NASHVILLE - After starting the 2021 campaign 5-0 on the road, the Tennessee State University Volleyball Team (5-1) came home but lost to the University of Evansville Aces 3-0 (22-25, 17-25 and 21-25) in non-conference play. This was the first time the volleyball team played in Gentry Center.

"The atmosphere was great, our fans showed up, all of our athletic sports came out and showed the support we were looking for," said Tiger head coach Donika Sutton. "It was a good experience to be able to finally play on the floor in Gentry. I am extremely proud of us starting 5-0. That's not something that we expected. You know days like this are coming where we are going to take a loss. I'm more of a coach that wants us to show up and play hard."

Set 1

It was a set of runs. The Tigers had a fast start taking a 5-1 advantage. After an Evansville timeout, the Aces made a push but then TSU extended its lead to 15-8.  Then it was Evansville's turn to make a run.   The Aces scored the next nine points to take a 16-15 lead. The Tigers went on a 4-1 rally to take a 19-17 lead. Evansville finished off TSU with an 8-3 run to take the first set.

"After the timeout they figured out how to pick apart our blocks and slow us down offensively," said Sutton. "Our defense was there but we were just not connecting offensively."

Set 2

Another big time start by TSU put them in front with an 8-2 tally to open game two.  TSU junior Aleksandra Rojecka helped her team get off to another fast start. She connected on three consecutive kills to give the Tigers an 8-2 advantage. Once again, Evansville went on a run tying the set 12-12.  Both teams traded the next two points before the Aces pulled away to take a 25-17 win. 

"We came out strong and did what we needed to do early on but relaxed too much," said senior Aniya Williams who had a team high nine kills. "We didn't play our TSU game. Our TSU game is all about tempo and momentum. I feel like we pulled back some."

Set 3

The final set was close in the beginning until Evansville went on a 7-1 run to take a 14-7 lead. The Tigers didn't go away easy as they mounted a comeback to cut the lead to 23-21. A questionable call gave the Aces a 24-21 lead before they finished the Tigers off.

"I think that we were making mistakes on the little things," said senior Gina Rivera-Ortiz. "We could have done much better with our communication. I think we need to work harder and put more effort in and have more energy."

The Tigers will now travel to Arlington, Tx to play three games in the UT-Arlington Tournament starting this Friday to finish the non-conference schedule. This should be a good test before the Ohio Valley Conference opener at Belmont this Tuesday.

"We have to work on tips and rolls," said senior Aria Holmes. "When the block was there. We picked the hard stuff but the easy stuff we struggled. We need to work on that before we go into the OVC."