EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – This weekend, the Tennessee State University Tigers volleyball team will look to get back in the winner's circle when they travel to Illinois to take on the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville Cougars in Ohio Valley Conference action.

The Tigers (2-18, 2-8 OVC), losers of eight 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 in the tenth-place position, two games behind the Cougars for the final spot in the tournament.

Injuries have plagued the Tigers all season as they try to overcome losing eight straight games. Despite going 0-3 last week, middle Kennedy Davis was voted the OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. The senior showed a strong presence around the net, blocking 19 attacks. It was the second time this season that Davis won the weekly honor.

The Tigers have defeated the Cougars in three of the last four matches, all in Nashville. TSU has not won in Edwardsville since 2014. The Tigers are 7-8 overall against SIUE. The common opponents this season for both teams are SEMO, Southern Indiana, Tennessee Tech, and UT Martin. TSU is 2-6 against those teams, while the Cougars are 4-4.

Look for some great play around the net, as the two teams are first and second in the OVC in blocks per set.
 
Match 19: TSU (2-18, 2-8 OVC) at SIUE (10-11, 4-6 OVC)
Date/Time: Friday, October 27 | 6 p.m. (CST)
Watch: Tennessee State vs. SIU Edwardsville 10/27/23 - NCAA Women's Volleyball Live Stream on Watch ESPN
Live Stats: https://statb.us/b/479143
Location: | First Community Arena, Edwardsville, Illinois
 
Match 20: TSU (2-18, 2-8 OVC) at SIUE (10-11, 4-6 OVC)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 28 | 2 p.m. (CST)
Watch Tennessee State vs. SIU Edwardsville 10/28/23 - NCAA Women's Volleyball Live Stream on Watch ESPN.
Live Stats: https://statb.us/b/479143
Location: | First Community Arena, Edwardsville, Illinois
 
Quick Hits:
 
Davis Wins Defensive Weekly Honor for The Second Time
On Monday, the OVC sports information directors voted Tennessee State University middle Kennedy Davis the Ohio Valley Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Davis racked up 19 rejections in 11 sets, including eight on Saturday. Her efforts have moved her to second in the OVC in blocks per set. Davis was named to the same honor on September 25.
Her honor is the second in as many weeks for the Tigers. Libero Celianiz Cabranes was named Freshman of the Week by the conference. Also, Jayla Holcombe was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week on September 26.
 
Freshmen Digging In
Three of the top five leaders in digs for the Tigers are freshmen. Cabranes leads the team with 376. Jadyn Webb is fourth with 100, and Alanys Otero sits fifth with 90. Their 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.
• Senior Kennedy Davis was the lone Tiger named to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
• TSU is the top-ranked team in the OVC in blocks per set (2.43).
• Davis (1.10) and Gabrielle Johnson (1.06) are ranked second and fourth in the OVC in blocks.
• The versatile Aleksandra Rojecka has stepped in as the primary setter in the past five games. She has led the team in assists in four of the past five games. Her 28 on Friday is tied for 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 SIUE COUGARS:

• Head Coach Kendall Paulus enters her seventh season in charge of the Cougars with a record of 83-97. She is SIUE's second longest-tenured volleyball head coach behind Todd Gober, who coached the Cougars for ten seasons.
• The Cougars were picked to finish eighth in the OVC this preseason.
• Junior Priscilla Jones is one of the most versatile players in the OVC. She ranks fifth in blocks per set and has three games of over a .500 hitting percentage, with a high of .615 against Idaho.
• The Cougars employ a three-headed monster at setter. Alyse Drifta leads the team in assists at 437, Corinne Jones has 225, and Grace Beekman has 197.   

UP NEXT:
The Tigers will be back at home next week when they take on Lindenwood on November 3-4.