EVANSVILLE, IN --Gabrielle Johnson recorded 14 kills with an .824 hitting percentage to help carry the Tennessee State volleyball team to a 3-1 win (25-16, 25-27, 25-10, 25-14) against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Friday on the road at Screaming Eagles Arena. The win improved Tennessee State's record to 13-15 overall and 7-8 in OVC play.
The Tigers attack was paced by OVC Offensive and Newcomer of the Week Johanna Alcantara, who finished with 16 kills on the day, and by Johnson's 14. Sofia Garcia-Guerrios had 22 assists and Login Williams had 18 plus four service aces. Defensively, had three players reach double figures in digs, including Gina Rivera-Ortiz's 21, 12 from Carla Boudal, and 10 more from Garcia-Guerrios giving her a double-double. From the front row, Davis contributed her season high 11 blocks and Aleksandra Rojecka added five rejections. Davis just missed a double-double recording nine kills hitting at a .600 percentage. TSU's servers had a big day with 12 service aces on the night.
"Tonight we played, fought and won as a team," said TSU head coach Donika Sutton, "We got a solid performance from Logan Williams. She dominated the serving line, the backcourt and running the offense. Gabby and Kennedy both flipped roles for us and showed how versatile their games are. Kennedy with 11 blocks and Gabby hitting over .800 were huge for us. Teams are keying on Jo so having a performance like that from by both middles was great. Gabby doing what she is doing as a freshman is special. She isn't close to reaching her ceiling."
The victory is the fourth in the last five games for the Tigers. One of the keys to the win was a 34-8 advantage by the Tigers to close out the third set and open the fourth.
Game Notes
» Tennessee State had three players in double figures in digs.
» Gabrielle Johnson was efficient in attacking situations in the match, accumulating 14 kills while hitting .824.
» Login Williams had a team-high four aces in the win.
» Kennedy Davis had a match-high 11 blocks.
» TSU's front row did a great job defensively, picking up 16 blocks in the match.
» TSU trailed on the way to winning the first set 25-16.
» The Tigers never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 25-14.
» Johanna Alcantara had a match-high 16 kills.
» Gina Rivera-Ortiz had a match-high 21 digs.
» TSU attackers were helped by a team-high 22 assists from Sofia Garcia-Guerrios.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Tigers took control on the first point and never trailed to win the first set 25-16. Tennessee State led by as many as nine points at 24-15 before finishing off the set, collecting 16 kills in the process. Tennessee State also supplemented their offense with four aces in the opening set. The Tigers swung at blistering pace finishing the set at .462.
SET 2 | TSU lost the second set 27-25 to even the match 1-1. The Tigers fell in a tight second set, losing in a stanza that was tied 10 times and had five lead changes. Gabrielle Johnson's six kills kept the Tigers in the set.
SET 3 | The Tigers grabbed control of the set early when the score was 4-4, they went on a 12-1 run to take a 16-5 lead and never looked back to win 25-10. TSU led by 15 points at 22-7 before closing out the stanza, totaling 15 kills . The Tiger offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.
SET 4 | TSU kept the momentum going, starting the set 6-0 with Aleksandra Rojecka getting 2.5 points in the run. The fast start helped in claiming the match win with a 25-14 fourth-set victory. The Tigers opened up as much as a 13 point lead at 16-3 before closing out the stanza. TSU got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked six Southern Indiana attacks in the stanza and capitalized on 10 Southern Indiana attacking errors on the way to victory.
The two teams will be back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m.
