University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#21 Missouri
NINTH-RANKED LADY VOLS FALL TO NO. 21 MISSOURI
September 04, 2005 | Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2005
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 9 University of Tennessee volleyball team (2-1) fell to 21st-ranked Missouri (2-0), 30-27, 30-23, 30-20, in the final match of the Tiger Invitational on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Vols placed second in the three-team tournament behind the Tigers and ahead of Utah, while senior outside hitter Amy Morris (Michigan City, Ind.) and sophomore right side Yuliya Stoyanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) were named to the all-tournament team.
In this afternoon's contest, junior middle blocker Sarah Blum (Tulsa, Okla.) and senior middle blocker Kristen Andre (Kelseyville, Calif.) led the Lady Vols offensively as Blum hit .588 (10-0-17) and Andre had a .562 hitting percentage (11-2-16). Stoyanova set the pace in kills with 14, while hitting .333 herself (14-3-33). Junior libero Annie Sadowski (Wheaton, Ill.) led the Big Orange in digs with 12, while Morris had 10 of her own. Blum set the pace in blocks with five, while senior setter Julie Knytych (LaGrange Park, Ill.) tallied 39 assists.
Missouri grabbed control of the match with a tight 30-27 win in the first game. The game was close throughout as neither team could garner greater than a two-point advantage until the Tigers took a 21-18 lead. After Missouri extending its lead to 23-19, the Lady Vols roared back with an 8-2 run of their own to garner a 27-25 lead, but the Tigers responded with the final five points of the game.
In the second game, Missouri once again had control, extending its lead to 19-13 and 21-16 before a Lady Vol 6-0 spurt earned the Big Orange a 22-21 advantage, its first lead of the game. The Tigers responded by scoring nine-of-the-final-10 rallies to claim the game and a 2-0 match lead. The third game saw Missouri gradually extend its lead from 16-14 to the final score of 30-20.
"We made too many unforced errors in the first and second games to be successful against a team that was playing pretty error-free," Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "We had opportunities in controlling the first ball, whether it was a dig or a pass, but we should have controlled better than we did and that affected what we could do offensively. The level that Missouri played both offensively and defensively was one of the highest that Tennessee has played since I've been coaching here.
Tennessee returns home to partake in the Comcast Lady Vol Classic with matches versus Baylor (4-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Central Michigan (1-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday and College of Charleston (6-0) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
