NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee State Tigers (6-15, 2-6 OVC) hosted the UT Martin Skyhawks (10-11, 4-4 OVC) in Kean Hall Saturday, Oct. 14 for its annual Dig Pink match. Big Blue fell in four sets to the Skyhawks (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Rachel Henderson and Maya Evans led the offense collecting 22 kills and combining for 2.5 blocks of the team's four.
• Cherlie Adorno DeJesus recorded 30 digs, leading the defense which outperformed the Skyhawks 88-74. Big contributors were Curstyn Wilson 17, Samantha Beltran 12, Sydney Swann 10 and Kylie Hayes 8.
• Samantha Beltran posted her 10^th double-double of the season with 35 assists and 12 digs. She also had six kills and a service ace. 

SET BY SET

First Set: Samantha Beltran served up an ace to start the match. The rest of the set was back-and-forth, Tigers only giving up the lead once. Curstyn Wilson had a service ace. Rachel Henderson and Maya Evans combined for a block. Katora Roberts, Henderson and Ma. Evans each put down 3 kills for a .167 hitting percentage. Despite the work the Tigers put in, Skyhawks took set one, 25-21.

Second Set: Skyhawks had a quick start going 4-0 before Rachel Henderson put down a kill for the first Tiger point in set two. The Tigers struggled to keep tempo for most of the back-and-forth set, allowing UT Martin to take a 21-14 lead. Rachel Henderson put in for the Tigers leading the 7-0 run to tie the set. Skyhawks answered with four-straight points to win the match, 25-22.

Third Set: The Tigers came out of the locker room looking to win the third set, scoring the first point and not letting go of the lead for 11 points. The Skyhawks answered with a 13-0 run that would put them just five points from winning the match in three. Big Blue came up with big points as everyone rallied together to push six straight points, followed by another eight to force a fourth set. Tigers win 25-23.   

Fourth Set: The momentum from the third set was lost in the fourth as the Tigers struggled to keep up with UT Martin. The Skyhawks went on multiple runs to leave Big Blue pushing for points. Rachel Henderson and Alexis Johnson put down the first block of the set, Curstyn Wilson came up with two big kills. UT Martin was up 24-13 before Maya Evans shot all three of her kills. Kylie Hayes' added a service ace closing the gap 24-20. The Skyhawks ended the match with a kill 25-20.

MATCH NOTES

• TSU is now 14-35 in the all-time series against UT Martin.
• With a 2-6 OVC record, the Tigers are 11^th in the conference.

UP NEXT

TSU volleyball hits the road again, first to Austin Peay for a 6 p.m. match on Friday, Oct. 20, followed by Murray State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.

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