Tech toppled by Morehead State 3-1
October 24, 2015

Tech toppled by Morehead State 3-1

Saturday’s matchup for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (5-18, 3-7 OVC) against Morehead State (9-15, 6-4 OVC) didn’t go as planned for the Golden Eagles.

Box Score Preview

By: Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

MOREHEAD, Ky.—Saturday's matchup for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (5-18, 3-7 OVC) against Morehead State (9-15, 6-4 OVC) didn't go as planned for the Golden Eagles. The Eagles downed Tech in a four-set matchup (3-1), taking winning set scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, and 25-16.

"I thought we did a good job fighting," Golden Eagle Cody Dodd said, "We didn't play bad, Morehead just played really well, so overall I'm really proud of us."

The Golden Eagles opened with a 5-4 lead over the Eagles with a kill by K'Vonna Johnson. Sydney Lemon then gave Tech the three-point lead at 9-6 with a kill. Morehead pursued and tied the match at 11-11 forcing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. After the break, Tech came out and took a four-point lead at 15-11 with two service aces from Cody Dodd and brought the Eagles to take a timeout of their own. Dodd then came off of the second break with another service ace, and Johnson followed it up with a kill to help the Golden Eagles expand their lead by six points at 17-11. From there, Tech continued to capitalize on their lead and went ahead by 20-14 with a kill from Alyssa Povey before closing out a first set victory 25-17.

Morehead took the early lead in the second set at 8-5. The Eagle's Hannah Sigala had a kill then extended their lead to 13-7 with a kill from Hannah Sigala. The Golden Eagles fought to bring the score within four, 15-11, with kills from Dodd and Lemon. From there, Morehead extended their lead to 18-13, and then closed out the second set 25-19 to tie the game scores at one.

Dodd opened third set play with a kill (1-0). Tech continued to take the four-point lead at 6-2 with a service ace from Kennedy Wade, but Morehead fought back to tie the match at six, bringing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. The Eagles then took a two-point lead at 9-1, however, a service ace from Allison Morrett retied the set at nine. From there, the two teams kept in close proximity of each other holding ties of 11-11, 13-13, and 14-14. An Eagle's kill from Merideth Jewell and Tech attack errors then gave Morehead the 17-14 lead. The Eagles then went on a 4-1 run to pull ahead 21-15. Dodd serving aces brought Tech back within three at 22-19, however, Morehead held on and edged a third set victory 25-23.

A tie of 7-7 kicked off the start of the fourth set. A kill from Dodd helped Tech take the 9-7 lead, but the Eagles closed the gap right away and tied the set again at nine. Morehead went on to create a four-point lead at 15-11, which then pushed the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout to take control of the match and create a six-point lead at 18-12. Morehead then went on a 7-4 run to close out the fourth set 25-16, defeating the Golden Eagles three sets to one.

"Cody is starting to get back on track," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "She hit a bit of a lull going into OVC play, but she is starting to play more of her natural style."

Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 17 kills and 13 digs for her 12th double-double on the season. Wiliams added 10 kills and two blocks, while Sharon Anderson had 36 assists. Sigala led Morehead with 14 kills and two blocks.

"Kellie does a really good job of finding ways to score," Zelenock continued. "She chooses sports that work well for her and can go for power. Teams never really know what she's going to do."

"I'm excited going into next weekend," Dodd continued. "We can do very well against Austin Peay and Murray is a whole different ball game, but we are going to play hard and keep fighting."

The Golden Eagles return to play on Friday, October 30, when they host Austin Peay in a 7 p.m. contest at the Eblen Center.