JACKSON, Miss. – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University snapped a three-match losing streak at a most opportune time Friday as the opened the postseason Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament with a four-set win over Southern.
Scores of the match were 25-22, 26-24, 19-25, and 25-21.
The Lady Tigers (15-12), the No. 3-seeded team in the tournament, will face No. 7-seed Prairie View A&M in the semifinal round Saturday at 3 p.m. at Jackson State University's Athletic Assembly Center. Southern ended its season with record of 8-21.
Cassidy Jannson led the Lady Tigers with 11 kills, followed by Nicole Robinson and Eboni Mitchell, who knocked down nine kills apiece. Robinson was also in on five total blocks.
Erin Adams and Valencia Grayson led the TSU defensive effort with 15 digs and 12 digs, respectively. Senior setter Ellena Torres led the Lady Tigers with 25 assists.
Shelby Jolly's 15 kills led four Southern players reaching double-figures.
SET ONE
The Lady Tigers scored six unanswered points early in the match to build a 9-4 lead. TSU's lead was not seriously threatened until the end of the set, when Southern rallied for five unanswered points to trim the deficit to 23-20.
The teams exchanged points until Kirby Anderson finished the set with a kill off a pass from Asia Howard. Jannson hit .714 and while putting away five kills in the opening set.
SET TWO
The momentum swung heavily in both directions as the Lady Tigers built a 14-8 prior to Southern scoring 16 of the next 20 points to reach set point at 24-18. After a service error and a kill by Mitchell, Southern ceded the next four points on attack errors; two of those errors came on assisted blocks by Anderson.
After tying the set, the momentum continued for the Lady Tigers as Torres served an ace to set up TSU's set point. TSU then won the set on another point by Anderson, completing a run of eight consecutive points.
SET THREE
A 5-0 Southern run toward the end of the set stretched the Jaguars' lead to 22-14. This time, Southern would not squander its advantage as the No. 6-seeded team prevented a TSU sweep.
SET FOUR
The two teams went back-and-forth and exchanged leads until TSU scored three consecutive points after a timeout to take an 18-15 lead. Nia Stone put away a kill and posted one of her four blocks in the match during that run. The lead proved to be just enough of an advantage to keep the Jaguars at bay until Mitchell and Anderson put away kills for two of the last three points of the set.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics
Scores of the match were 25-22, 26-24, 19-25, and 25-21.
The Lady Tigers (15-12), the No. 3-seeded team in the tournament, will face No. 7-seed Prairie View A&M in the semifinal round Saturday at 3 p.m. at Jackson State University's Athletic Assembly Center. Southern ended its season with record of 8-21.
Cassidy Jannson led the Lady Tigers with 11 kills, followed by Nicole Robinson and Eboni Mitchell, who knocked down nine kills apiece. Robinson was also in on five total blocks.
Erin Adams and Valencia Grayson led the TSU defensive effort with 15 digs and 12 digs, respectively. Senior setter Ellena Torres led the Lady Tigers with 25 assists.
Shelby Jolly's 15 kills led four Southern players reaching double-figures.
SET ONE
The Lady Tigers scored six unanswered points early in the match to build a 9-4 lead. TSU's lead was not seriously threatened until the end of the set, when Southern rallied for five unanswered points to trim the deficit to 23-20.
The teams exchanged points until Kirby Anderson finished the set with a kill off a pass from Asia Howard. Jannson hit .714 and while putting away five kills in the opening set.
SET TWO
The momentum swung heavily in both directions as the Lady Tigers built a 14-8 prior to Southern scoring 16 of the next 20 points to reach set point at 24-18. After a service error and a kill by Mitchell, Southern ceded the next four points on attack errors; two of those errors came on assisted blocks by Anderson.
After tying the set, the momentum continued for the Lady Tigers as Torres served an ace to set up TSU's set point. TSU then won the set on another point by Anderson, completing a run of eight consecutive points.
SET THREE
A 5-0 Southern run toward the end of the set stretched the Jaguars' lead to 22-14. This time, Southern would not squander its advantage as the No. 6-seeded team prevented a TSU sweep.
SET FOUR
The two teams went back-and-forth and exchanged leads until TSU scored three consecutive points after a timeout to take an 18-15 lead. Nia Stone put away a kill and posted one of her four blocks in the match during that run. The lead proved to be just enough of an advantage to keep the Jaguars at bay until Mitchell and Anderson put away kills for two of the last three points of the set.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics