HAMMOND, La. – Texas Southern volleyball won its first game in style following a 3-0 sweep over Charlotte in the finale of the Southeastern Showdown on Saturday.
The Lady Tigers controlled the match from the opening set to secure their first victory of the season.
Texas Southern established control early, jumping to a 2-0 lead before Charlotte answered with a pair of points to tie the set at 2-2. The Lady Tigers gradually built their advantage behind kills from Kusnier, Houston, Battle and Harper. A pair of blocks involving Brown and Houston helped Texas Southern move ahead 10-5 before Charlotte trimmed the deficit.
Charlotte battled back and pulled within 16-14 after consecutive service aces, but Texas Southern responded with a kill from Brown and another from Houston.
The Lady Tigers then took command late. Battle helped push TSU ahead 21-16, followed by consecutive Charlotte attack errors and a block involving Harper and Aliyah Spencer that extended the lead to 22-16. Charlotte scored three of the next five points, but Texas Southern reached set point at 24-18. Harper finished the opening set with a kill from Brown to give the Lady Tigers a 25-19 victory.
Charlotte opened the second set with an early 2-0 deficit before battling back to tie the score at 5-5. The teams continued trading points through the middle portion of the set. Texas Southern built a 13-9 advantage, but Charlotte answered with an extended 8-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. Rather than allow the set to slip away, Texas Southern immediately responded.
Houston produced a kill, followed by back-to-back Charlotte attack errors that brought TSU within 17-16. Brown then delivered another kill, and the Lady Tigers eventually tied the set at 18-18. The closing stretch featured several lead changes. Charlotte went ahead 19-18 before Battle tied the score. TSU then moved ahead 20-19 before Charlotte answered. With the set tied at 20-20, Kusnier delivered a kill to give Texas Southern the lead. She followed with another point, and Morales added a service ace to put TSU ahead 22-20. Charlotte tied the set again at 22-22 and moved ahead 23-22, but Texas Southern responded when Kusnier delivered another kill to make it 23-23. St. Junious then provided the decisive finish, recording a kill for set point before following with a service ace to give the Lady Tigers a 25-23 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
Texas Southern opened the third set with a 3-1 advantage and continued to apply pressure. Kills from Houston and Battle helped the Lady Tigers move ahead 6-2 before Charlotte answered with three straight points. TSU maintained its advantage at 9-4, with Harper and Spencer contributing kills, but Charlotte continued to battle. The 10-6 lead became a 13-13 tie after Charlotte produced a 7-1 run behind kills from Mariam Mushkudiani and Milan Cannon. Charlotte eventually moved ahead 17-13, putting Texas Southern in its most difficult position of the match. The Lady Tigers regained the lead at 21-20 and stretched it to 22-20. Charlotte answered to make it 22-22, but TSU responded with another Kusnier kill to tie the score at 23-23.
St. Junious then took over the finish, recording a kill for a 24-23 lead before serving an ace to close out the set 25-23.
Lauren Battle led the offensive attack with 12 kills on 26 attempts while hitting .346. Lacey Kusnier added eight kills and hit a team-best .462, while Emory Harper contributed seven kills and a .267 hitting percentage. Ava Houston added six kills and five blocks, while Aaliyah Brown posted three kills and a match-high seven total blocks, including one solo block and six block assists.
Keagan St. Junious provided a strong all-around performance with 12 digs, two service aces and three points. Kadence Davison recorded 17 assists and a service ace, while Ava Ray added 18 assists and four digs.
TSU is back in action next week at the USF Challenge in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
