University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
15-3, 6-2SEC
Georgia
4-14, 0-8SEC
NO. 18 TENNESSEE EARNS SWEEP OF GEORGIA
October 08, 2006 | Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2006
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 18 University of Tennessee volleyball team (15-3, 6-2 SEC) notched its first sweep in a month, defeating Georgia (4-14, 0-8 SEC) in three games, 30-21, 30-27, 30-23, Sunday afternoon at Stokely Athletics Center.
"I am pretty happy with how our offense played today," UT head coach Rob Patrick said. "It will be important for us to continue to find ways to get kills like we were able to do in this match.
"Our outside hitters did a great job of hitting around Georgia's block and both of our setters, Chelsea (Noble) and Jena (Berg), made terrific decisions all afternoon," Patrick said. "They consistently set the right people which kept Georgia off-balance on defense."
Sophomore setter Chelsea Noble paced the Big Orange offense with 43 assists and added a match and season-high 16 digs defensively. With 17 kills each, senior middle blocker Sarah Blum and junior outside hitter Yuliya Stoyanova led the Lady Vol attack. Blum also posted a season-high .593 hitting percentage (17-1-27) in the victory. As a team, UT recorded its second-highest hitting percentage of the year, out-hitting Georgia .341 to .191.
Behind a strong overall effort, the Orange and White earned the first-game victory, 30-21. Down by a point at 7-8, the Lady Vols proceeded to win nine of the next 10, including six straight, to take the lead by seven scores. Freshman Leah Hinkey sparked the run with a sharp putaway and Stoyanova capped it off with a kill of her own. The Bulldogs were not going away that easily, however, as they used a four-point scoring spree to trim the lead to 19-15 before Stoyanova put down another kill to dash their comeback hopes. Tennessee won 11 of the final 15 points to claim the frame. Both Stoyanova and senior Kelsey Fautsch knocked out eight kills to lead the team, while Blum had a team-high .625 attack average to go along with her five kills. Noble collected 10 digs to guide the team on defense.
Georgia clearly had the momentum going in its favor in the middle of the second game as it took a 19-16 lead following a stretch in which it won nine of 11 points and had a pair of four-point scoring runs. A timeout by Patrick at that point stopped the Bulldogs in their tracks and switched the momentum back to the Lady Vols' side, allowing them to finish strong. Trailing by just one at 23-24, UT slammed home kills on five consecutive points and used a Bulldog attack error to make it six straight scores en route to a 30-27 win and two-game advantage going into the intermission. Stoyanova and Blum put up identical stat lines in the set, with six kills and one attack error in 11 attempts for a .455 hitting percentage.
In the third game, it was Stoyanova and Blum, once again, who took over and led the Orange and White to victory. Both players tallied six kills and a pair of blocks as UT won the set 30-23 and the match three games to none. Blum was nearly perfect on offense with a .750 hitting percentage (6-0-8). The Bulldogs were unable to overcome an early five-point run that saw the Lady Vols take an 11-6 advantage. Georgia would get no closer than three points for the rest of the frame as Tennessee earned its second conference victory of the weekend.
The Lady Vols will open a four-game road swing with a midweek contest against Kentucky this Wednesday. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.
