University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
11-17, 6-14SEC
Arkansas
12-17, 6-13SEC
VB Posts Four-Game Win At Arkansas
November 16, 2007 | Volleyball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ??? In its final Southeastern Conference match of the season, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (11-17, 6-14 SEC) defeated Arkansas (12-17, 6-13 SEC) in four games, 30-28, 28-30, 30-27, 30-22, Friday evening at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. Freshman Nikki Fowler led the team in kills for the eighth straight match, knocking out 22 putaways, while sophomore Chloe Goldman topped the team in digs for the 25th time this season with 35 in the victory.
???As a team, I thought we played very hard for all four games,??? UT head coach Rob Patrick said. ???In game two, we were starting to get away from our game plan, so we went back over our strategy during the break. They then did a great job of going out and doing what we asked them to do. Although we had a few missed serves, I thought that was due in part to the fact that we served very tough and forced Arkansas out of its offense.
With 35 digs in the win, Goldman now has 607 on the season, becoming just the third player in SEC history and first underclassman to surpass the 600 mark in a single season. Georgia???s Shelly Gross in 1986 and this season???s SEC leader, Elena Martinez of LSU are the only two other players to have accomplished the feat.
???We wanted to channel the ball to Chloe tonight and our blockers did a great job of doing just that,??? Patrick said. ???Chloe really controlled the ball well all night as well, both passing and defensively.???
In addition to the strong performances by Fowler and Goldman, sophomore Jaye Loyd also had a career night, posting personal bests in kills, attacks, assists and blocks. The Stockton, Calif., native paced the Lady Vol offense with 56 assists, while recording two kills on four attacks. She also posted the first two blocks of her career to go along with 15 digs for her second double-double.
???I am extremely proud of the way Jaye played today,??? Patrick said. ???We were able to run a more diversified offense than we have in the past few weeks. Her decision making and consistency allowed us to get the number of kills we did in this match.???
The recipient of most of the assists by Loyd was Fowler, who notched the 12th double-double of her young career with 22 kills and 15 digs. The Dallas, Texas, product tallied a pair of assists and five blocks as well.
???Once again, Nikki played a great all-around game,??? Patrick said. ???Offensively, she put a lot of pressure on Arkansas??? defense. She also did a fantastic job of playing defense behind Jaye???s block.???
Junior Milan Clarke and sophomore Carol Cheade also stood out in the victory for Tennessee. Clarke collected 15 kills, three digs and four blocks, while Cheade had six kills on a career-high 14 swings.?? The native Brazilian also had a dig and a block to her credit in her first starting nod of the season and second of her career.
???I was very happy and proud for Milan, as she has been doing everything that she can do put herself on the court,??? Patrick said. ???She has been working hard in practice and coming in for extra work and it paid off tonight as she had a tremendous six-rotation match for us. I was as proud of her for her kills as I was for her back-row defense and serving. She played with a tremendous amount of confidence.
???Carol did a great job of taking advantage of her starting role,??? Patrick said. ???She earned her playing time because of her consistent play in practice over the last month and worked very hard on every point, both offensively and defensively tonight.???
In a back-and-forth first game, the Lady Vols were the stronger team at the end, claiming a tight, 30-28, victory. Although Arkansas came out of the gates on fire, winning the first three points, Tennessee was not discouraged and quickly fought its way back to a 6-6 tie. From that point on, the two squads proceeded to trade the next 16 points as they battled to a 14-14 deadlock. After an Arkansas serve landed long, the Lady Vols got back-to-back kills by Clarke and Loyd, sandwiched around a timeout by Lady Razorback head coach Chris Poole. An Arkansas attack error made it a four-point UT run and gave the Orange and White an 18-14 advantage.
