Lady Tigers sweep Jackson State, win fifth straight

HOUSTON – The Texas Southern Lady Tigers ran their winning streak to five matches Friday with sweep of visiting Jackson State.
 
Scores of the match were 25-20, 25-16, and 25-13. The match was played at Houston Independent School District's Barnett Fieldhouse as TSU's home venue on campus was unavailable due to Homecoming 2016 festivities.
 
Kali Fluke knocked down nine kills and committed no errors while hitting .474 to lead the hometown Lady Tigers (14-9) to the victory. With the win, TSU improved to 10-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
 
Cassidy Jannson tallied seven kills for TSU, followed by Ashlyn Caldwell's six kills for the home side.
 
TSU's back row was led by Allison Woods, who dug 10 Jackson State attacks. Ellena Torres came off the bench and led the maroon Tigers with 17 assists, followed by Asia Howard's 16 assists.
 
Dayjah Stewart led Jackson State (5-17, 5-5 SWAC) with nine kills. Tamisha Berry chipped in seven kills for the visiting Lady Tigers.
 
After a competitive first set, Texas Southern's front line proved to be too powerful for Jackson State to overcome. Jackson State hit .189 in the first set, but tallied negative hitting percentages in sets two and three, committing 10 errors against eight attacks in each of the final two sets.
 
Nine of the 24 attacking errors committed by Jackson State were the result of blocks by the hometown Lady Tigers. Fluke and Caldwell participated in a total of four blocks apiece, with one of Fluke's blocks coming on a solo effort. Nicole Robinson tallied three blocks (one solo, two assisted) in addition to knocking down four kills.
 
Texas Southern pulled away from Jackson State in set two with a 12-3 run that turned a one-point lead into a 19-9 advantage. Six of those points came on JSU errors.
 
In set three, TSU methodically built a lead that reached seven points during the middle of the set, and then finished the set by scoring eight out of the last nine points to take a 25-13 decision. Howard's served two aces for TSU's last two points of the match.
 
Erin Adams and Audriana Carson also served two aces apiece for TSU's Lady Tigers.
 
Texas Southern's win over Jackson State concluded a stretch of eight consecutive home matches for hometown Lady Tigers. TSU goes on the road for its next five matches before finishing the regular season with home matches on Nov. 14 and 15.
 
TSU returns to play Thursday, Oct. 27 when the Lady Tigers make the drive up U.S. Highway 290 for a road contest at Prairie View A&M. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.