University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
9-14, 4-11SEC
Ole Miss
21-6, 10-5SEC
Record Setting Night Ends In Loss
November 02, 2007 | Volleyball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
OXFORD, Miss. ??? Despite record-setting performances by freshman Nikki Fowler and sophomore Chloe Goldman, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (9-14, 4-11 Southeastern Conference) was unable to overcome a tough Ole Miss squad (21-6, 10-5 SEC), falling in five games, 30-20, 27-30, 31-29, 27-30, 15-9, Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center in Oxford, Miss. Fowler posted the first triple-double in school history, while Goldman tallied the second-highest single-match digs total ever recorded by a UT player.
???All a coach can ever ask for is for their team to leave everything out on the court and I felt that we did that today,??? UT head coach Rob Patrick said. ???We are counting on two players to set our offense that we never really planned on putting in that situation. I???m very proud of the way Jaye (Loyd) and Nikki ran our offense this evening.
???Nikki has been shouldering a larger and larger amount of responsibility for us as the season has gone on,??? Patrick said. ???She had an absolutely amazing match tonight. She did a terrific job of playing a position she has never played before (setter) and allowed our hitters to take some great swings.
???This is a testament to her incredible volleyball ability,??? Patrick said. ???You would never guess that she is a freshman based on how well she played all over the court. I am excited to have her for three more years, as we will be able to do some really fun things with her as she progresses through her career at Tennessee.
???Once again, Chloe did a wonderful job defensively, giving us chances to score with her stellar play,??? Patrick said. ???I was also happy to see Farren (Powe) come on after a slow start and raise the level of her game as the match went on.???
Six different Lady Vols either set or tied career highs in a total of 14 different categories, while the team had season-best marks in both digs (103) and blocks (42) in the loss. Most impressive was Fowler, who recorded personal-bests with 19 assists and 18 digs, to go along with 19 kills for the first triple-double in the history of Tennessee volleyball. The Dallas, Texas, native also set personal-highs with 54 attacks and eight blocks as well.
Not to be outdone, Goldman finished two off the school record for digs in a single-match with 40 against the Rebels despite battling?? an apparent leg injury for most of the match. Her previous high was 37 against then-No. 18 LSU on Oct. 12. Also recording or tying career highs in the contest were junior Milan Clarke with six blocks, sophomore Kylie Marshall with 26 digs, five blocks and a pair of solo putbacks, sophomore Jaye Loyd with 36 assists and sophomore Farren Powe with 11 block assists, 12 total blocks and two digs.
Ole Miss dominated for the majority of the initial frame, winning 30-20. The Lady Rebels wasted little time, taking a 9-1 advantage behind the strength of an eight-point run that included five kills, a pair of UT errors and a block. Shortly thereafter, Ole Miss embarked on another spree in which it won 11 of 14 points to take a 22-8 lead. The Orange and White kept fighting though, claiming four consecutive scores, sparked by a blast by Fowler and a kill by Marshall straight down off the Rebel block attempt. Three plays later, the Lady Vols used a three-score streak to cut their deficit to eight, but Ole Miss responded with a pair of points before the two teams traded the final eight to account for the final score.
It was Tennessee???s turn to take an early advantage in the second game, but it needed a late comeback to overcome the Rebels, win the set, 30-27, and tie the match at one game each heading into match break. After a kill by Ole Miss setter Rachel Kieckhaefer knotted the score at 2-2, the Big Orange rattled off five consecutive points, highlighted by Fowler and Powe combining to send back a pair of Rebel attacks. The two squads then proceeded to battle until the score reached 14-9 in favor of UT. At that point, Mississippi took matters into its own hands, scoring eight straight points and 10 of the next 11.
With the Rebels now leading by four at 19-15, Tennessee took advantage of a pair of Rebel attack errors and got an ace by Fowler to move back within one. Ole Miss was undeterred, however, getting the three points right back and forcing Patrick to burn his second timeout with the scoreboard reading 22-18. The Lady Vols used the break to their advantage, with Clarke pounding out a kill immediately upon the team???s return to the court. After getting called for a blocking error, UT was nearly unstoppable for the remainder of the game. The Big Orange took its four-point deficit and completely erased it in just six plays, tying the score at 24-all. The two squads remained deadlocked until sophomore Leah Hinkey broke the tie with a tip over the Rebel block. An Ole Miss attack landed long on the next play before Clarke and Hinkey closed out the set with a sharp putback.
A back-and-forth battle ensued in game three, with the Rebels eventually squeaking out a 31-29 victory. Each team utilized a trio of runs of three or more points to run the score to 21-19 in favor of Ole Miss. At that point, the Rebels went on another spree, getting a pair of kills before a UT swing found the net. The Lady Vols refused to give up, however, going on a tear of their own in which they won seven consecutive points. Senior Yuliya Stoyanova opened the rally with one of her 17 kills in the contest before Clarke smashed a laser down the left-side line and Powe tallied a solo block.
After another Stoyanova blast, Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin called a timeout in an attempt to reorganize his troops. The tactic did not work though, as Clarke and Powe joined forces on back-to-back plays to send back Rebel attacks and Powe gave UT a two-point, 26-24, lead with a kill off a great dig by Marshall. Mississippi would get the final say, however, fighting back to tie the frame at 26-26 with consecutive kills by Jackie Jones. Tennessee would return the score to a deadlock three more times, but could never quite retake the lead before the Rebels ended the frame with putaways by Lauren Moffett and Caitlin Weiss.
The two teams engaged in another extremely hard-fought frame in the fourth set. This time, however, the Lady Vols came out on top, 30-27. Trailing 7-5, UT rattled off five straight points, including a pair of kills by Clarke, an ace by Marshall, a block by Clarke and Hinkey and an Ole Miss net violation. After the Rebels moved to within two at 11-9, the two squads traded the next 16 points. At that junction, Mississippi retook the lead, as a kill by Emily Jones was followed by a UT net violation and an ace by Tara Langley.
The Orange and White did not fold, however, with Fowler giving the advantage back to her team with a kill to the back-left corner of the court and a blast off the block wide down the left-side line, sandwiched around a combined putback with Powe. Getzin utilized his first timeout to halt the Lady Vols momentum and allow his team to regain control. That is exactly what it did with a trio of scores that moved the score to 23-22. Patrick gave the Rebels a taste of their own medicine, however, as his initial timeout of the frame resulted in his squad claiming five of the next seven points, including a pair of blocks by Hinkey and Marshall.
With the score at 27-25, Getzin burned his final timeout to draw up the plans for one final rally. Although Ole Miss got a kill out of the break, Tennessee was able to thwart its attempts on the next two plays with Clarke smashing out another putaway and a Rebel attack falling past the end line to give UT three chances at game-point. A Mississippi kill simply delayed the inevitable before Stoyanova blasted a ball down the middle of the court, splitting a pair of defenders in the process, to end the set and send the match into a fifth and deciding game.
Ole Miss staked claim to the lead early in the final game and UT could never recover, falling 15-9. The Lady Vols never quite got their offense on track in the fifth frame, hitting just .120 compared to a .318 mark by the Rebels. Tennessee was unable to score on back-to-back plays even once in the set as well, while Ole Miss did so on three different occasions. The loss gave the Rebels their first ever win over the Lady Vols in Oxford.
Tennessee will look to build on this strong performance when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU on Sunday, Nov. 4. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. CT in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
