University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
17-8, 8-7SEC
Kentucky
15-8, 8-7SEC
LADY VOLS FALL IN FOUR TO KENTUCKY
November 02, 2006 | Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2006
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Despite spectacular performances from junior Yuliya Stoyanova and sophomore Milan Clarke, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (17-8, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) fell for the second time this season to the University of Kentucky (15-8, 8-7 SEC) in four games, 30-22, 27-30, 32-34, 25-30, Wednesday night at Stokely Athletics Center.
"We out-hit them and did some good things defensively, but we made too many unforced errors at the wrong times and they did a great job of capitalizing on them," UT head coach Rob Patrick said. "Kentucky simply played the big points better than we did."
"After the first game, we started making errors, which has been our problem all year," Patrick said. "We can never sustain any momentum that we are able to gain."
Stoyanova paced the team on both sides of the court, tying her career-high with 25 kills and registering 22 digs, while Clarke added personal-bests in kills (16), digs (6) and blocks (5) during the contest. Other standouts for the Lady Vols included senior Sarah Blum, who tallied a squad-best .429 hitting percentage (9-0-21) and tied freshman Leah Hinkey for the team-high in blocks with seven, as well as senior Annie Sadowski and freshman Kylie Marshall who collected dig totals of 12 and 11, respectively.
The Big Orange was hitting on all cylinders in the opening frame, as it stormed past the Wildcats with a 30-22 victory. A five-point run jumpstarted the UT attack and moved the Lady Vols out to the early 11-5 advantage. Just a short time later, a Stoyanova kill sparked another scoring spree, this time of three points, to extend Tennessee's lead to double-digits at 20-10. Kentucky answered with a four-point streak of its own to shrink the lead to six, but the Lady Vols returned the favor and dashed the Wildcats' hopes with five straight scores, highlighted by consecutive Blum putaways, to expand their lead to 11. A pair of Clarke kills and a Hinkey smash accounted for UT's final three points in the frame.
The offense continued to roll in the second game, hitting at a .419 clip, but the Orange and White could not put away the feisty Kentucky squad, which squeezed out a 30-27 win to tie the match at one set each. After a three-point run gave UT an 18-14 lead, the Wildcats took advantage of three unforced errors by the Lady Vols and claimed four straight scores to tie the game back up. The two teams remained deadlocked until a Heather Hausfeld kill broke a 25-25 stalemate and gave Kentucky the lead for good. Following the decisive blow, the Wildcats won five of the final seven points to earn the victory. Sophomore Mindy Flynn was the Lady Vols' most effective hitter in the frame, knocking out five kills in six chances with no errors for a .833 hitting percentage.
In the third game, the Lady Vols were unable to capitalize on four game-point opportunities before dropping a crucial 34-32 decision. Kentucky held the lead for much of the early part of the set, but two Stoyanova kills, separated by a block by Blum and Flynn, brought the score back to a 20-20 tie. Both squads battled it out over the next 16 plays, but neither could take control and they came out all-square at 28 each. A UK attack error gave Tennessee the first game point of the set, but Nicole Britenriker pounded out a kill to return the squads to a tie score. A Flynn blast gave the Lady Vols their second chance to close out the frame, but Melissa Popp had other ideas, and moved the score to 30-all with a smash of her own. The Big Orange's third game point came after the Wildcats' 12th attack error of the set, but, once again, it could not take advantage. Hinkey provided her team with one last opportunity, but consecutive Kentucky kills and a UT hitting error allowed the Blue and White to win the game.
The fourth and final frame was tightly contested by both squads, but a late push by the Wildcats gave them a 30-25 victory and their second win of the season over Tennessee. With UT up 14-13 after another kill from Stoyanova, the Wildcats proceeded to lay claim to three consecutive scores, punctuated by a sharp denial by Queen Nzenwa and Popp, to jump out to a two-point lead. The Lady Vols would not be able to string more than two consecutive points together for the rest of the match and a late three-point UK run put the set out of reach, as Tennessee fell at home for the first time in six matches.
The Lady Vols will close out a season-long, four-match home stand this Friday night, when they square off against Alabama (14-9, 9-5) at 7 p.m. in Stokely Athletics Center. Tennessee will be looking to exact revenge from the Tide after dropping a four-game decision to them on Oct. 15.
