Tigers Win 2nd Straight After Road Win At Southern

BATON ROUGE, La. – The TSU women’s volleyball team put together its first winning streak of the season after a thrilling 3-1 win over Southern on Monday night.
 
TSU battled back from a 12-8 set one deficit with an 11-7 surge to flip the lead as they led 19-15 after a team effort which featured two of three aces from Kaitlyn Scroggins. Southern added two points to draw within 19-17 but a Kourtni Collier block and a Thalia Cordero Moreno kill ended the run as TSU led 22-17. SU would only score twice the rest of the way as TSU closed out set one 25-19.
 
TSU led 6-5 to open set two but Southern answered with a 9-0 run to jump out to a 14-6 lead. Cordero Moreno answered with a kill and an ace to spark a TSU run which also saw Danielle Lilley add three kills to get within 15-13. Southern would score four of the next five points for a 19-14 advantage but TSU refused to go away as the Tigers found themselves down 23-22 after an 8-4 run. Both teams traded points after the run but SU scored two straight kills to win set two 25-22.
 
TSU would lead set three from start to finish and played solid defense despite several late SU charges which saw them draw within two points on several occasions. Ahead 18-16, TSU closed the deal with a 7-1 run to win 25-17.
 
Set four was a thriller from start to finish as there were five early lead changes but TSU jumped in front after a 5-5 tie and managed to hold on to the lead for majority of the game despite three ties.
 
A kill by Collier broke a 21-all tie as TSU went ahead 22-21 but SU added two points to regain its first lead since the beginning of the set as they led 23-22. Lilley’s kill would tie the set at 23-all but the team was in danger of a going into a fifth and deciding set after an SU kill. Lilley kept up the momentum with a game-tying kill to force deuce point and an SU ball-handling error moved them ahead 25-24. However, SU answered with two straight to move back on top 26-25 but Janiya Chapman and Cordero Moreno added two straight points to give the lead back to TSU at 27-26.
 
A TSU service error allowed SU to tie the match but the Tigers returned the favor as they forced two straight SU errors to win 29-27.
 
Lilley had 14 kills followed by 11 from Cordero Moreno and nine from Chapman. Lilley also had four aces while Chenise Cook added four blocks followed by three from Lilley. Dallas Balanay Flores had 33 assists while Scroggins finished 17 dogs and 16 from Cordero Moreno.
 
TSU is back in action on Monday, Oct. 24 against Prairie View A&M. Due to the ongoing renovation of the gym floor inside the H&PE Arena, the match will be played inside Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston. The facility is located at 2020 Mangum Road which is at the corner of Highway 290 and Loop 610. Next Monday is also Pink Night and Alumni Night for the program.