By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech women's volleyball team (5-12, 1-3 OVC) fell to OVC in-state rival Belmont (9-4, 3-0 OVC) in a Friday night contest at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins saw winning set scores of 25-14, 19-25, 25-13, and 25-15.
A score of 7-2 started off the first set in favor of Belmont. After a quick timeout, Tech pulled within two points of the Bruins at 7-5, however, Belmont went on a six-point run to extend their lead to 13-5. The Bruins continued to apply pressure in the set and further pulled ahead 18-9 before sealing a first set victory 25-14 over the Golden Eagles.
"Our defense and serving were really aggressive in the second set and we started playing smart," Golden Eagles Shaneice James said. "We started to see the open spots around the block and really came together as a team. Even when we were down we were cheering to get ourselves back up. Heading into next week's matches we are going to work on staying together as a team, encouraging each other, and taking care of the ball and scoring."
The second set started off strong for the Purple and Gold squad as they opened up play with a 7-3 lead over Belmont. Later, an Alyssa Povey kill extended the Tech lead to 14-7 over the Bruins, causing Belmont to take a timeout. After the break, the Golden Eagles further extended their lead to 17-10 with a K'Vonna Johnson kill. The Bruins continued to put up a fight with Tech and pulled within three points of the Golden Eagles at 21-18 with a kill by Arianna Person. However, Tech remained persistent and three kills in a row from Povey, Shaneice James, and Johnson notched a 25-19 set victory over Belmont.
The Bruins started off set three with a 10-5 lead over the Golden Eagles. Heading into the latter portion of the set, Belmont extended its lead to eight points at 19-11, causing Tech to call for a timeout. After play resumed, the Bruins continued to pull ahead extending their lead to 22-12 before closing out a third set victory 25-13 over the Golden Eagles.
A 7-3 Belmont lead started things off in favor of the Bruins in set four. The Golden Eagles remained aggressive and pulled within one point of Belmont at 15-14. However, the Bruins stayed calm and took a 22-15 lead over Tech with a kill by Person before closing out a fourth set and match victory over the Golden Eagles 25-15.
"We hit great in the first set with a .391 and okay in the second with a .200," head coach Dave Zelenock remarked. "But when Belmont saw that we were passing well served a lot more off speed and got us out of rhythm. Belmont is a great team that exposes a lot of weaknesses when you play them. So we are going to take what we have learned from today's match and get ready for next week. Jacksonville State is a young, athletic team with even more underclassmen than we have. So it will be a battle between two athletic groups and whoever plays smarter will win the match."
Shaneice James led the Golden Eagles with seven kills and a .455 hitting percentage, while teammate Johnson also tallied seven kills and two digs in the contest. Person led Belmont with 18 kills and 10 digs, while fellow Bruin Emma Price tallied 46 assists and 14 digs.
"Offensively, James is really coming into her own," Zelenock continued. "Over this preseason, something for her and she is seeing the block and understanding how to adjust around it to get the kill."
As a team, Belmont hit .353 to Tech's .140. The Bruins also totaled 58 assists to the Golden Eagles 28 and gathered 51 digs to Tech's 40.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 5, with they host conference opponent Jacksonville State in a 7 p.m. contest in the Hooper Eblen Center.
Photo by Jim Dillon
