JOSH LAKEY | STAFF WRITER

The Tigers hosted their first home game against the College of the Canyon Cougars September 18 to a crowd of 75 attendees which lasted approximately two hours and six minutes.

The Tigers controlled the tempo from the sound of the buzzer in the first set until the close, resulting in the Tigers taking the first lead of the game with a score of 25-18.

The Cougars clawed back, with Lauren Underwood, leading the surge as she led the Cougars in kills with 23.

Underwood got more aggressive against the Tigers defense who gave up a total of 63 kills in the game.

The Tigers were led by Deborah Catanese who had a team high 14 kills and leads the team thus far with 97 kills on the season.

After the first set lead by the Tigers, the Cougars answered back by winning back to back sets, resulting in a score of 22-25 and 23-25. Serena LeDuff contributed a total 17 kills for the Cougars which gave the Cougars a tremendous momentum boost.

In the fifth and final set of the game, the Cougars showed tenacious defense.

The Tigers offense struggled as they only scored six points in the final set. Cassidy Fitzpatrick was especially instrumental committing 17 digs, which also was the highest total number of digs in the game, but not enough and the Tigers fell losing the match 3-2 in five sets.

The Cougars finished the fifth set and the game with a score of 15-6, defeating the Tigers in the first home game of the season.

With a 4-4 record on the season, following the loss against Canyons, the Tigers have a huge task against them to not slip into last place in the OEC with two losses.