EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (8-18, OVC 3-11) struggle to bounce back after dropping a riveting first set, falling in three sets against Tennessee State University (8-18, OVC 3-11) on senior night (28-30, 23-25, 20-25).  
 
USI drops to tenth place in the Ohio Valley Conference after the Tigers swept the Eagles, leaping into ninth place. The Eagles will likely need to win out their final four matches or win three and receive some help from around the league.
 
Set 1: TSU 30, USI 28
Sophomore Ashby Willis and senior Paris Downing traded kills with seven combined building an early 15-12 lead. Sophomore Leah Coleman helped extend the lead to 18-14 with two emphatic kills. The Tigers roared back with five straight points taking a one point lead. Both squads traded points as USI gained the 28-27 lead before TSU scored three straight points to steal set one from the Eagles. USI's struggles in the first set continue with 21 first set losses.
 
Set 2: TSU 23, USI 25 
Both teams traded blows in set two as junior Bianca Anderson gave the Eagles a spark with three early kills. Downing swatted her sixth kill as the Eagles tied the match at nine. USI built a 15-13 lead after hitting .400 heading into the media timeout. Senior Jasmine Green delivered a crucial finesse kills as the Tigers call a timeout down 19-16. Senior Abby Weber continues to have success on the serve line sparking a five-point Eagle run with the service ace as USI led 21-16. TSU roared back to tie the match off two costly Eagle attacking errors. USI failed to stop the bleeding losing the final seven points, falling two sets behind. The difference in the set statistically revealed ten errors from the Eagles and only three from the Tigers.

Set 3: TSU 25, USI 20
Tennessee State carried their momentum snatching seven of the first eight points. Anderson used a slide to the stop the bleeding momentarily. However, TSU continued to have success building a 13-4 lead. Green scorched six set kills bring the Eagles back within four points at a 23-19 deficit. The Tennessee State early lead proved to be too much to handle winning the match in a sweep.

Green led the Eagles 13 kills, while Sobieralski racked up 40 assists. Sobieralski also led the Eagles in digs with 20, while junior Keira Moore trailed behind with 17. Downing finished with three blocks.
 
As a team, USI finished with 49 kills, 48 assists, 64 digs, one aces, four blocks, and a .169 attacking percentage. The Tigers earned 43 kills, 39 assists, 55 digs, four aces, 13 blocks, and a .226 hitting percentage.
 
Next up for the Eagles
USI travels to Tennessee Tech University next Thursday and Friday for another conference series.