University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
3-1
Belmont
3-3
Hinkey Leads Tennessee To Belmont Sweep
September 01, 2007 | Volleyball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? The University of Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team (3-1) continued its perfect run through its home tournament, the Comcast Lady Vol Classic, with a hard-fought 30-28, 32-30, 30-23, sweep of Belmont (3-3) on Saturday morning at Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
???I was pleased with how hard we played this morning,??? Lady Vol head coach Rob Patrick said. ???Belmont challenged us with its great defense and low-error play. I was proud of the way our team pushed through and came away with the win.???
UT was led by 14 kills from sophomore middle blocker Leah Hinkey as the Glenwood Springs, Colo., native established a career-high in hitting percentage, at .619 (14-1-21), to break her old mark of .526 (10-0-19) set last season at Ole Miss. Hinkey also collected four blocks and an ace in the victory.
???Leah is an extremely versatile player for our team,??? Patrick said. ???She does everything well on the court. On any given day she can lead us in virtually any statistical category, so that allows us to utilize different line-ups in different situations. She also plays a very strong leadership role, which is vital for our program.???
Junior outside hitter Milan Clarke and sophomore outside hitter Farren Powe added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while sophomore setter Jena Berg set a new career-high for assists with 42 helpers in the UT sweep. Defensively, sophomore Chloe Goldman recorded 15 of Tennessee???s 51 digs. For the match, Tennessee managed a .272 hitting percentage to Belmont???s .189, out-blocked the Bruins, 12-2, and out-dug its opposition, 51-38.
The Bruins were guided offensively by 17 kills from junior outside hitter Cat Mundy. Junior Emily Cahill (11) and freshman Carly Frazier (10) also achieved double-digits in the category.
The opening contest was a back-and-forth affair as Belmont stayed close to the Lady Vols throughout the match-up. Consecutive kills from Clarke granted UT an early 6-3 advantage, but a kill from Belmont???s Mundy and two attack errors by the Orange & White dead-locked the squads at 9-9. Tennessee continued its attempt to pull away, eventually stretching its advantage to as many as four points at 21-17 following a solid solo block by Clarke on a swing by the Bruins??? Cahill. Belmont refused to fold, however, as a pair of kills from Cahill, one from Jenny Gray and a bad Lady Vol swing brought the contest even at 21-all. Consecutive kills from Big Orange sophomore Kylie Marshall improved the count to 25-23, but two straight offensive miscues forced Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick to burn a timeout to settle his troops.
The game remained desperately close, until Marshall took matters into her own hands for the Lady Vols. The Puyallup, Wash., native took a feed from freshman Nikki Fowler and hammered it home for a kill, before closing out the frame in style with an ace, via her powerful jump serve, to nab the first game for the Orange & White, 30-28. Hinkey and Clarke led the UT attack with five kills in the first contest as the Lady Vols out-hit Belmont, .196-.173.
Extra volleyball was necessary to settle the second game as Tennessee fought off a tough Bruin challenge, 32-30, to nab an important two games-to-none advantage. A kill from Fowler granted the Big Orange a quick 3-0 lead to start the match-up, and the Lady Vol lead grew to as many as five points at 8-3 following consecutive attack errors by Belmont???s Jaye Schuler. A run from the Bruins, however, drew the two teams even at 11-all following consecutive blasts from Carly Frazier and Mundy. A UT attack error by Clarke granted BU its initial lead of the day at 14-13, but the Santa Monica, Calif., product immediately responded with a kill, and Powe hammered one home into the opposing court to regain the lead at 15-14. Belmont briefly re-took control at 19-18 and 20-19 before the Orange & White raced off on a five-point spurt to nab a 24-20 advantage. The Bruins, behind the efforts of Cahill and Mundy, rallied to a tie as the two teams hit the 30-30 mark still equal on the scoreboard. Kills from Clarke and Berg completed the see-saw contest in favor of the Lady Vols.
Tennessee took control of the third match-up right from the start as the combined efforts of junior Mindy Flynn, Fowler, Clarke, Powe and Hinkey guided the Lady Vols to a quick 15-4 advantage. Belmont rallied again to close within 16-10 after a Big Orange block error and to 24-20 after another kill by Schuler. A lazer from Hinkey helped to stem any Bruin momentum by stretching the gap back to five. Powe hammered two home into the opposing court, Fowler delivered her seventh kill of the match and Clarke ended things with a solid shot off an assist from Marshall to secure the three-contest sweep for the Orange & White.
Tennessee will return to the court later on Saturday when it faces off against Big Ten opponent Indiana (3-1) at 7 p.m. in the Comcast Lady Vol Classic finale at Stokely Athletics Center. The Hoosiers are coached by former Lady Vol assistant Sherry Dunbar. Live stats and event information are available through www.utladyvols.com.