The Lady???Backs continued to fight back, however, tying the set back up shortly thereafter at 20-all with three straight scores of their own. A quick kill by Fowler on a blast down the middle of the court, returned the lead to Tennessee which went up by two on the next play as an attack by Arkansas??? Catherine Fowler landed long. The Big Orange would be able to hold on to that slim lead until a pair of Lady???Back scores returned the game to a tie at 28-28 and forced Patrick to use his final timeout of the frame to reorganize his troops. The tactic worked like a charm as an Arkansas serve found the net and junior Laur??n LaFlamme served an ace to give UT the set, 30-28.
Despite 16 digs by Goldman, eight kills by Fowler and a seven-point lead, the Lady Vols were unable to hang on in game two, falling 30-28. With the score tied at seven, UT went up by three following a kill by Hinkey that was surrounded by a pair of Arkansas errors. That lead would balloon to five after another three-score spree by the Big Orange that featured two hard kills by Fowler. Its work was not done yet, however, as the Lady???Backs stormed back into the game with a trio of scores. UT was up to the challenge though and answered with four consecutive kills, sparked by a shot by Fowler down the right-side line. Hinkey followed with a slam before Fowler blasted one from the back row and Loyd tipped one over the net from the setter position, prompting a timeout by Poole with the scoreboard reading 22-16 in favor of the Lady Vols.
The break in play halted UT???s momentum and allowed the Lady Razorbacks to get back in the frame. After the two squads split the first two points out of the timeout, Arkansas tallied five consecutive scores, including two kills, an ace, a block and a Tennessee attack error, to cut its deficit to just one at 23-22. The Orange and White responded by winning four of the next six points to return its advantage to three, but it would not be enough, as it was all Arkansas from that point on. A four-score Lady???Back spree ensued, erasing the UT lead and putting Arkansas up 28-27. After a Patrick timeout, Fowler knotted the score back up with a blast down the middle, but that would be Tennessee???s final point, as the Lady???Backs secured the frame with back-to-back kills.
Another extremely tight set ensued in game three, with the Orange and White emerging victorious, 30-27, in a frame that included 13 ties and seven lead changes. The Lady Vol offense was out in full force, as they out-hit Arkansas .432 (18-2-37) to just .105 (14-10-38) in the game. Most of the frame was an absolute battle, as each point was hotly contested. Each team was able to put together a single run of three points, but neither moved ahead by more than two at any point before the set reached a 20-20 standstill. A blast by Hinkey, however, ignited a three-score rally during which the Lady Vols also got a kill by Clarke and a block by sophomore Farren Powe and Clarke. A timeout by Poole netted his team a run-ending score, but Tennessee rattled off two more with a tip over the left-side block by Clarke and a block by Fowler and Powe to go up 25-21. Arkansas would move to within two at 28-26, but a pair of unforced errors by the Lady???Backs gave UT the win, 30-27.
It was the ???Nikki Fowler Show??? in the fourth game, as the freshman pounded out nine kills in the frame to lead UT to a 30-22 victory and its 11th win of the season. With the score tied at nine, Fowler took over. After a block by Clarke and Powe, the Tennessee rookie recorded kills on four straight plays and five of the next six to give her team a lead it would never relinquish. A four-point Orange and White run then moved the UT lead to eight at 19-11. Arkansas staged a mini-comeback, with a pair of three-score sprees that cut the Lady Vol advantage to four at 23-19, but the Big Orange answered convincingly with another streak of four consecutive scores.
Fowler sparked the run with a back-row block blast down the middle of the court before joining forces with Marshall and Powe for a strong block. An Arkansas attack then landed wide down the left-side of the court before Marshall smashed a kill through the block. The Lady???Backs attempted to come back one last time, but Tennessee closed out the match with a trio of scores, capped off by a sharp putback by Marshall and Hinkey to finish off the match. The Lady Vols held Arkansas to a -.043 hitting percentage (10-12-46) in the set, while cranking out a .316 percentage (17-5-38) on their own.
The Big Orange will next be in action when it closes out the 2007 campaign at home against Notre Dame on Friday, Nov. 23. First serve for the contest against the Fighting Irish is set for 7 p.m. in Stokely Athletics Center.
