Tennessee State Falls in Three to Morehead State

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State volleyball team dropped its first conference match to the Morehead Eagles, 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20), Saturday afternoon in Kean Hall.

MSU forces TSU out of its second ranking in the Ohio Valley Conference, as the teams are tied at 5-1 in the league, but the Eagles outpace the Tigers with a 14-5 overall record, as compared to Big Blue's 7-10 overall record. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Julia Pierson led the match with 14 kills on a .379 hitting percentage.
• Laken Te’o recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 31 assists and 11 digs.
• Three Tigers summed two total blocks; Rachel Henderson, 2 assists; JoJo Kruize, 2 assists; Pierson, 2 assists.
• Morehead State finished with five aces, three from setter, Chandler Clark.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Eagles pulled ahead late in the set, leading the Tigers by as much as six. Hawaiian natives, Laken Te’o and JoJo Kruize connected for three kills to put Big Blue within reach of a first set victory. A six-point run spearheaded by two kills and a block assisted by Kruize  and Rachel Henderson. The comeback was not enough to win the set as Morehead State’s leading scorer Jessie Wachtman went up for an Eagle kill and twenty-fifth point. TSU drops the first set, 25-23.

 The momentum TSU brought in the final points of the first set, kicked off the second with a five unanswered Tiger points. Big Blue went up 8-1. The Tigers led for much of the set, with the Eagles slowly gaining momentum. The blue and white sat two-points over MSU before Morehead went on a six-point run to end the set, 25-22.

Entering the final set, the Eagles had recorded zero blocks. Something switched as MSU finished the match with six team blocks, keeping the Tigers’ hitting percentage to only .054. Pierson was the go-to hitter for Big Blue as she scored eight kills on 13 attempts with only three errors. Her efforts were not enough as the Eagles took set three, 25-20.

MATCH NOTES

• TSU is now 13-49 in the all-time series against Morehead State.
• The Eagles improve to 5-1 in OVC and rise to second in the conference, as TSU suffers its first conference loss and is now 5-1 in the OVC, 7-10 overall.

UP NEXT

The Tigers are back in action next weekend as they host Murray State on Friday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m., followed by a match Saturday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. against the conference leader Austin Peay.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY TIGERS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS