LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In search of breaking a losing streak, the Tennessee State University Tiger volleyball team will travel to Arkansas to take on the University of Little Rock Trojans (4-14, 1-6 OVC) on Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers (2-16, 2-6 OVC), losers of six in a row, have some work to do to get back in contention for postseason play. The top eight teams will make it to the tournament. Right now, TSU sits at the ninth position, one game behind UT Martin, who holds the first tiebreaker against the Tigers by virtue of them defeating TSU in both matches this season.
This will be the first time that the Tigers have played at Little Rock. TSU holds a 2-0 advantage in the series, with both wins coming last season at Kean Hall. This year, the teams' common opponents are Tennessee Tech, Southern Indiana, and Southeast Missouri State. TSU is 2-4 against those teams, while ULR is 1-4. All the wins have come at the expense of Tennessee Tech.
 
Match 19: TSU (2-16, 2-6 OVC) at Little Rock (4-14, 1-6)
Date/Time: Friday, October 20 | 6 p.m. (CST)
Watch: Tennessee State vs. Little Rock 10/20/23 - NCAA Women's Volleyball Live Stream on Watch ESPN.
Live Stats: LRTrojans.com
Location: | Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
 
Match 20: TSU (2-16, 2-6 OVC) at Little Rock (4-14, 1-6)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 21 | 2 p.m. (CST)
Watch: Tennessee State vs. Little Rock 10/20/23 - NCAA Women's Volleyball Live Stream on Watch ESPN.
Live Stats: LRTrojans.com
Location: | Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
 
 
 
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 now has at least 20 digs in eight of her last eleven games. Cabranes has moved 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.

Freshmen Digging In
The top two leaders in digs for the Tigers are freshmen. Cabranes leads the team with 326. Jadyn Webb is second with 100. 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.

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.
 
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.
• Davis (1.04) and Gabrielle Johnson (1.03) are ranked fourth and sixth in the OVC in blocks.
• The versatile Aleksandra Rojecka stepped in as the primary setter in the past three games. She led the team in the games in assists. Her 28 on Friday is the most in her career.
• Last time out, Jayla Holcombe recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs.

 
 SCOUTING THE LITTLE ROCK TROJANS:

• Head Coach Van Compton is in her 36^th season at Little Rock.
• The Trojans were picked to finish third in the OVC this preseason.
• ULR is ranked second in the OVC in serves per set (1.76).
• Daedrianna Cail leads the OVC in blocks per set at 1.33 in conference games.
• Cail (second) and Belia Cherry (eighth) are in the conference's top ten service acers.

 Up Next:
The Tigers will finish their four-game road trip with two games at SIUE on October 27-28.