COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee State volleyball showed offensive improvement throughout Friday's opening day of the Golden Eagle Invitational, but the Tigers dropped a pair of matches to Green Bay and Austin Peay at the Eblen Center.
TSU (0-5) fell to Green Bay 25-14, 25-18, 25-13 before closing the day with a 25-16, 25-14, 25-18 loss to Austin Peay.
Green Bay 3, Tennessee State 0
Sydney Robinson led the Tennessee State attack in the opener, finishing with 10 kills on 19 attempts and a .421 hitting percentage. Gabrielle Washington added four kills without an error on five swings for an .800 hitting percentage, while Carsyn Stansberry recorded four kills.
The Tigers improved offensively as the match progressed. After hitting .034 in the opening set, TSU increased its percentage to .185 in the second and .200 in the third. Tennessee State finished with 25 kills and a .136 hitting percentage.
Sydni Poston recorded two of TSU's service aces, while Triniti Jackson finished with 13 assists and Italya Carter added seven. Jackson, Robinson, Jordan Imperial and Poston each recorded four digs.
Green Bay hit .379 for the match and finished with 46 kills.
Austin Peay 3, Tennessee State 0
Washington provided one of the Tigers' strongest performances at the net in Friday's second match. The middle blocker finished with six kills on 11 attacks, hitting .364, and contributed five block assists.
Robinson and Wiktoria Jakubik each added seven kills. Jakubik also recorded four block assists, while Robinson served two aces. Jackson directed the offense with 21 assists and added a team-high 12 digs, two block assists and a solo block. Imperial finished with 10 digs.
TSU's defense at the net produced 10 block assists and one solo block. The Tigers also held Austin Peay to a .105 hitting percentage in the third set.
Tennessee State finished the match with 25 kills, 24 assists, 34 digs and three service aces.
Up Next
Tennessee State will close out the Golden Eagle Invitational on Saturday against host Tennessee Tech. First serve is set for 2 p.m. CT.
