University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
3-1
Iowa
2-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IOWA | 25 | 27 | 22 | 25 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 18 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 1 |
Volleyball Falls in Four to Iowa in Pioneer Classic
September 05, 2008 | Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2008
DENVER, Colo. - In its opening contest at the University of Denver Pioneer Classic, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (3-1) was unable to find any offensive consistency, falling in four to Iowa (2-2), 18-25, 25-27, 25-22, 22-25, Friday at Hamilton Gymnasium in the Daniel L. Ritchie Center in Denver, Colo.
For the fourth time in as many matches, UT was paced offensively by sophomore Nikki Fowler who tied junior Kylie Marshall for the team lead with 10 kills on the evening. Junior Farren Powe was one of the few other offensive bright spots for the Big Orange, as she tallied a .353 hitting percentage with a season-high nine kills on 17 swings with just three errors.
Defensively, junior libero Chloe Goldman collected a squad-best 15 digs in the contest, while senior Mindy Flynn sent back four Hawkeye attacks to lead the team in blocks. Marshall finished just one dig shy of her second double-double of the season with nine.
Iowa came out of the corner swinging in the initial set of the match and UT never could find an answer, eventually falling, 25-18. Iowa gained the upper hand immediately, claiming the first two points and eight of the first 11. A kill by junior Leah Hinkey was followed by a Hawkeye ball-handling error to give the Lady Vols back-to-back scores for the first time, but they were unable to sustain that success, giving UI points on the next four plays with unforced errors to move the score to 15-7.
Once again, Hinkey got her squad rolling, smashing a kill cross-court from the right side. After an Iowa attack landed long, Marshall collected a solo block to move the score to 15-10, Iowa. The two squads then traded the next four points before Goldman recorded a kill when an over pass was not covered by the Hawkeyes, forcing UI Head Coach Sharon Dingman to burn her first timeout of the match.
The tactic worked, as Iowa scored on three of the first four plays out of the break to make it 20-14 and coerce Patrick to use his final timeout. UT benefited from the stoppage in play as well, with a kill by senior Milan Clarke and a Hawkeye attack error moving the Orange and White to within four. Once again, however, a Tennessee ball-handling error gave the momentum back to Iowa which then got a kill by Megan Schipper to make it 22-16. Just three plays later, Hinkey went up in the middle of the net and smashed home her fourth kill of the frame, but she suffered an apparent injury and had to leave the match. That would be UT's final point of the frame with Iowa taking the final two to finish the set.
Although Tennessee was much more competitive in the second set, it could not quite finish off Iowa which took advantage of nine kills by senior outside hitter Catherine Smale to claim a tight 27-25 victory and head into the intermission with a commanding lead. For the second frame in a row, Iowa jumped ahead early, quickly going up 4-1 with UT's only point coming off a kill by Marshall on the opening play.
Although two errors by Iowa move the deficit to one, UI instantly went back up by three with back-to-back putaways by Smale and Schipper. Shortly thereafter, the Big Orange was able to tie it up at eight-all before the two squads traded three-point runs to move the score to 11-11. After a Marshall attack landed long to give the lead back to Iowa, UT was finally able to grab its first lead of the night with a kill by Marshall that landed wide off the left-side block and an Iowa attack error. The lead did not last long, however, with the Hawkeyes going back up with scores on consecutive plays.
Neither squad could string a pair of scores together until another kill by Smale and a block by Kiley Fister and Katie Kennedy put Iowa up 19-17. Patrick burned his first timeout of the set following the block to settle his team down. UT then proceeded to win four of the next six points, including a putaway by Powe and a service ace by Marshall, to tie the set at 21 and force Iowa to use a timeout to stop the momentum shift.
Although Fowler gave the Orange and White the lead with a kill, Iowa answered with three consecutive putaways by Smale to move up by three and give itself two chances at set point. UT would not go down without a fight, however, deadlocking the score once again with a smash by Powe and an ace by junior Michaela Hanakova that landed just inside the back line. After trading the next two scores though, UI was finally able to finish off the frame with Smale's ninth kill of the set and a UT setting error doing the honors.
Following a short intermission, Tennessee was finally able to get on the scoreboard, winning the third set, 25-22. After hitting a combine .129 in the first two frames, UT was finally able to get its offense going, posting an impressive .423 hitting percentage. Clarke led the way with a stellar .571 mark, knocking out five kills on seven swings with just one error, while Fowler was a perfect with three kills on three attacks and Powe took advantage of her three swings to hit .667 with two kills and no errors.
Unlike the first two sets, neither team was able to take an early lead. The Big Orange was finally able to put a little separation between it and Denver when Marshall got a sharp cross-court kill from the left side and followed it with a strong jump serve that resulted in an ace to put UT up by four at 14-10.
Iowa was unable to cut into the four-point UT lead until it went on a three-point run, highlighted by kills from Smale and Schipper, to make it 18-17 and drive Patrick to call a timeout. Fortunately for Tennessee fans, the short break effectively halted the Hawkeyes' momentum and UT was able to hold them off until Fowler and Clarke ended the set with back-to-back putaways.
Unfortunately, the Lady Vols offensive woes came back to haunt them in the fourth set with Iowa handing them their first loss of the season with a 25-22 triumph in the frame. Things looked good for the Big Orange early, however, as it staked claim to a quick 6-2 advantage behind the strength of kills by Marshall and Fowler. That lead was gone in a hurry though after a five-point Iowa outbreak put it up 7-6.
UT was resilient, however, and answered with a three-score spree of its own, including a smash by Powe and another ace by Hanakova. From that point on, neither squad was able establish itself with the score never moving more than three points in either team's favor before the scoreboard eventually reached a deadlock at 22-22. With victory in its sights, Iowa tallied the final three points end the match with Smale ending the contest with her 21st putaway of the evening.
Tennessee will have two chances to get back on track on Saturday as it will square off with Virginia at 10:30 a.m. MT and host Denver at 7:30 p.m. MT. Fans wishing to follow the matches live can do so through the live stats link at www.UTLadyVols.com.
