NASHVILLE- After seven straight games away from the friendly confines of Kean Hall, the Tennessee State University Tigers Volleyball Team will finally play their first home game. The Tigers (0-7) will look to get their first win this season when they play UC San Diego (Thursday, 6:00 p.m.) and Jackson State (Friday, 7:00 p.m.) at Kean. On Saturday, they will travel across town to take on Belmont University (6:00 p.m.). Last season, the Tigers finished with an 11-2 record at Kean.

"It will be good to be in front of our home crowd again," head coach Donika Sutton said. "The atmosphere makes it tough on our opponents. We have a lot going on Thursday. Hopefully, we will play well."  

The Tigers will honor the 2022 team with a ring ceremony before the first game of the invitational against UC San Diego. Picked to finish last in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, TSU won the OVC Postseason tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The ring ceremony will start at 5:50 p.m., followed by the banner unveiling.

Five other invitational games will take place at two different venues. On Friday, Jackson State will play UC San Diego at noon at Kean Hall. At 6:00 p.m., Jackson State will play TSU at Kean. At the same time, UC San Diego will play at Belmont. The invitational will close out with two games on Saturday. Jackson State will play Belmont at 10:00 a.m. at Kean Hall; the final game will be the TSU-Belmont game.

Match 8: UC San Diego (5-4) at TSU (0-7)
Date/Time: Thursday, September 14 | 6 p.m. (CST
Watch UC San Diego vs. Tennessee State (9/14/23) - Stream the NCAA Women's Volleyball Game - Watch ESPN
Live Stats:  SIDEARMLiveStats (tsutigers.com)
Location: | Kean Hall, Nashville
 
Match 9: Jackson State (3-4) at TSU (0-7)
Date/Time: Friday, September 15 | 6 p.m. (CST
Watch: Jackson State vs. Tennessee State (9/15/23) - Stream the NCAA Women's Volleyball Game - Watch ESPN
Live Stats:  SIDEARMLiveStats (tsutigers.com)
Location: | Kean Hall, Nashville
 
Match 10: TSU (0-7) at Belmont (4-6)
Date/Time: Saturday, September 16 | 6 p.m. (CST
Watch: 
Live Stats:  SIDEARMLiveStats (tsutigers.com)
Location: | Kean Hall, Nashville
 
Quick Hits:
 
Motivated Tigers
Head coach Donika 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 Lalaine 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.
• The Tigers have nine players returning from their OVC championship team. Of the six newcomers, three are first-year students.
• Sophomore Gabrielle Johnson has been coming into her own lately. In the tough five-set loss to San Francisco, she had 17 kills and swung at a .433 clip. She also had two service aces in the game and eight total blocks, giving her a season-high 24 points in the game. Her 16 blocks last week now have her leading the OVC in blocks per set (1.23). She had the most blocks in a three-set match in the OVC this season with her six-block effort against UC Santa Barbara.
• Three other Tigers had double-figure kills in the San Francisco match. (
• Junior setter Hennesys Lalane had a breakout game in the five-set loss to San Francisco. Her 48 assists helped to support the four Tigers with double figures in kills.

 
SCOUTING THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS:

• This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
• The 2023 campaign marks the final season for the Tritons in the NCAA-mandated Division I reclassifying period.
• This is the second game in a row against a team from the Big West Conference.
• Last season, junior outside hitter Ava McInnes led the Big West in both kills (3.81 k/s) and points (4.35 p/s). So far this season, she ranks first in points (4.60 per set) and kills (3.68 per set) and second in aces (0.52 per set).
• Junior outside hitter Emily McDaniel has received several accolades early on this season, including Bulldog Brawl All-Tournament Team (August 26), Best West Defensive Player of the Week (August 28), Gonzaga Tournament All-Tournament Team (September 2), and UCU Athlete of the Week (September 4).

 
SCOUTING JACKSON STATE:

• This will be the first meeting between the two HBCU teams.
• JSU was picked to finish third in the SWAC Preseason Poll.
• Alexis Williams and Jordan Jones were named to the SWAC Preseason Team.
• Freshman Hope Briggs has won the SWAC Newcomer of the Week for two consecutive weeks.

 
 
SCOUTING BELMONT:

• Belmont leads the series against TSU 11-10. The Tigers won the contest last season at Kean Hall in straight sets.
• Senior libero Rachel McBride leads the backcourt after finishing the 2022 season ninth in the MVC for total digs (451) and digs per set (3.82).
• Last season, senior middle blocker Kristen Clemons led the MVC in total kills and kills per set for middle blockers.
• Senior outside hitter Laura Shoopman recorded 20 plus kills in six matches last season and finished eighth in the conference for total kills (389).

 
Up Next:
The Tigers will open the OVC portion in the schedule when they travel to play Tennessee Tech in a two-game series on September 22 and 23.