NO. 25 TENNESSEE DEFEATED BY NO. 12 LSU IN THREE

Sunday, October 22

Baton Rouge, LA

2:30 PM

University of Tennessee

15-7, 6-6SEC

#12 LSU

18-3, 10-2SEC

Tennessee

LSU

October 22, 2006 | Volleyball

Box Score

Oct. 22, 2006

Box Score

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BATON ROUGE, La. - Senior Sarah Blum became just the second player in Tennessee volleyball history to record 600 career blocks, as the No. 25 Lady Vols (15-7, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) were defeated in three games by No. 12 LSU (18-3, 10-2 SEC), 30-28, 30-26, 30-19, in the SEC Match of the Week Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Freshman Kylie Marshall's 26 digs in the contest marked the team's individual high this season as well as a career-best.

"Being on the road has really taken its toll on our team," UT head coach Rob Patrick said. "I thought that we played really well for long stretches today, but could not sustain the high level of play throughout the match that we needed to pull out the win. It will be great to get back home and play in front of faithful fans for the first time in a while."

The four-match conference slide marks the first in Patrick's career and has not occurred since the Lady Vols lost 24-straight SEC matches during the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Sophomore Milan Clarke and seniors Sarah Blum and Kelsey Fautsch led the team offensively, with eight kills each. Defensively, three other Lady Vols followed Marshall's performance with double-digit totals in digs, as sophomore Chelsea Noble collected 12 and seniors Annie Sadowski and Fautsch had 11 each. Freshman Leah Hinkey tallied a team-best six blocks in the contest as well.

In a back-and-forth opening frame, the Lady Vols came up just short, falling 30-28. LSU used a four-point run to take a 17-13 advantage midway through the frame, but Tennessee answered emphatically with a seven-score streak of its own. Clarke and Hinkey sparked the spree with a sharp block and the duo combined with Noble to send back another Tiger attack to close it out and give UT the 20-17 lead. After LSU fought back to tie the set at 23, the Lady Vols jumped back ahead, following three consecutive kills from Blum. Once again, the Tigers had an answer and claimed four straight scores to move ahead 27-25. UT would cut the lead to one point on three more occasions, but time would run out on its comeback bid and a Marina Skender kill would end the set. Marshall and Hinkey posted outstanding defensive efforts in the frame with 15 digs and five blocks, respectively. Hinkey was also perfect on the offensive end with four kills in four attempts.

For the second straight game, LSU used a late rally to take out Tennessee, this time by the score of 30-26. Down by one at 8-7, UT went on a tear in which it won seven of nine points to go up by six. It could not sustain that momentum, however, as LSU rallied off four straight to tie the set at 14. Another four-point run by the Tigers just five plays later gave them a three-point advantage, but the Lady Vols returned the favor with a four-score spree of their own, highlighted by a block by Clarke and Hinkey, to retake the lead. Following consecutive points by LSU and a Clarke kill, the two teams were deadlocked at 22. The Lady Vols, however, committed three unforced errors in a row to hand the lead right back to the Tigers. They were unable to overcome the mistakes and fell behind by two games heading into the intermission.

It was all LSU in the third game as it completed the sweep with a 30-19 victory. Tennessee could never get its offense going as it was out-hit .300 to -.029 by the Tigers during the set. Heading into the media timeout halfway through the frame, LSU led 15-8 as it had just completed a five-point run. Blum and Fautsch would try to get the Lady Vols back on track with a block in the middle of a rally that trimmed the lead to four, but the Tigers quickly regained the momentum and extended the lead back out to seven with three consecutive kills. UT would not be able to recover for the rest of the game as it was held to just six kills to LSU's 20.

The Lady Vols will return to the friendly confines of Stokely Athletics Center next weekend as they open a season-long four-match home stand by hosting Mississippi State at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27. Following the match-up with the Bulldogs, UT will take on Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 29. Six of the Big Orange's final eight matches will be played in Knoxville.