University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
15-4, 6-4
Alabama
13-6, 8-2
NO. 18 TENNESSEE FALLS TO ALABAMA, 3-1
October 15, 2006 | Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2006
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 18 University of Tennessee volleyball team (15-5, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) dropped its second straight road match, falling to Alabama (12-6, 7-2 SEC) in four games, 30-21, 27-30, 20-30, 32-34, on Sunday afternoon at the Coleman Auxiliary Volleyball Extension in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The loss marks the first time that the Lady Vols have dropped consecutive contests since falling to LSU and No. 6 Louisville in September of last season. It is also the first time that the squad has lost two straight conference matches since being defeated by LSU and No. 3 Florida in October of 2003.
"We are not doing a good job of finishing off games when we have the chance," UT head coach Rob Patrick said. "We keep shooting ourselves in the foot with errors at critical times in the match and are unable to recover. We can play at a very high level but not consistently enough to beat good teams in the SEC."
Junior Yuliya Stoyanova fell just shy of a double-double with a team-high 17 kills and nine digs. Meanwhile, freshman Kylie Marshall paced the team with 17 digs and senior Sarah Blum added a squad-best seven blocks to go along with her 11 kills in the loss. Also in double-digits in the kill category were sophomore Mindy Flynn with 11 and senior Kelsey Fautsch with 13.
The Lady Vols came out of the gate at full speed, as they never trailed in a 30-21 victory in the opening frame. UT used three runs of three consecutive scores and never allowed Alabama to claim more than two straight points en route to taking the one-game advantage. After an Alabama kill cut the Tennessee lead to two at 17-15, the Big Orange scored three times in a row, capped off by a sharp block by Blum and freshman Carol Cheade, to extend the lead back out to five. The Lady Vols put the game away by winning five of the last seven points of the frame. Flynn led the UT attack with five kills and a stellar .571 hitting percentage (5-1-7), while Marshall collected a game-high seven digs in the frame.
The Orange and White fell just short in its comeback attempt in the second game, dropping a 30-27 decision. With the score at 9-5 in favor of Tennessee, the Crimson Tide went on a scoring spree in which it won eight of the next nine points to take a 13-10 lead. The Lady Vols would not give up, however, and fought back to tie the match at 23, following a four-point run and a cross-court kill by Fautsch. The two squads would trade the next eight scores before Alabama claimed the final three points of the frame to tie the match at one game each. Cheade knocked out four of her seven kills in the match during the set.
With the score tied at 17 in the third game, Alabama proceeded to win 10 of the following 11 points and 13 of the final 16 to take the set, 30-20. UT jumped out to an early 7-4 lead following a Flynn putaway, but could not hold on as the Tide rallied off four points in a row to regain the advantage. The two teams would battle it out for the next 12 points before emerging at the 17-all deadlock prior to Alabama's final push.
In the fourth game, Tennessee was unable to capitalize on its three game-point opportunities before it fell in a tightly-contested final frame, 34-32. The Lady Vols were ahead by as many as five points after Fautsch tipped an attack over the Tide block to move the score to 12-7. Alabama, however, fought back to tie the set at 22 following a kill by Crystal Hudson. UT would regain the lead and extend its advantage out to two scores after a three-point run that was punctuated by a Stoyanova putaway, but Alabama would then answer with their own three-point spree. The Lady Vols returned the favor with yet another three-point rally to move the score to 29-27. After Alabama claimed consecutive points to tie the game, Fautsch blasted a cross-court kill to give UT its second chance to claim the game. Liz Salstrand, however, punched a ball past the Big Orange defense to knot the score back up at 30. Blum responded with her 11th kill of the match to give her team one last chance to put away the frame, but Alabama would not let that happen and took four of the last four points to win its sixth consecutive conference match.
Tennessee will look to rebound when it opens the second half of SEC play with a pair of contests next weekend. The Lady Vols will first be in action at 7 p.m. CDT on Oct. 20 against Arkansas in Barnhill Arena. The Big Orange will then attempt to avenge its loss to LSU earlier this season when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., for a 3:30 p.m. CDT showdown with the Tigers on Oct. 22. The match-up will be broadcast live on SEC-TV from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
