Nashville, Tenn. --- In the final home match of the season,
the Tennessee State University volleyball team sent its seniors out on a good
note by defeating Austin Peay, 3-1, Friday night in Kean Hall.
With the win, TSU improved to 16-9 (11-6 OVC) while Austin
Peay fell to 9-19 (7-10 OVC). The set scores were: 25-17, 20-25, 25-26, 25-20.
After being honored prior to the start of the match, TSU
seniors Shaquita Williams and Terakka Walker led the Tigers to a victory. Williams
paced TSU with 16 kills while Walker recorded a double-double of 12 kills and
11 digs. Danielle Howell also chipped in 10 kills for TSU. Erika Moss
registered 52 set assists while Britani Hathorn tallied 18 digs. Williams also
notched seven blocks in the win.
Ilyanna Hernandez led APSU with 15 kills while Paige
Economos turned in 21 digs.
In the opening set, Tennessee State jumped out to a 10-6
lead following a kill by Shaquita Williams. Austin Peay used a timeout in an
attempt to slow TSU down but the Tigers went on to stretch the advantage to
20-12 behind a Lady Gov attack error. Back-to-back kills from Terakka Walker
made the lead, 22-14, before the Tigers went on to win, 25-17. TSU hit .393
while APSU only managed a .000 hitting percentage.
The second set was a different story as TSU registered a
.167 hitting percentage compared to APSU's .379. Both teams notched 14 kills in
the contest but the Tigers committed eight errors. The Lady Govs won the set,
25-20, to knot the match at 1-1.
The Tigers seemed rejuvenated out of the break and fired off
eight unanswered points to start the third set. APSU finally got on the board
following a TSU attack error but the deficit proved too much to overcome. The
Lady Govs pulled to within six but that would be as close as they would get as
TSU cruised to the, 25-16, win.
TSU built its lead up to, 16-11, before APSU used a small
rally to pull within two. The Tigers responded with a spurt of their own to go
back on top, 20-14. A kill by Danielle Howell made the score, 22-16, in favor
of the home team before a kill by Shaquita Williams pushed TSU to the, 25-20,
win.
Tennessee State finished the match with 59 kills behind a
.296 hitting percentage while Austin Peay posted 40 kills and hit .153.
The Tigers return to action Tuesday, Nov. 8 on the road at
UT Martin. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Skyhawk Arena.
