University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
9-13, 4-10SEC
Auburn
11-14, 3-11SEC
Lady Vols Bitten By Tigers In Four
October 28, 2007 | Volleyball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? The University of Tennessee volleyball team (9-13, 4-10 Southeastern Conference) could not build on a first-game victory, falling in four to Auburn (11-14, 3-11 SEC), 22-30, 30-25, 30-24, 31-29, Sunday afternoon at Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville, Tenn. Sophomore Leah Hinkey recorded her second double-double of her career, registering team highs with 13 kills and 10 blocks, in addition to a .333 hitting percentage, in the loss.
Freshman Nikki Fowler and sophomore Farren Powe also stood out offensively, as Fowler tied Hinkey for the squad high with 13 putaways and Powe recorded 10. Defensively, the Lady Vols had three players reach double digits in the digs category, with sophomore libero Chloe Goldman leading the way for the 20th time this year with 16. Senior Yuliya Stoyanova and sophomore Kylie Marshall also accomplished the feat with 13 and 11, respectively. As a team, UT out-blocked Auburn, 27-20, but was out-dug, 84-67, and out-hit, .208-.181, by the Tigers.
The Lady Vols wasted no time in the first game, jumping ahead early and never looking back en route to a 30-22 victory. After the two squads traded the first nine points, Stoyanova recorded three consecutive aces to put UT up 7-5. An Auburn kill halted the streak, but Tennessee answered right back with five more scores, beginning with a sharp putaway by Powe. Fowler and Hinkey followed with a block before a Fowler smash and back-to-back Tiger attack errors put the score at 12-6.
A smash by Auburn???s Rachel Shanks cut the deficit to five, but that would be as close as her squad would get for the remainder of the set. The Orange and White would build a lead that reached as many as 10, before a pair of a pair of unforced errors by AU closed out the frame. In the initial game, UT tallied a .235 attack average, led by a blistering .714 mark (5-0-7) put up by Hinkey, while Auburn was only able to post a .163 clip.
The Tigers did not take too kindly to losing the first set, coming out of the gates on fire in the second and taking a 4-0 advantage. Auburn never took its foot off the gas pedal and the Big Orange could not get its offense going, leading to a 30-25 Tiger triumph. With the scoreboard reading 16-11 in favor of AU, the Lady Vols mounted their lone threat of the frame, scoring on three straight plays to shrink its hole to just two at 16-14. Hinkey sparked the spree with a sharp kill before Powe recorded a solo block and an Auburn attack landed long.
The Tigers answered back immediately, however, with a trio of scores of their own, getting a pair of kills and taking advantage of a UT ball-handling error. Tennessee was able to move within three points on three different occasions, but could not quite get over the hump, eventually losing the set on a blast by Rachel Shanks that sent the two squads into their respective locker rooms with the match tied at one game each.
A see-saw battle occurred in game three, but, once again, it was Auburn emerging victorious, this time by a 30-24 score. After fighting to a 14-14 deadlock, the Tigers took a two-point lead, as Whitney Jacob notched a kill and an ace on back-to-back plays. Her next serve found the net to give a point to the Orange and White, but Shanks then took over for the Tigers with a pair of kills, before Emily Knuth added an ace for good measure to move the score to 19-15.
Tennessee was not out of fight yet, however, rallying back with points on four of the next five plays to get back within a single score at 19-20 and forcing Auburn head coach Laura Farina to burn her first timeout. The stoppage in play proved enough to effectively halt UT???s momentum, as the Tigers dominated the final 15 points of the game, winning 11 of them, before Shanks??? seventh kill of the set gave AU a two games to one advantage.
A late Tennessee rally in the fourth game fell just short, as Auburn claimed the set, 31-29, and the match three games to one. After allowing the Tigers to blast their way to a five-point, 21-16 lead, the Big Orange decided it was time to make its move. With blocks on three consecutive plays, UT did just that. Berg and Hinkey started the block party with a sharp putback of a Shanks swing, before Hinkey and Clarke joined forces to do the same. The third block saw Berg, Hinkey and Clark all go above the net to send a Jelena Sekulic attack crashing back down to the court.
Although Sekulic was able to get a kill through the block attempt to end the run on the next point, the Lady Vols kept clawing their way back into the frame until a four-point streak, featuring two more blocks, put them up by a score at 24-23. After a smash by Jacob brought the score back even, Fowler put UT back up with a blast that landed just inside the back line. The two squads would battle their way to a standstill at 28-all, but Auburn???s Lauren Mellor gave her team a chance to close out the match with a sharp kill. Although a laser by Hinkey would fight off that attempt, a Jacob kill and Big Orange ball-handling error sealed the deal.
Tennessee will return to the road this weekend when it travels to Oxford, Miss., and Baton Rouge, La., for a pair of league contests. First up for UT is Ole Miss at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 2. It will then take on LSU two days later at 1:30 p.m. CT.
