USI’s Senior Day spoiled by Tennessee State USI falls to TSU, 3-2

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-25, 1-14 OVC) held a 2-0 match lead before Tennessee State University (14-15, 8-8 OVC) stormed back and defeated the Screaming Eagles, 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 7-15), Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. This was the final home match of the season for USI.
 
The Eagles kicked off the match with a 25-22 opening-set win. TSU found itself up 3-0 to start the frame before a quick 4-0 run from USI turned the tables. Junior outside/right side hitter/setter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) was able to start the stint with a kill before sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) finished it with a kill. The Lady Tigers fired back with three straight points to make it 6-4. Down 8-6, USI put on another 4-0 run that gave the Eagles the 10-8 advantage until TSU turned around and put up five of the next six points to regain the lead. With the set tied at 15, the Lady Tigers tallied four straight points before USI recorded seven of the next eight points to hold onto a 22-20 lead with four of the seven points coming from kills. The Eagles ended the set with a 3-0 stint off three straight Lady Tigers’ errors to give USI its first win of the match. The Eagles put up a match-best 16 kills and two errors with a .255 hitting percentage.
 
An early USI lead gave the Eagles the 25-18 victory and a 2-0 match lead. USI went on an early surge to begin the set, going up 9-4. The Eagles were able to put up three more with the help of a kill from sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) to double up TSU, 12-6. USI finished the set by securing eight of the final 12 points to win the set and take the 2-0 match lead. Downing was able to nab two kills in the final stint.  
 
The third set found USI in a 25-22 deficit and gave TSU their first win of the match. The Lady Tigers held onto the lead the entire game after jumping out to an 11-6 lead. USI was able to get back into it after a pair of TSU mistakes and a kill from sophomore middle blocker Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana) to cut the make it 15-12. Before the Eagles knew it, the Lady Tigers had a 21-15 advantage and ended the set with the win despite USI scoring seven of the last 11 points.
 
Late surges from the Lady Tigers put the Eagles on their heels and gave TSU the 26-24 fourth-set win. Down 6-3, USI was able to tack on three straight points after two TSU attack errors and a kill from junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) to tie the set at six apiece. The Lady Tigers pushed forward and broke out a 17-12 gap on the Eagles. USI retaliated with a massive 8-1 run that gave them a 20-18 advantage. Sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indianapolis) and Anderson recorded two kills and an ace each during the stint. However, TSU came back and took down USI in extra rallies to tie the match at two. In the final portion of the fourth, the Eagles could only tally four points compared to the Lady Tigers’ eight.
 
TSU brought the energy in the final frame, winning the set 15-7 to complete the comeback over USI. The set started with a quick 8-1 run by the Lady Tigers before a Bednar kill stopped the surge momentarily until TSU tacked on a couple more points to make it 10-2. Another Bednar kill was the only offense that USI got out of the final frame as the Lady Tigers stormed back against the Eagles to win the match.
 
Three Eagles earned double-doubles in the match with Anderson leading the group with 20 kills, three aces, and a season-high 18 digs. Bednar secured 14 kills and 13 digs while Sobieralski nabbed a career-high 47 assists and 14 digs. Also performing well was Downing who added 12 kills and six digs. O’Neill led the team with four blocks. One note about the match is that senior manager Sabrina Yamashita (Evansville, Indiana) was activated and able to play in all five sets in her final home match of the season as an Eagle.
 
USI produced 55 kills, 51 assists, and a match-high six aces with 72 digs and six blocks. TSU ended the night with 69 kills, 65 assists, and two aces along with 92 digs and 13 blocks.