MS athletics recap for August 22-28

Wednesday night was a great official start to the seventh and eighth grade volleyball season. The third set took an all around effort from the entire team. After going back and forth with FRA to 7, the Tigers rallied and pushed through with a 15-9 victory, winning the game 2 sets to 1.
Tennis
MS Boys Tennis kicked off their season with a win against BGA, led by our seventh graders.  Lucas Muñoz and Sparsh Shah won their singles match and Alby Murray and Aarav Lanakala won in doubles. Exhibition wins included Asher Armstrong, Hugh Smallman and Paxton Vogt/Zaid Umatiya. 

Kicking off their HVAC league play later in the week, MS Boys Tennis swept Franklin Road Academy.  Eighth graders Neel Kodali, Teddy Sauer and Gray Ezell won in singles and Walker Hughey/Samuel Younger and Lucas Lupu/Caldwell Adams won in doubles. The boys head to Montgomery Bell Academy on Thursday before returning home next Monday for an HVAC matchup with Grace Christian Academy.

On the girls tennis side, excited Tigers were warmed up and ready for action at our courts. The Franklin Road Academy Panthers arrived with confidence and a successful reputation but soon, they found out that our Tigers were hungry for a win and ready to pounce! Audrey, Ekat, and Olivia stepped up to play singles and captured three points for USN. Doubles partners Charlotte and Adella played hard but were denied victory. Doubles Divas Vivi and Sofia capped off a strong win at line 2 doubles! What a way to kick off our 2026 Tiger Season! We host Grassland on Friday, August 28 at River Campus.

Volleyball
 
Sixth grade volleyball
The sixth grade B team had an electric first match win against St. Paul Christian Academy.

USN won the first set 25-18 behind Anisha Shimpi's '33 seven aces and one kill each from Anisha Shimpi '33, Beste Erdemir '33, Lola Lentz '33, and June Bird '33! In the second set, despite a strong collective effort with eight team aces, the Tigers fell short and weren't able to consistently pass to their setter leading to a 15-25 loss. 

Onto the fun, pressure-filled third set. Anisha Shimpi '33 again led the team with three aces at the start of the set, giving the Tigers a boost in confidence, which led to more communication, more hustle, and more cheers! Riding that wave of energy the Tigers won 15-10 resulting in a 2-1 win.

The sixth grade A team fought hard in their first match of the season, but ultimately fell to St. Paul in two sets. The first set was full of three touch rallies, kills, diving plays, hustle plays, and more. Players and fans were out of their seats in anticipation and excitement! Tennyson James '33 led the team three kills and Ali Small '33 added her own three aces. However, St. Paul's service beat UNS's serve receive and the Tigers fell 23-25.

In the second set, St. Paul's hard serving made it tough for the Tigers to pass to target, which limited their offense. The Tigers were only able to earn two aces from Piper Booth '33 and Juliette Long '33, and three kills, two from Tennyson James '33 and one from Piper Booth '33. In the end St. Paul's relentless serving and the small mistakes from the Tigers added up to St. Paul's victory 19-25. 

Though they faced a loss, it's clear this team can go far and do very well with the team they have. Keep an eye out on how they grow and come together through adversity. It's only going to get more exciting from here! Go Tigers, you got it next time!

Later in the week, the young sixth grade Tigers showed a lot of composure and hustle against the Franklin Road Academy Panthers. The Tigers dominated the first set due to Stella Luecke '33 and Vivi Rivera '33 each earning four aces and capitalizing on FRA's service errors. The set ended 25-9.

In the second set, FRA fought hard, but the Tigers saw more success with their passing and hitting. Stella Luecke '33, Anisha Shimpi '33, and Lola Lentz '33 each earned a kill, and Tigers were able to control the pace of play with three touch volleyball! It also helped that the team had seven aces, four of them from Beste Erdemir '33. The Tigers ended the set 25-14!

It was a great match and super cool to see the players in different positions, playing different roles. Their collective serving is keeping the Tigers in their games, but it's the little things like communication, athletic feet, and good team work that has them finishing the games with a "W"! Keep it up Tigers! See you in Cheek Gym Friday August 28 at 4:00 pm against Battle Ground Academy!

The sixth grade A team Tigers battled hard versus the FRA Panthers, but in the end lost in three sets.

In the first set, the Tigers weren't able to pass to target accurately, stunting the execution of their offense, and they struggled from the service line. The Tigers finished the first set with two aces from Maggie Jansen '33 and Ali Small '33 and two kills from Madi Howard '33 and Tennyson James '33. While the Tigers lost 17-25, they were now warmed up and ready to push for a win in the second set.

In the second set, the Tigers were able to control the tempo and pace for most of the time. Tennyson James '33 racked up three more kills, and Juliette Long '33 had three aces and added her own kill. But FRA capitalized on USN's serving woes and almost made a last minute push for the win. But the Tigers were able to hold on and force set three with a 25-23 win!

In a stressful and pressure filled set three, the Tigers battled hard, but ultimately fell to fatigue and communication errors. Tennyson James '33 led the way with two kills and one ace, Juliette Long '33 added her own ace, and Charlotte Wolf '33 had some fantastic digs that kept the team in the game and inspired her teammates to keep fighting. In a disappointing loss the Tigers ended the set 11-15.

It was a tough second match, but it's early on in the season and it's clear this team has tons of skill. It's up to the team and coaches to work together to get everyone on the same page and push in the same direction possession after possession and chase a higher level of consistency. You got this, Tigers!

Come support these young Tigers in the Cheek Gym Friday August 28 at 5:00 p.m. against Battle Ground Academy!
 
Seventh and eighth grade volleyball
Wednesday night was a great official start to the seventh and eighth grade volleyball season. The girls had great energy and won the first set with a commanding score of 25-10.  Our free swinging powerful attacks from Clem, Anna, Lauren and London got us off to a great start.

Franklin Road Academy regrouped in the second set and took the second set 16-25.  The Tigers struggled with our servers and serve receive.  FRA got an early lead and didn't relinquish it.

In the third and tie-breaking set, the Tigers showed a great deal of resilience.  The third set took an all around effort from the entire team.  Blocks and tips from Lauren and Clem, nice footwork and tight setting from Kelliana, attacking from London, Ayanna, and Anna, and incredible back row defense from Kate, Emma and CeCe. The back row defense got to work and kept rallies going and put Kelliana and the rest of the offense in good position to finish out the game. After going back and forth with FRA to 7, the Tigers rallied and pushed through with a 15-9 victory, winning the game 2 sets to 1.
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Nashville, TN 37212

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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.