Volleyball Takes Down Tennessee State in Five-Set Thriller

Joe Pecoraro

November 8, 2021 11:17 AM November 8, 2021 11:24 AM

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NASHVILLE - The Cougars closed out their longest conference road trip of the season in style on Saturday afternoon, claiming a 3-2 win over the Tennessee State Tigers (26-24, 25-20, 15-25, 22-25, 15-9).

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The Cougars started off in commanding fashion, holding the Tigers to a match-low hitting percentage of .026 in the opening set and helping the Red & White claim a 26-24 first frame win. SIUE carried its momentum into the second set, hitting at an outstanding .438 clip en route to the Cougars' largest margin of victory of the match in a 25-20 win. The Tigers would not go down without a fight, demonstrating the strong attacking and defensive efforts to win the third and fourth sets and push the match to a decisive fifth set. The Cougars, who had last won a five-set match in their 3-2 non-conference win against Eastern Kentucky, were determined to snap their losing streak - and that's exactly what they did, pulling away from TSU late and claiming a 15-9 fifth set win.

SIUE was led by Annie Ellis, who registered a season-high 20 kills on the day and hit at a team-best .385 clip. Savannah Christian was not too far behind, recording 18 kills of her own and adding a pair of digs. Alyse Drifka led all players with 31 assists, followed closely by true freshman Grace Beekman with 24. Nicole Kijowski notched 17 digs, while Grace Hurst added 10.

"Two big keys were managing our attack errors and earning first ball kills," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus following the win. "We had one of our best serve receive days which allows for us to point score fast. I can't say enough about our passing today. Annie [Ellis] and Savannah [Christian] both had great attacking nights. We thought our setters did a great job of managing distribution and staying balanced."

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The Cougars, which improve to 6-21 and 3-13 in OVC play, will return to action in their final regular-season series of 2021 when they welcome the Murray State Racers to First Community Arena.

SIUE Drops Match To Tennessee State

NASHVILLE - SIUE volleyball dropped a straight-set decision at Tennessee State on Friday night (19-25, 16-25, 14-25).

The Cougars aimed to spoil the Tigers' senior night in a match with major postseason implications, but a potent attacking effort from TSU through the entire match proved too much for the Red & White to overcome, allowing the Tigers to hit .500 in both opening frames before holding them to a .314 clip in the third set.

"Tonight was tough," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus following the match. "We never got into any rhythm offensively and it carried over to defense. TSU played a great match - they were extremely low error and aggressive when out of system. We lost all the small points and plays at the net, and we know if we can't get kills fast we have to be great in those situations. Those points hurt us."

Julia Treichel led the Cougars with nine kills and three digs, followed by Annie Ellis and Savannah Christian with five to their credit. Alyse Drifka led the Red & White with 19 assists, while Nicole Kijowski recorded a team-best nine digs on the night.

The Cougars will finish out the series with Tennessee State tomorrow at 2 p.m. in a match that will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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