Volleyball Fights Hard In Season Opener On Friday

SAN ANTONIO – The Texas Southern volleyball team dropped a pair of back-and-forth contests in their 2023 season opener at the UTSA Invitational on Friday.

UTSA 3, TSU 0
TSU had a pair of close sets but UTSA managed to pull away late in two sets in a 3-0 loss.

Down 9-4 in set one, TSU battled back and tied it at 13-all led by Gracie Hill’s two kills. Both teams went back-and-forth from that point as UTSA jumped ahead 17-16 before pulling away with an 8-3 run to win 25-19.

UTSA led 10-3 in set two but several UTSA errors allowed TSU to creep back as they trailed 11-7. UTSA answered the run with a 5-0 surge and never looked back as they won 25-14. 

In set three, UTSA led 9-5 and pulled its lead to 12-7 before a 9-4 TSU run led by three kills from Kennedy Reed cut the deficit to 16-13. UTSA would answer with two kills for an 18-13 lead followed by a kill from TSU’s Kourtni Collier en route to a 18-14 deficit. UTSA responded with 7-1 run to win the match 25-15.

Chenise Cook led the way with 10 kills followed by nine from Reed. Dallas Balanay-Flores had 12 assists while Ava Ray had 11. Ryan Henderson finished with 10 digs while Briana Raney added nine.

TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 3, TSU 0

Texas A&M-Commerce won the nightcap as they claimed a 3-0 win over TSU.

TAMUC turned a 2-2 tie into a 10-5 lead before TSU responded with a run as Gracie Lee’s two kills sparked a surge which drew TSU to within 10-7. The Tigers kept it close the rest of the set as they drew to within 17-15 as four different players recorded kills. However, the Lions scored four straight for a 21-15 lead as TSU couldn’t get over the hump as they fell 25-18.

TSU came out hot in set two as they managed to claim a 16-15 lead midway through the set. The Lions scored the next two to move ahead but TSU tied it at 17-all after Kennedy Reed’s kill. Unfortunately, the momentum stalled as Texas A&M-Commerce scored eight straight to claim set two 25-17.

TSU led set three 7-2 but the Lions scored four straight points to get back into the set. The back-and-forth set saw TSU take a 12-11 margin but once again, a 6-0 run saw the Lions take control 19-13 as they closed out the match 25-16.

Reed led TSU with 10 kills followed by six from Gracie Lee. Dallas Balanay-Flores and Ava Ray had 12 assists while Ryan Henderson and Reed posted nine and seven digs, respectively.

The tournament concludes with an 11 a.m. match against Missouri State on Saturday.