Cody Dodd attacks the ball during Tech's Ohio Valley Conference clash with Morehead State on Oct. 16. Dodd earned her 1000th kill against Belmont on Oct. 9. Photo by: Shea Haile
In the past, Tennessee Tech had some great years in volleyball; throughout the past couple of years, the team has been trying to improve to get back to where it once was. Rebuilding is a process that usually takes time and patience, and Tech has been showing some improvements through the last two seasons. During this rebuilding process, Cody Dodd and Sharon Anderson have shined and both have reached impressive milestones while at Tech.
On Oct. 9, while playing against Belmont, Dodd reached her 1,000th career kill, and, in the same game, Sharon Anderson grabbed her 2,000th career assist.
Dodd is a Cookeville native who stayed to play volleyball in her hometown and has myriad achievements and honors while playing here. While at Cookeville High School, she was voted district 6-AAA most valuable player for three straight seasons and helped lead Cookeville to three district championships. While at Tech, she has made the All-OVC team, the first player to do so since 2012, and has been voted OVC Offensive Player of the Week four times. She was also one of 36 athletes to participate in the U.S. Collegiate National Team program. However, 1,000 kills is her most recent accomplishment.
“I’m pretty proud of myself for (1,000 kills),” said Dodd. “I wish that I would have gotten it last year, but I’m proud of it. I wasn’t very good my first two years, but I improved.”
“Cody has done well, especially after her first two seasons,” said head coach Dave Zelenock. “She was pretty much a nonfactor. She only had like 100 kills apiece, so she has done pretty well.”
Anderson is a junior from Burr Ridge, Illinois, who has quietly been making her name as the assist leader for Tennessee Tech. Though Anderson is just a junior, she has to be a leader for the team because Dodd is the only senior. While in high school, Anderson was selected for the West Suburban All-Conference team four times and was recognized as one of the top 50 Chicago volleyball players in 2011. She helped lead her high school to four conference championships, two regional championships and one sectional championship. While at Tech, she set a career high of 55 assists against SIUE in 2014 and racked up 1,161 assists that season.
Zelenock said of Anderson’s 2,000 assists “I think it was pretty fast, not All-American standard, but she pretty much did all of that in one year. Her freshman season she only had four weeks before she got hit by a car. I would say it’s pretty good.”
