LORMAN, Miss. - The Alcorn State University volleyball program wraps up the week in Nashville, Tenn. as the Lady Braves compete in the Tennessee State Tournament.
"Going into this weekend is more of an energy boost for us, just getting us back to where we started," said head coach Chelsey Nicholas. "I'm looking for us to go up there and play good volleyball and be competitive. I think against Northwestern we got away from that and didn't focus on the details. So going into this weekend we need to stick to our game plan and stick to high intensity. The small things will help us capitalize on the big things."
Tennessee State | Sept. 1 | 12 p.m.
TSU (1-3) earned its lone victory 3-2 over USC Upstate on Aug. 26 and is coming off a straight-set loss to No. 24 Western Kentucky on Tuesday. Julia Pierson and Rachel Henderson lead the team on offense with 39 and 34 kills respectively. Curstyn Wilson has five aces, while Samantha Beltran has 121 assists. On defense, Cherlie Adorno-DeJesus enters the tourney with 69 digs. Henderson and Pierson have combined for 23 blocks.
The Lady Tigers were picked to finish eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll, with Pierson receiving All-Preseason Team honors. The team went 17-16 last season, including an 8-8 mark in conference play, and has seven returners with six newcomers. TSU leads the all-time series 2-0.
Florida International | Sept. 1 | 4 p.m.
FIU (0-3) is looking for its first win of the season and fell to IUPUI 3-2 last Saturday. Margherita Bianchin leads the attack with 35 kills and an ace. She is followed by Taija Thomas' 33 kills and four aces. Molly Feldmeth has 91 assists on the season. Defensively, Sheyanne Sullivan owns 47 digs and Mariana De Paula Silva has a team-high 12 blocks.
The Panthers went 9-19 in 2016 and were selected 10th in the Conference-USA Preseason Poll. Friday's match is the first meeting between the two programs.
New Orleans | Sept. 2 | 12 p.m.
Saturday marks the second meeting between the two programs this season, with UNO sporting a 2-1 mark heading into the tournament. The Privateers bested Alcorn in straight sets to open the UNO Invitational on Aug. 25. Lane Hindenburg and Kaitlyn Grice, who was named to the UNO All-Tourney team, led the Privateers with seven kills each. Grice added seven blocks to her total, while Andrea Nava recorded 11 digs.
Fans can find live stats of the action at the tournament home page here.
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