By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
at Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky Match Notes
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (7-16, 3-7 OVC) hits the road for two matches this weekend. The Golden Eagles will first travel to Morehead State (9-14, 5-5 OVC) to take on the Eagles in a 5 p.m. contest on Friday at the Wetherby Gym. The Purple and Gold team will then close out the weekend's action on Saturday with a contest at Eastern Kentucky (10-12, 5-5 OVC) at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Coliseum.
Most recently, Tech defeated Eastern Illinois in five sets with scores of 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 23-25, and 18-16.
Sophomore Shealene Little leads the Golden Eagles with 187 kills (2.87 kills per set) on the year. Little also averages 2.49 digs per set, while hitting .133.
Newcomer Rachel Thomas is making a splash on the Tech team this season. The freshman middle is the Golden Eagle's second leading scorer and blocker with 174 kills and 38 blocks on the year. She averages 2.07 kills and, 0.33 digs, and 0.45 blocks per set, while maintaining a .163 hitting percentage on the year.
Sharon Anderson is another key player on the Tech squad. The senior setter has tallied 739 assists to lead the Golden Eagles this season, while ranking second on the Purple and Gold team in digs with 247.
Senior Alyssa Povey is a dual threat on the court for Tech. Povey currently stands as Tech's third leading attacker with 147 kills (1.79 per set) and leading blocker with 57 blocks (0.70 per set) on the year.
As a team, the Golden Eagles currently hit .141 on the season. Tech has tallied 971 kills, 918 assists, 1,488 digs, 107 blocks, and 83 service aces thus far this year.
Amongst Ohio Valley Conference teams, the Golden Eagles rank first in digs (17.71 per set); ninth in service aces (0.99 per set); tenth in assists (10.93 per set); 11th in kills (11.56 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.222); and 12th in hitting percentage (.141).
The Eagles lead the series over the Golden Eagles 64-18.
In their first meeting this season, Morehead State defeated Tech in three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-15, and 25-15.
Senior Alyssa Povey led the Golden Eagles with 7 kills and a .158 hitting percentage in the contest. Sharon Anderson tallied 22 assists and eight digs in the match, while teammate Kennedy Wade gathered 15 digs.
As a team, Morehead State hit .307 to Tech's .090. The Eagles also tallied 43 assists, 64 digs, and 8.0 blocks to the Golden Eagle's 29 assists, 57 digs, and 2.0 blocks.
Tech and Morehead State split games in the 2015 season; the Golden Eagles winning their first matchup and the Eagles the second each with match scores of 3-1.
Meredith Jewell leads Morehead State with 316 kills (3.40 per set) on the year. Jewell has also tallied 302 digs (3.25 per set) on the year, which is the second most on the Eagle's team. Jewell hits .138 on the year.
Other key players on Morehead State's squad are: Bailey Nichol, Karlee Reynolds, and Jordan Jones.
Nichol leads the Eagles in assists with 538 on the year. She also averages 2.28 digs, 1.05 kills, and 0.48 blocks per set, while hitting .191 on the season.
Reynolds leads Morehead State in blocks with 101 on the year. Reynolds has tallied 108 kills (1.23 per set) and a .187 hitting percentage thus far this season.
Jones stands as one of the Eagle's most rounded players putting up high numbers in every statistical category. On the year, Jones has totaled 122 kills (1.49 per set), 330 assists (4.02 per set), 21 service aces (0.26 per set), 120 digs (1.46 per set), and 56 blocks (0.68 per set).
As a team, Morehead State hits .166 on the year, while holding their opponents to a .155 hitting percentage. The Eagles have tallied 1,102 kills, 1,035 assists, 115 service aces, 1,443 digs, and 216.0 blocks on the year.
The Colonels lead the series over the Golden Eagles 56-21.
Tech defeated Eastern Kentucky earlier this season when the Golden Eagles opened up conference play hosting the Colonels. The Purple and Gold squad won by a 3-1 margin with set scores of 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, and 25-23.
Sophomore Shealene Little led Tech with 17 kills, two blocks, and eight digs in the contest. Freshman Rachel Thomas posted 15 kills and a .387 hitting percentage, while teammates K'Vonna Johnson also tallied 15 kills in the match and Shaneice James posted nine kills, a .615 hitting percentage, and four blocks.
Rachel Woody led EKU, posting a triple-double in the match with 14 kills, 19 assists, and 19 digs. Celina Sanks notched 15 kills in the contest, while Nikki Drost tallied a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs.
The Golden Eagles hit .188 to the Colonels' .125. Tech also gathered 58 assists and 97 digs to EKU's 52 assists and 93 digs.
The Colonels went 2-0 in the 2015 season; defeating the Golden Eagles 3-1 in both matchups.
The duo of Niki Drost and Celina Sanks leads Eastern Kentucky.
On the year, Drost has tallied 252 kills (3.00 per set) to lead the Colonels, while also racking up 210 digs and 28 blocks. Sanks has posted 250 kills (2.94 per set), 102 digs (1.20 per set), and 23 blocks on the year.
Rachel Woody is another key player on the EKU lineup. Woody leads the Colonels in assists with 518 on the year, while also tallying 181 kills, 206 digs, and 44 blocks.
As a team, Eastern Kentucky hits .182 on the year, while holding their opponents to a .181 hitting percentage. The Colonels have totaled 1,093 kills, 1,002 assists, 83 service aces, 1,344 digs, and 159.5 digs on the year.
You can follow the Golden Eagles online on the TTU Sports and Tennessee Tech Women's Volleyball Facebook pages, or on Twitter at @TTUGoldenEagles and @TNTechVball.
Photo by Jim Dillon
