NASHVILLE, TN --The Tennessee State University Tiger volleyball team totaled 16 blocks on the way to a 3-1 victory (25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-16) over the Eastern Illinois Panthers Saturday at home at Kean Hall .
The win improved the Tigers' record to 12-14 overall and 6-7 in OVC play. It also makes their record at Kean Hall 9-1 for the season.
Johanna Alcantara, the OVC Offensive and Newcomer of the Week, finished with 26 kills on the day to lead the TSU offense while finishing with a hitting percentage of .333. got 23 digs from this week's OVC Defender of the Week Gina Rivera-Ortiz along with eight blocks from the OVC leader Gabrielle Johnson and eight rejections from Kennedy Davis to lead them defensively.
Game Notes
» Carla Boudal had a match-high two aces in the win.
» Gabrielle Johnson had a match-high eight blocks.
» The Tennessee State front row did a great job defensively, picking up 16 blocks in the match.
» Tennessee State never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 25-16.
» The Tennessee State block excelled in a fourth-set win, shutting down eight Eastern Illinois attacks.
» Johanna Alcantara had a match-high 26 kills for Tennessee State.
» Tennessee State got a match-high 23 digs from Gina Rivera-Ortiz.
» Tennessee State attackers were helped by a match-high 22 assists from Sofia Garcia-Guerrios.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Tigers opened up an early one set to none lead, winning a tight first set 25-23. Tennessee State started slow and trailed by as many as six points. Two blocks by Gabrielle Johnson gave TSU an 18-16 lead. The Tigers took advantage for good at 19-18. TSU got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked six Eastern Illinois attacks in the stanza and capitalized on 12 Eastern Illinois attacking errors on the way to victory.
SET 2 | Tennessee State carried momentum from a set-one win by securing a 25-21 victory in the second set. The Tigers took control of the set lead early on at 3-2 and never looked back. Tennessee State led by as many as 10 points at 19-9 before finishing off the set. Three early kills by Johanna Alcantara gave the Tigers the boost they needed to make 7-3 forcing an early EIU timeout. EIU didn't quit going on a 4-0 to force TSU to call a timeout with the score at 24-21. Kennedy Davis finish the set off with a kill.
SET 3 | Tennessee State couldn't end the match in a sweep, losing the third set to make their lead two sets to one in the match. The Tigers dropped a tough set 25-19. Tennessee State trailed by as many as seven points as Eastern Illinois grabbed the advantage for good at 2-1 in a set that was tied up four times before the Panthers took over the lead. Storm White had three early kills to keep the Tigers in the set but it was not enough.
SET 4 | Tennessee State then responded to claim the match win with a 25-16 set-four victory. The Tigers scored first and never trailed in the set to secure the victory. Tennessee State finished up the stanza on a strong note, claiming its biggest lead, nine points, to close out the set. Tennessee State got an standout defensive performance from a front row that blocked eight Eastern Illinois attacks in the stanza and capitalized on 11 Eastern Illinois attacking errors on the way to victory. Kennedy Davis and Aleksandra Rojecka had three block assists early to fuel the four set win.
The two teams will be back in action tonight at 6 p.m.
