Volleyball Falls Twice In SWAC Cluster Opener On Sunday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – TSU dropped a pair of 3-1 volleyball matches to Alabama State and Jackson State on the first day of the 2022 SWAC Cluster on the campus of Alabama State.
 
ALABAMA STATE 3, TSU 1
 
ASU claimed a 12-3 lead to start set one which TSU would never recover from as they fell 25-12. Set two saw TSU claim an early 4-2 lead but ASU went on a 5-0 run to lead 7-4 and eventually pushed its lead to 13-8. A Janiya Chapman kill followed by a TSU block assist and ASU error closed the gap to 13-11 but ASU answered with four of the next five points scored to lead 17-12. The deficit grew to 19-14 until TSU woke up as Jada Hall added two kills en route to an 11-4 surge which turned the set back in TSU’s favor as they won 25-23.
 
TSU took the momentum gained and led 5-2 to begin set three and eventually led 8-6 but ASU went on a 10-3 surge to lead 16-11. TSU closed the gap to 18-14 after a Brea Rutledge and Kourtni Collier assisted block but ASU scored four straight for a 22-14 lead. TSU fought back with a 6-2 run to trail 24-20 but ASU closed out the set with a point for the 25-20 win.
 
Set three was tied 6-6 until ASU answered with an 8-1 run to lead 14-7. It took a team effort for TSU to fight back as they closed the gap to 18-17. TSU stayed within two over the next few plays but ASU scored the final three points to win the match.
 
Danielle Lilley had eight kills, two aces and five digs to lead TSU while Alaiyah Fields had 12 assists and six digs.
 
JACKSON STATE 3, TSU 1
 
Set one was hard-fought as TSU and JSU was neck-and-neck but JSU scored four of the final five points to win 25-20.
 
TSU was on the verge of breaking away in set two as they went on a 3-0 run to claim a 17-14 lead as Danielle Lilley had two kills. JSU would tie the set at 17-all but Lilley had a kill to move TSU ahead 18-17. Brea Rutledge recorded a kill for a 19-18 TSU lead but three errors led to a 7-0 JSU run as they won 25-19.
 
Set three was tied at 10-all but TSU became the aggressor as they went on an 11-1 run to lead 20-11. JSU refused to back down as they fought back with an 8-4 surge to draw within 23-19 but Jada Hall logged a big kill to lead 24-19 as TSU would hold on 25-20.
 
TSU battled back from a 10-4 deficit to close within 15-11 but JSU scored five straight to lead 20-11. TSU scored three straight for a 20-14 margin but couldn’t overcome the deficit as JSU closed out the match 25-17.
 
Lilley had 13 kills, three aces and two blocks for TSU while Thalia Cordero Moreno had 11 kills, three aces and 12 digs. Chenise Cook added four blocks while Dallas Balanay-Flores finished with 31 assists.
 
TSU will close out cluster play against Bethune-Cookman at 9 a.m. Monday.