Tennessee State Volleyball Sweeps EIU for 250th Program Win

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State volleyball team defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers 3-0, (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) Saturday afternoon in Kean Hall, marking the 250th win for the program.

The Tigers are now 4-8, 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while EIU sinks to 5-11, 1-1 in the league.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• JUCO transfer JoJo Kruize had a career match, posting 15 kills and five blocks versus EIU.
• The Tigers outperformed EIU in every stat category, registering 45 kills, 44 assists, seven aces, 65 digs and nine blocks.
• Hinalei Fihaki and Rachel Henderson hit above .400, while Julia Pierson and Kruize hit above .300, combining for a team .274.
• Destiny Washington and Gina Rivera Ortiz held down the backcourt with 13 and 23 digs, respectively.
• TSU held the Panthers to a team .045 hitting percentage.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In an effort to start off fast, the Tigers scored nine unanswered points to begin the first set. A combination of kills from Julia Pierson, Rachel Henderson and JoJo Kruize helped TSU in creating the gap that would push the Tigers to record a match-high 21 kills and 28 digs to go up 1-0 versus the Panthers.  

Eastern Illinois stepped on the floor for set two, determined to put up a fight. With six tied scores and four lead changes, EIU forced TSU to produce.  The Tiger defense rejected five of the Panthers’ attacks, with Kruize leading the way recording three block assists, while the back row dug up 20 balls. Te’o contributed two aces to help TSU win set two, 25-18.

Big Blue closed out the match in a set riddled with runs. Kruize put down a kill to start a four-point run. Fihaki posted another kill for TSU’s six-point run, and an EIU service error, followed by a Fihaki and Khalia Jordan block started Big Blue’s last three-point run. In the final play of the match, Te’o set one to Julia Pierson in the backcourt, who finished off the sweep with a final Tiger kill, 25-17.

BOX SCORE

FROM COACH SUTTON

“I think it’s an amazing accomplishment for the program and for the team right now. For myself, I’m honored to be here and have helped accomplish that. I just hope I can be here for the next 250.”
-On the 250th program win

MATCH NOTES

• The win over the Panthers marks the 250th win for the TSU volleyball program.
• TSU improves to 2-0 in conference play, 4-8 overall. The last time the Tigers began conference schedule 2-0 was 2007 – the year TSU won the OVC Championship.
• In the all-time series against EIU, Big Blue is now 11-25.

UP NEXT

TSU hits the road for its first Ohio Valley Conference match away from Kean Hall. The Tigers stop at Jacksonville State for a Friday night match, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., then road trip it back to Cookeville, Tenn. for a match at Tennessee Tech Saturday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS