University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Alabama
LADY VOLS CLINCH SECOND SEED WITH OUTSTANDING HITTING PERFORMANCE
November 11, 2005 | Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2005
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - With its best offensive performance of the season, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (18-7, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) swept Alabama (21-7, 9-6 SEC), 30-22, 30-24, 30-25, to clinch the second seed for next week's SEC Tournament. The Lady Vols earned its highest hitting percentage of the season in tonight's contest at .467 (56-7-105).
The Big Orange was led in that category by senior middle blocker Kristen Andre (Kelseyville, Calif.), who set a career high at .800 (8-0-10). Also performing at a high level offensively were senior outside hitter Amy Morris (Michigan City, Ind.), who hit .500 (16-1-30), tying for the second-highest hitting percentage earned in her career, and senior middle blocker Sarah Blum (Tulsa, Okla.), who hit .500 as well (11-1-20). Freshman outside hitter Mindy Flynn (Louisville, Ky.) hit at a career-high .467 clip (8-1-15), while junior outside hitter Kelsey Fautsch (Chisago Lakes, Minn.) hit .308 (12-4-26).
Kill leaders in the contest included Morris (16), Fautsch (12), Blum (11) and Andre (8), while Flynn set a new career mark with eight herself.
"After losing to them down there (3-1 on Oct. 16), we wanted to get revenge and you cannot just go out there and make unforced errors," Blum said. "We played smart volleyball tonight; we didn't hit right into the block. After watching film, we knew that there was going to be a big block and we just had to be smart about it. If there was a hole, we tipped middle.
Setting up the Lady Vols up for their outstanding hitting performance was senior setter Julie Knytych (LaGrange Park, Ill.), who had 50 assists (16.67/game) in the contest.
Defensively, junior libero Annie Sadowski (Wheaton, Ill.) set the pace with 16 digs, while Morris tallied 11 herself to earn her fourth double-double of the season. On the blocking section of the stat sheet, the Lady Vols were held to their lowest team output of the season (four), but did not allow the Crimson Tide to match that total as UA had three.
"I was really happy with our serve receive tonight," Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "Jasmine (Fullove) was back there, Amy (Morris) was hitting and passing at the same time and Kelsey (Fautsch) stayed in the back row and passed, so we had two new players passing and a third who normally plays libero hitting. I've been telling the team from the beginning of the year that we have 15 players who can play. It has been really evident, especially in the last week, as players have been moved around and have stepped up and done a great job. I cannot say enough about Kelsey's play because she took on a huge added responsibility of playing back row and playing a new hitting position (outside instead of right side) and elevated her game in both areas. I'm real happy for her.
"The second reason we hit at such a high percentage was Julie (Knytych). The location of her sets was the best all year. She not only got the ball to the right person, but got the ball in a perfect spot for that hitter. She did a fantastic job.
The first game was extremely close early as the first two-point lead was Tennessee's at 8-6 after the Lady Vols earned their first advantage with three straight points. The lead would not rise above four until 23-18 and the biggest advantage of eight came both at 29-21 and the final score of 30-22.
Tennessee came out on fire in the second game and took a dominating 12-3 lead. The advantage fluctuated from 5-10 points until the Crimson Tide cut it to four (22-18) and three (22-19) on the strength of a 4-0 run. That was as close as it would get as Tennessee pulled away for the 30-2r win.
Alabama took early advantages in the third game, reaching as high as three at 8-5, before Tennessee rallied back for its first lead of 10-9. That advantage would not rise by a significant amount until a 5-0 run earned the Big Orange a 24-17 edge. That would be UT's largest lead of the game and the Lady Vols coasted in for the 30-25 win.
Tennessee will honor its five seniors, who comprise the winningest class in Lady Vol volleyball history, prior to Sunday's contest with Auburn (11-14, 4-12 SEC). Those include Andre, Fullove, middle blocker Heather Harrington (Pasadena, Texas), Knytych and Morris. Following that contest, the Big Orange will play seventh-seeded Mississippi State (15-10, 6-9 SEC) next Friday in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal match-up in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
