NASHVILLE --Hennesys Lalane had 40 assists and 13 digs, but it was not enough as the Tennessee State Tiger volleyball team (0-10) suffered a four-set loss (26-24, 22-25, 19-25, 22-25) to the Belmont Bruins Saturday on the road at Curb Event Center.
The Tigers attack was paced by Gabrielle Johnson, who finished with ten kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .368, and Jayla Holcombe, who also had ten. Defensively, two players reached double figures in digs as Celianiz Cabranes had 20 and Lalane's 13. Kennedy Davis contributed ten blocks from the front row, and Lalane added six rejections.
Game Notes
» Hennesys Lalane had a team-high two aces in the loss.
» Kennedy Davis had a match-high ten blocks.
» The Tennessee State front row did a great job defensively, picking up 18 blocks in the match.
» Gabrielle Johnson had a team-high ten kills for Tennessee State.
» Tennessee State got a team-high 20 digs from Celianiz Cabranes.
» Tennessee State attackers were helped by a match-high 40 assists from Hennesys Lalane.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Tigers grabbed control of the set-one lead at 4-3 and held the lead the rest of the way to win 26-24. TSU started fast, going up 14-9 on a Holcombe kill. Johnson was a key to a fast start with three kills and swinging at a .750 clip. Tennessee State led by as many as six points at 17-11, forcing a Belmont timeout. They played excellent on both sides of the net with a .304 hitting percentage while holding the Bruins to -.048. The timeout fueled Belmont as they went on a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 18-17 forcing a Tiger timeout. They then extended the run to tie the set at 18. They went back and forth until TSU finished the set after Belmont forced a deuce situation. TSU got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked five Belmont attacks in the stanza and capitalized on 11 Belmont attacking errors on the way to winning the set.
SET 2 | TSU lost the second set 25-22, tying the match at a set apiece. Belmont jumped in front early but a 6-1 TSU run gave the Tigers a 9-7 advantage, forcing the Bruins to call timeout. A 4-1 Bruin run gave them a 16-15 lead, forcing a TSU timeout. A second 4-1 run made the score 21-18 Belmont, a lead that the Tigers could not come back from. Davis played well in the set, getting three kills and having a .600 hitting percentage. The Tigers dropped set two despite a solid performance on the attacking end. Tennessee State put together a .310 attack percentage with 13 kills in the set loss.
SET 3 | Tennessee State then lost their second set in a row, falling behind in the match two sets to one. The Tigers lost the first point and never clawed back into the lead before falling in the set 25-19. Belmont took an early 13-2 advantage from which the Tigers couldn't return. The Tigers were able to chip into the lead when Johnson converted on four straight kills to make the score 22-15. They got as close as 23-18 but couldn't get over the hump.
SET 4 | Tennessee State lost set four and the match, falling 25-22. A dominant defensive effort from the front row wasn't enough, as the Tigers lost the set despite racking up nine blocks. An early 3-0 run gave the Tigers a 10-8 lead, forcing the Bruins to take a timeout. TSU looked poised to take the set when a solo block by Aleksandra Rojecka gave her team an 18-14 lead. Belmont got on a roll, going on a 3-1 run, then a 4-1 to go up 22-20. TSU couldn't claw back in it, losing their tenth straight match.
TSU will begin their quest to repeat as OVC champions when they travel to Cookeville, Tennessee, to take on Tennessee Tech on Friday and Saturday.
