NASHVILLE – The Tennessee State University Tigers volleyball team will look to break a few streaks when they take on the UT Martin Skyhawks (5-14, 3-6 OVC) on Tuesday. The Tigers, losers of five in a row, are searching for their first home victory of the season. On October 3, the Skyhawks defeated TSU 3-1, winning their ninth straight in the series.

TSU (2-15, 2-5 OVC) opened the season by losing all ten pre-conference games. They started OVC play with two wins at Tennessee Tech. This week will be interesting for The Big Blue, as Martin sits one game ahead of the Tigers. TSU will travel to Little Rock for two games this weekend. Little Rock is a half-game behind the Tigers in the standings. The Tigers are only two losses behind third place.

Both teams have played Lipscomb and SEMO and are 0-6 combined against both teams. UT Martin is 41-16 against TSU in the all-time series history. Overall, the Skyhawks have not lost to the Tigers since 2015. Last season, UT Martin was the OVC regular season champions, while the Tigers rallied to win the conference tournament, earning a berth in the NCAA postseason.
 
Match 18: UT Martin (5-14, 3-6 OVC) at TSU (2-15, 2-5 OVC)
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 17 | 6 p.m. (CST)
Watch UT Martin vs. Tennessee State 10/17/23 - NCAA Women's Volleyball Live Stream on Watch ESPN.
Live Stats: https://tsutigers.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Location: | Kean Hall, Nashville
 
Quick Hits:
 
Cabranes Wins OVC Volleyball Freshman of the Week
On Monday, the OVC sports information directors voted Tennessee State University libero Celianiz Cabranes the Ohio Valley Conference's Freshman of the Week. Cabranes, a freshman from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, swept up 44 digs in the two games this past week.

Cabranes has exhibited steady play from the backend all season, filling the shoes of Gina Rivera-Ortiz, who graduated last season as the OVC career leader in digs. She led her team in both games in digs. She has at least 20 digs in eight of her last ten games. Cabranes has moved up to third in the OVC play in digs per set with 4.97.

Cabranes is the second Tiger to win an OVC weekly honor this season. Kennedy Davis won Defensive Player of the Week on September 25. Also, Jayla Holcombe was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week on September 26.

Motivated Tigers
Sutton loves to motivate her players. Last season, her team was picked to finish last by her conference counterparts. That prediction inspired the Tennessee State Tiger volleyball team to win the OVC tournament, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA. Despite their strong finish, the Tigers are once again motivated. They are picked to finish sixth out of the 11 conference teams.

Freshmen Digging In
The top two leaders in digs for the Tigers are freshmen. Cabranes leads the team with 316. Jadyn Webb is second with 91. The duo's efforts are needed while junior libero Hadley Pride recovers from injury. Cabranes tops the OVC in digs per set by a freshman this season.
 
Six Million Dollar Man Recruiting
After playing nationally ranked Stanford University in the regular season and Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament, Sutton vowed to add size and speed to her recruitment strategy. With the addition of tall and athletic transfers Erica Calderone (Indian Hills Community College), Jayla Holcombe (Murray State), and Hennesys Lalane (Indian Hills CC), there are now eight players at her disposal who are listed at 6'0 and above.

Defense Wins Championships
Last season, the Tigers used an outstanding defense to fuel their run to the OVC championship. TSU led the OVC in opponent-hitting percentage (.172) and blocks per set (2.45) while also finishing as the only team in the conference to have over 300 total blocks with 326, placing them second in the country. Senior Kennedy Davis (138) and sophomore Gabrielle Johnson (129) had over 100 total blocks, with Davis leading the OVC in that category. Davis is the lone Tiger to make the OVC preseason all-conference team.
 
The Prides of the Nashville Area
Junior libero Hadley Pride has some big shoes to fill in trying to replace the OVC all-time leader in digs, Gina Rivera-Ortiz. Pride, a graduate of Hillsboro High School in Nashville, and Storm White, who hails from Smyrna, Tennessee, are the only Nashville area players on the roster.

International Cuisine
Over the years, the Tigers have relied on an international approach to recruiting, so much that it isn't foreign (see what I did there) to hear music from other countries during pregame warmups. Grad student Aleksandra Rojecka (Poland) and senior Alondra Santana-Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) are holdovers from last year's team. Like Santana-Rodriguez, freshman duo Celianiz Cabranes and Alanys Otero are from Puerto Rico. Erica Calderone and Hennesys Lalane come to Big Blue Country from the Dominican Republic. Freshman Jadyn Webb has international experience playing for the US Virgin Islands.
 
THE TIGERS AT A GLANCE

• The Tigers are the defending OVC Tournament champions.
• TSU is second in the OVC in blocks.
• Senior Kennedy Davis was the lone Tiger named to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
• Gabrielle Johnson is third in the OVC in blocks per set with 1.06.
• Celestial Miller is creeping up the leader board for kills for the Tigers. Her 146 is eleven behind Jayla Holcombe.
• The versatile Aleksandra Rojecka stepped in as the primary setter this past weekend. She led the team in both games in assists. Her 28 on Friday is the most in her career.

 
 
SCOUTING THE UT MARTIN SKYHAWKS:

• The Skyhawks were picked to finish third in the OVC this preseason.
• Haeleigh Paulino (ten kills, 32 assists, and ten digs) scored a triple-double in the first match against TSU.
• Martin converted eight service aces in their last game against Western Illinois.
• Dylan Mott started the season fifth all-time in digs for Martin.
• Martin has three players (Paulino, 17, Kayla Bryant, 15, and Mott, 13) with double digits in service aces.

 
Up Next:
The Tigers will start their first of four games away from Kean Hall when they travel to Arkansas to take on Little Rock on October 20 and 21.