when there were blocks."

In match one versus Northwestern State (NSU), the Golden Eagles and Lady Demons started off neck-and-neck with a tie of 10-10. Later on NSU took a four-point lead at 20-16 over Tech before the Purple and Gold squad battled back to tie the match at 21-21 taking advantage of a Lady Demon attack error. After much back-and-forth holding ties up to 24-24, the Golden Eagles snuck out a 26-24 first set victory with two kills in a row from Kellie Williams and Shaneice James.

"In the first match we had a lot of concentration and did the small things right," senior Golden Eagle Alyssa Povey remarked. "Our energy gave us one up on the other team, and we were able to finish more and just had more of the tenacity than them."

In set two, Tech and NSU once again started off battling. After opening the set with a tie at 6-6, the Golden Eagles generated a four-point lead at 15-11 with a kill from Alyssa Povey. The Purple and Gold team continued to hold the advantage extending their lead to 18-14 with a kill by K'Vonna Johnson. The Lady Demons then got on the attack and tied the score up at 20-20. Going into the latter of the set, Shealene Little gave Tech the slight advantage at 22-21, however, Northwestern State hung tight pulling ahead of the Golden Eagles at 24-23 causing the Purple and Gold team to take a timeout. After the break, a kill from James retied the match at 24-24, and then an NSU attack error put Tech back on top at 25-24. Once again, the Lady Demons brought the match back to a tie at 25-25, however, after another NSU attack error, the Golden Eagles sealed a second set victory 27-25 with an Allison Morrett service ace.

Tech and Northwestern State began set three wrapped up in a tie of 11-11. The Golden Eagles went on to take a slight three-point lead at 15-12 with a Kirsten Brugere service, which brought the Lady Demons to call for a timeout.  After the break, Tech remained dominant and two kills from Povey and one from Little pushed the Golden Eagles up by six at 18-12. From there, the Purple and Gold teamed pressed on, lengthening their lead to 21-13 with a Johnson kill. Tech then went on to seal a third set and match victory 25-19 with another Morrett service ace.

Povey led the Golden Eagles with 11 kills and five blocks. Teammate Sharon Anderson posted 36 assists in the match while Kennedy wad tallied 26 digs. Kourtney Seaton and Reagan Rogers led the Lady Demons each with seven kills.

"Povey did what Povey is supposed to do," Joyner stated. "She is a force to be reckoned with. She got up on time a lot and was always an option with hitting for us. She did all we could ask her to do and was aggressive with serve, hitting, and blocking."

In the match against UAB, Tech took an early three-point lead at 10-7 with a service ace from Anderson, however, the Blazers quickly battled back to tie the set at 13-13. The Golden Eagles retook the lead at 16-14 with a kill by Johnson. From there, UAB went on a 7-1 run to take the 21-17 lead over Tech. The Golden Eagles battled back to pull within one point of the Blazers at 22-21, however, UAB held on and edged a first set victory 25-23 over Tech.

"Against UAB, we played very well until about the 15 point mark and then relaxed," Joyner continued. "We need to work on blocking and passing in all positions, not just the back row. Also, we need to start hitting better around block and taking smarter shots. Next week we are going to focus on doing things the way we've been taught."

A tie of 8-8 started off set two between the Golden Eagles and Blazers. Tech went on to take the 15-12 lead with a kill from Povey, however, UAB fought back to retie the match at 16-16 causing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. After the break, kills from Johnson and Little gave Tech the lead back at 18-16. The Blazers continued to scuffle with the Golden Eagles, coming back to tie the set at 21-21. Tech pulled together and forced a two-point lead at 23-21, taking advantage of a UAB service error and Little kill causing the Blazers to call a timeout. When play resumed, UAB once again came back to tie things up at 23-23. A Blazer service error gave the Golden Eagles the 24-23 lead, however, UAB would not relent and sealed a second set victory 26-24 over Tech.

Back-to-back Morrett service aces gave the Golden Eagles a three-point lead at 12-9 to start the third set, however, the Blazers remained persistent and tied the set up at 16-16. An Anderson service lead allowed Tech to take a two-point lead 20-18, but the seesaw affair continued as UAB bound things up at 21-21, causing the Purple and Gold squad to take a timeout. When the match resumed, the two teams kept battling back and forth. The Blazers took a slight lead at 24-22, however, a kill by Little and a Brugere service ace put Tech right back in the match as they tied the score at 24-24. UAB then called for a timeout, but after the break, a Blazer attack error gave the Golden Eagles set point causing UAB to take another pause in play as Tech leads 25-24. After the timeout, a Blazer kill again tied the match at 25-25 and from there the two teams continued to battle. Finally, two UAB kills in a row sealed a third set and match victory 28-26 over Tech.

"I think our biggest take away from this weekend is that we have to be aggressive when finishing the match and really focus on the details that worked so well in the game we played earlier today," Povey continued. "We can't be timid and have to make sure we have energy throughout the entire match."

Little led the Golden Eagles picking up her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs. Anderson also posted her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and 10 digs. Haley Jared led UAB with 14 kills and two blocks.

"Shealene played aggressive," Joyner said. "She had a powerful swing and played like a true L2, putting up good numbers and played the best she had today."

"Sharon did a good job running the offense and setting the middles behind when needed to wait on the block," Joyner continued. "She also does great at picking up balls, which a lot of people don't expect at first, but she is great at being aggressive and getting those digs."

The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10, when they travel in-state to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for the Blue Raider Bash. There, Tech will face opponents of Seton Hall, Illinois State, and host Middle Tennessee.

You can follow the Golden Eagles online on Facebook on the Tennessee Tech Women's Volleyball and TTU Sports pages, or on Twitter @TNTechVball and @TTUGoldenEagles. 

Photo by Jim Dillon