NASHVILLE — Senior Aniya Williams was huge in her final home game with 20 kills but it was not enough as the Tennessee State University Tigers fell to the Southeast Illinois University (26-24, 25-20, 15-25, 22-25 and 15-9) in a five-set classic in Nashville. The Tigers lost the first two sets but rallied to tie the match before falling in the fifth set.

First Set: SEIU 26-24

The first set started with both teams trading points from the start. Three consecutive TSU attack errors gave SEIU a 13-10 lead. A kill by Sofia Garcia-Guerrios and two consecutive aces by Kristian Marshall tied the game at 13. A kill by Storm White gave the Tigers a 15-14 led at the media break.

After the break, both teams continued the back and forth, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead through the set. A kill by SEIU's Ainsley Ranstead gave her team set point. Williams followed up with her fifth kill of the set to make it deuce. TSU lost the set on two consecutive attack errors by Mion Weldon and White.
 
Second Set: SEIU 25-20

The second set was competitive from the start with neither team bring able to take an early advantage. A Ranstead kill and a bad set by Marshall gave SEIU a 12-8 lead forcing the Tigers to call a timeout. After the timeout, SEIU was fought back to cut the lead to 16-15 but that was as close as they could get. SEIU scored five of the next six points to go up 21-16. A kill by Annie Ellis gave SEIU set point. They closed the set on a Jenna Taphorn kill.
 
Third Set: TSU 25-15

Not to be denied, TSU started the third set smoking, going up 5-1 on a Williams kill. Two more Williams kills gave TSU a 10-2 advantage forcing SEIU to call a timeout. After an Aria Holmes kill made it 12-3, SEIU got going scoring four consecutive points to cut the lead to 12-7. That was as close as they could get as the Tigers would allow SEIU to get into a rhythm. A Ellis attack error gave TSU set point. The Tigers closed the set on a Nicole Kijowski service error.
 
Fourth Set: TSU 25-22

The fourth set was nip and tuck with the Tigers going on a 3-0 run to take a 15-12 lead at the media break. After the break, SIEU scored the first two points to cut the lead to 15-14, but the Tigers went on a 3-1 to make the score 19-15 to force a SEIU timeout.

After the timeout, the two teams traded points until SEIU cut it to a 21-19 lead. An Aniya Williams kill got the serve back for TSU at 23-19. SEIU's Julia Treichel cross court kill made the score 23-21 forcing TSU to call a timeout. After SEIU closed the gap to 23-22, Carla Boudal scored on a nifty kill to make it set point. The Tigers closed the set out on a Savannah Christian attack error.

Fifth Set:

SEIU started the final fast going up 4-1. An Aniya Williams kill stopped the run. TSU chipped away at the lead and cut to 5-4 on a kill by White. SEIU scored the next two points to go up 7-4. Garcia-Guerrios stopped the mini run on a tip kill. A Jessica Wineyard kill made it 8-5 SEIU at the media break.

After the break, SEIU kept the pressure the next two points on a Holmes attack error and a Christian kill to make the score 10-5 forcing TSU to call timeout. The timeout didn't stop the SEIU momentum as they scored three out of the next four points to go up 13-6 forcing TSU to call their second timeout of the set. After the timeout, SEIU finished the Tigers off on kills by Wineyard and Christian.