University of Tennessee Athletics
Win Over Virginia Tech Takes UT Volleyball To New Heights
September 26, 2000 | Volleyball
- Box Score
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team extended its winning streak to six straight matches with a 3-2 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday in the Stokely Athletics Center. The win improves the Lady Vols' record to 12-2, the program's best start since the formation of the women's intercollegiate athletic department at UT.
The Hokies of Virginia Tech gave head coach Rob Patrick's team a rollercoaster of a match, pushing the Orange and White to just their third five-game match of the season.
The two teams came out strong in game one, keeping the match knotted through five points. Then the Big Orange forged ahead 7-5. The Hokies would come back and knot the game once again at eight, before taking the lead and extending it to 11-9. Patrick's squad turned to its most consistent hitter sophomore middle blocker Janelle Hester (Davenport, Iowa/Davenport) to spark some offense. Hester connected with junior setter Erica Lear (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) on three straight points to take the lead. The Orange and White went up, 1-0, in the match, taking the first frame 15-12 behind seven kills form Hester and seven kills from sophomore Kelli Scott (Peoria, Ariz./Peoria). Lear had 23 assists in game one alone.
The second frame saw the Lady Vols pull ahead early, 5-2, before falling behind 5-8. The teams then paced each other, tying at 10. The Hokies took a time-out to regroup and returned to action, taking the next two points. Then it was Patrick's turn to rally his troops, only his time-out did not yield the same results and Tech drew even with UT, taking the second frame, 15-12. Improved hitting from the Hokies sealed the Lady Vols' fate in the second frame as they clipped along at .463.
After the intermission, Patrick's squad came out flat, falling behind 8-0 before registering their first point of the game. A late charge led by an emotional Lear, who connected with junior Stephanie Knight (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) for five kills in the frame, proved to be, too little, too late as the Lady Vols fell behind, 2-1, in the match. Poor hitting sealed the third frame for the Orange and White as a .146 hitting percentage was not enough to overcome the Virginia Tech hot hitters, who were swing away at .380 through three game.
"Erica (Lear) is the heart and soul of the team," Patrick said. "I told her when she came in that the team would not really be playing at their best until she was a captain and she was ready as a freshman or sophomore. This is her team and she and Ariana (Wilson) really spark this team when it gets down."
Co-captains Lear and junior outside hitter Ariana Wilson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) rallied the team in game four as Patrick's squad showed more communication on the court. A more organized UT defense cooled Tech's hitters, as the Hokies' hitting percentage dropped to .163 in the fourth frame. The Big Orange also picked up their offense rebounding from a .146 hitting percentage in game three to hit team-high .361 in the frame. UT evened the tilt at two games apiece with a 15-8 victory, forcing a deciding game five.
In the fifth frame rally scoring was employed and Patrick's squad capitalized on some early Tech miscues to take a 4-0 lead. After two UT attack errors, the Hokies landed two kills to tie the frame at four. The Big Orange would never trail in the game, however Virginia Tech knotted the match at 10 and 11 before Tennessee finished the job, 15-12.
Hester, the SEC Player of the Week, ended up with a career-high 23 kills while Knight added 19. Scott and Wilson were the only other Lady Vols in double-digit kills with 10 and 11 respectively. Lear ended up with 68 assists while freshman Megan Arner (Sonoma, Calif./Sonoma Valley) led the team with 12 digs and junior outside hitter Andrea Peterson (Los Angeles, Calif./Notre Dame Academy) recorded a team-high four service aces.
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers have a couple days off before returning to SEC action in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday. The Orange and White will face the Gamecocks of South Carolina at 2 p.m.
