University of Tennessee Athletics
NINTH-RANKED LADY VOLS CLAIM SEASON OPENER, DEFEATS LIPSCOMB
August 27, 2005 | Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2005
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 9 University of Tennessee volleyball team (1-0) got its 2005 campaign off to a positive start, sweeping the Lipscomb Lady Bisons (0-2), 30-11, 30-12, 30-23, on Saturday afternoon. The match marked the Big Orange's initial venture into the city of Nashville and first trip to the central part of the Volunteer State in four seasons.
"I'm happy to get this match out of the way because first matches of the season are always a scary proposition," Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "Usually the team is playing with more emotion than they will as you go along through the season, which leads to more errors than normal. I was very happy with the way we played pretty error-free volleyball the first two games, but I was disappointed in our focus at the beginning of the third game after the break.
"I was happy that we were able to play a variety of people and, when we substituted someone in, the level of the play on the court did not drop at all. I think the team will play more evenly next week now that we've gotten the first-match jitters out of the way. It also will allow us to focus on some of things we still need to improve on."
In each of the first two games, the Lady Vols held commanding 10-5 leads before putting each game away with substantial runs: 13-0 in the first game and 9-0 in the second. The third was a different matter, however, as Lipscomb kept the match close throughout the early going, taking four different two-point leads, the last one at 9-7.
After Lipscomb tied the game at 13, Tennessee went on a 4-0 run for a 17-13 advantage and did not let the lead fall below two the rest of the way. That came when Lipscomb went on a 3-0 run to cut a Big Orange advantage to 23-21, but a 3-0 response by Tennessee brought its lead up to a commanding 26-21 on its way to the 30-23 win.
Last season, the Lady Vols held opponents to a .000 or below hitting percentage on eight occasions and hit higher than .300 themselves 15 times. The 2005 season got off to a similar start as the first two games saw both instances occur. UT hit .375 while holding Lipscomb to -.259 in the first game, and had a .423 hitting percentage and held the Lady Bisons to a -.100 percentage in the second.
A number of Lady Vols contributed to the victory. Senior middle blocker Kristen Andre (Kelseyville, Calif.) hit .556 (6-1-9), junior middle blocker Sarah Blum (Tulsa, Okla.) tallied six blocks and senior outside hitter Amy Morris (Michigan City, Ind.) and junior libero Annie Sadowski (Wheaton, Ill.) tied for the team lead in digs with seven. Sadowski also served two aces on the afternoon.
Leading the Orange and White in kills was sophomore outside hitter Yuliya Stoyanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) with nine. She also tied for second on the team in blocks with five. Junior outside hitter Kelsey Fautsch (Chisago Lakes, Minn.) put away seven balls and hit .385 (7-2-13), the second-highest average on the team. Senior setter Julie Knytych (LaGrange Park, Ill.) tallied 29 assists to go with five blocks.
As a squad, the Lady Vols hit .260 (36-16-77), while recording impressive three-game totals of 30 digs and 14 blocks. Tennessee held Lipscomb to a -.078 hitting percentage in the contest.
Lady Vols making their first appearance on the court included Fautsch, freshman defensive specialist Chelsea Noble (Vandalia, Ohio), freshman outside hitter Mindy Flynn (Louisville, Ky.), freshman outside hitter Milan Clarke (Santa Monica, Calif.) and redshirt freshman defensive specialist Lauren LaFlamme (Byron, Calif.).
The Big Orange last ventured into the central part of the state on Oct. 23, 2001, in a 30-13, 30-24, 23-30, 30-26 win at Middle Tennessee.
Tennessee next takes on Utah (1-0) at 6:30 p.m. CDT on Sept. 3 at the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo. The Lady Vols conclude their tournament play with a contest versus the host and 21st-ranked Missouri (0-0 entering a match with Utah on Friday) at 2 p.m. on Sept. 4. Both the Utes and the Tigers had NCAA Tournament experience last season. Utah was eliminated in the first round and Missouri advanced to the second before being eliminated.
