By Nate Perry, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech volleyball will return to the court in the Hooper Eblen Center this weekend as Belmont and Tennessee State visit Cookeville for a pair of Ohio Valley Conference matchups.
Coach Jeannette Waldo's team got its first taste of conference action last week with matches at Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State, and while neither outcome ended up in the win column, the head coach saw progress toward big picture success.
"We're continuing to build confidence in ourselves as volleyball players and as a collective unit," she said. "We're becoming more comfortable being aggressive at all times, and making small adjustments to create better scoring opportunities instead of making the safe play every time, which is great to see. Good things will happen as we continue on with this mindset."
Now, conference action comes to the friendly confines of the Hoop, which will end Tech's stretch of eight matches and 25 days between home dates (Sept. 4 vs. Chattanooga).
An energetic home crowd can do wonders for a team returning from a long, arduous road trip, and Waldo is looking for the Tech faithful to rise up and create that kind of environment to help propel the Golden Eagles.
"Any opportunity to play at home is a great one," she said. "The team is so excited to host a couple of our in-state opponents for our OVC home openers. We're hoping to have an enthusiastic crowd that has a great time watching us, and that our play brings them back for future matches."
Belmont will be Tech's first challenge, as one of the two squads will land its first league win of the season when they meet up at 6 p.m. Friday night.
The Bruins have failed to register a win so far in the 2018 season, but have not played the nation's easiest schedule either.
Belmont was in Knoxville for the Tennessee Classic to open the year, where it met up with then-No. 22 Michigan State in addition to the host Volunteers and Chattanooga.
They squared off with Iowa on Aug. 26 to make three Power 5 opponents in the nonconference, and also played highly competitive American Athletic Conference members Tulsa and Western Kentucky, which tote records of 10-4 and 11-5, respectively.
Belmont also hosted East Tennessee State, which is currently receiving votes for a national ranking, as part of its own Bruiser Showcase on Sept. 1.
Senior outside hitter Maggie Mullins is the only Bruin to have played in all 46 sets and is the undisputed leader offensively with 108 kills and 2.35 kills per set.
Fellow senior middle blocker Alexa Nichols has only played in 20 sets, but has put up respectable marks in that time with 2.30 kills per set and a team-high .250 hitting percentage.
"Belmont's record doesn't reflect the whole story of their season up to this point," said Waldo. "They have played some fierce opponents so far within their preseason, so that can be misleading.
"They do a nice job of mixing up their offense to keep the defense on its toes, so I think it'll be the team that plays the cleanest volleyball that will be victorious Friday night."
Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State will be reacquainted on Saturday at 2 p.m.
State has compiled a 4-8 record on the year, and comes into this weekend's contest with a 2-0 mark in the OVC after a sweep of Belmont and Eastern Illinois.
Chattanooga, Evansville and North Alabama are the three common opponents played by Tech and TSU so far in 2018.
Tech posted a 2-1 record against those three teams, beating Chattanooga on Sept. 4 (3-1) and North Alabama on Sept. 7 (3-1), and dropping a five-setter to Evansville on Aug. 24.
TSU lost all three of those matches, falling 3-1 to Chattanooga on Sept. 1, 3-2 to Evansville on Sept. 11, and 3-2 to UNA on Aug. 31.
Similar to Morehead State last Saturday, Tennessee State is among the best defensive teams in the OVC, as it leads the league in team blocks with 2.26 per set, allows an opponent hitting percentage of .180, which is second-best, and ranks fourth in digs per set with 15.27.
Individually, the Tigers feature a tandem of offensive firepower in junior Julia Pierson (3.16 kills per set) and senior Rachel Henderson (2.98 kills per set). Pierson's mark is good enough for eighth in the OVC.
Both players are among the league's top 10 for points per set, with Pierson tied for third at 3.84 and Henderson ninth with 3.63.
Junior outside hitter Johanna "JoJo" Kruize, a first-year transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, won the conference's most recent Newcomer of the Week award and lends the most offensive support to Pierson and Henderson with 2.33 kills per set. She also owns the team's best hitting percentage for the season, .232.
Libero Gina Rivera Ortiz moved into fourth on the conference list for digs per set (4.37) after a couple of big outings last weekend.
Freshman Laken Te'o has made all 12 starts and played in all 49 sets, and is a top-six setter in the league with 8.65 assists per set.
"TSU always comes out with a lot of energy and momentum and they leave it up to their opponent to stop them," said Waldo. "This has been part of their team culture for quite some time. We will need to come out and match that energy while playing our own brand of volleyball to stop them in their tracks. If we can do that, we should be able to build our own momentum with our team speed."
All TTU volleyball alumni are encouraged to come celebrate some very special guests in attendance at the matches this weekend, as members of the 1983 OVC regular-season championship team and the 2008 regular-season and tournament championship team will descend upon the Tech campus to celebrate the 35th and 10th anniversaries, respectively, of their historic achievements.
Following Saturday's match with TSU, team members will make their way to a special tailgate area outside Tucker Stadium to socialize ahead of TTU's football game against Eastern Illinois. Both teams will then be recognized with a special ceremony at halftime.
"As a team, we're very much looking forward to meeting members of the Tech volleyball family," Waldo said. "It will be so great for our players to see the impact that Tech has had on others who have come through the program and hear them describe their experiences here."
"We will embrace our alumni community moving forward as it should be treated like a family. This weekend will be a great opportunity to build that connection with our alumni by sharing stories, along with the aspirations for the bright future of Tech volleyball."
Live Stats
Tennessee Tech vs. Belmont
Tennessee Tech vs. Tennessee State
OVC Digital Network Live Stream (both matches)
Photo by Thomas Corhern
