SAVANNAH, Ga. – After their season opener was postponed due to Hurricane Dorian, the Savannah State Lady Tigers opened the 2019 season Tuesday with a 0-3 loss to The College of Coastal Georgia on their home court at Wilcox Willey Gym.

In a pre-game ceremony, the Lady Tigers honored the recent passing of their fellow teammate Karissa Tatum with a moment of silence. As a tribute to her memory, the team designated a seat on their bench which will remain empty and hold her jersey at each match this year.

Karissa passed away after a car accident on Sept. 4 while evacuating ahead of Hurricane Dorian. Coastal Georgia players brought flowers to the game on Tuesday to honor Karissa and the University of Notre Dame Volleyball family mailed a signed card bestowing their condolences.

In Interim Head Coach  Roselidah Obunaga's opening game, the Lady Tigers looked tough on the net, racking up 9 blocks, but after a tough opening set and two hard fought sets down the stretch, SSU was unable to edge out the win.

After falling 10-25 in the opening set, SSU powered back into the game with a strong second set. Through the first 12 points of the set, SSU and Coastal Georgia battled back and forth keeping an even keel. All tied up at 12, SSU middle hitter Ellana Nellis pinged back-to-back blocks to put the Lady Tigers up 14-12.

Nellis had an outstanding first game, with a team-high 14 digs. She also had 5 kills, 2 service aces, and 3 blocks on the night.

Later in the second set, trailing 15-20, SSU kept the pressure up on Coastal Georgia with two kills from Nellis. Two attack errors from SSU ended the set with Coastal Georgia going up 2-0 behind a 25-20 win.

Towards the end of the third set, a final rally from SSU fell flat. Valeria Aldarondo scored the Lady Tigers' 19^th point on a kill with an assist from De'Antoine Rodriguez.

A service ace from Hannah Williams, a Coastal Georgia error and a kill from Jeilynn Brown with an assist from Destini Williams put SSU within striking distance, at 22-24. But Coastal Georgia's Sam Kepler put down the matches final kill to give the visitors their seventh victory on the season.

Aldarondo led the Lady Tigers in kills with 10, racking up 13 assists, 9 digs and 3 block assists as well. Daniels ended with 2 kills, 11 digs and 4 block assists on the night. SSU outblocked Coastal Georgia 9-4, but tied up in digs with 44 each. Coastal Georgia racked up 39 kills and outpaced SSU in errors with 16.

The Lady Tigers continue the season with a visit to Fort Valley State on Friday for a 7 p.m. match and their first SIAC conference game.