University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
11-5, 4-2SEC
Georgia
11-6, 2-4SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 11 | 15 | 17 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Lady Vols Cruise to 3-0 Sweep Over Georgia
October 09, 2009 | Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2009
By Cameron Harris, Assistant Media Relations Director
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team (11-5, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) put on a good show for the 725 in attendance and many more watching at home on SportsSouth, as it simply dominated Georgia (11-6, 2-4 SEC) Friday evening, sweeping the Bulldogs, 25-11, 25-15, 25-17, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. The Lady Volunteers outhit UGA, .367 to -.010, allowed only one run of more than two scores and trailed for a total of just three points in the entire match.
"We had a great week of practice and our team really did a nice job of taking that to the court tonight," UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "We came out with a lot of energy and stuck to our game plan the entire match. I'm really proud of the focus our team showed today.
"We're pretty hard to defend when we are able to spread the ball around to all of our hitters, like we did tonight," Patrick said. "Obviously, that starts with our passing which was terrific once again. I was also pleased with how tough we were able to serve tonight. That was an emphasis for us this week and I was glad to see that it took hold.
Much of Tennessee's success came from the fact that senior libero Chloe Goldman just would not allow Georgia to get a kill, scooping up 23 Bulldog attacks. That ranks as the second-highest dig total in a three-set match by an SEC player this season and the fifth-best effort in a three-set contest in school history. With a career total of 1,458 digs, she now stands just 15 away from becoming the program's career leader in that category. The Monterey, Calif., native also doubled her season total in aces with three on Friday.
Offensively, the Lady Vols were a machine, pounding out 40 kills with just seven errors on 90 swings for an impressive .367 hitting percentage, their second best effort of the 2009 campaign. Sophomore Kayla Jeter paced the attack, hitting at a career-high .611 clip with a match-high 11 kills on 18 attacks without a single miscue. Senior Farren Powe was even more efficient, blasting away to the tune of a new personal-best .700 hitting percentage (7-0-10), while fellow middle blocker Leah Hinkey finished just behind her with a .667 attack average (6-0-9).
"Our blockers did a great job of following their respective hitters, which allowed Chloe to control a lot of Georgia's attacks," Patrick said. "I was also excited about the options our setters chose tonight. They distributed the ball effectively and put our hitters in position to only have seven errors in 90 attempts, which is pretty amazing.
"Kayla Jeter is starting to become a consistent option offensively for us," Patrick said. "The thing she has improved on is not making unforced errors and taking what the defense gives her. To have no errors in 18 attempts against a talented team like Georgia is an impressive feat."
The Orange and White set the tone for the evening right off the bat in the opening frame, taking a quick 5-1 lead behind the strength of a pair of kills by junior Nikki Fowler. She would add four more during the frame, as UT cruised to a 25-11 victory.
Already up by a commanding 14-7 margin, the Big Orange put the set away with a five-point run, highlighted by kills from Hinkey and Fowler and an ace by Jeter. After the Bulldogs got two of the scores back, Tennessee rattled off six of the final eight points of the frame to earn the initial lead of the match.
To Georgia's credit, it kept fighting, even taking a 7-6 advantage early in the second set. At that point though, UT proceeded to go on a four-point tear that put it ahead for good. A kill by Powe sparked the spree and Jeter finished it off with back-to-back putaways of her own. Following a blast by Valentina Gonzalez, the Orange and White picked up right where it left off, scoring seven straight points to halt any thoughts of a Bulldog comeback attempt.
Once again, it was Powe that opened the run with a kill, while Jeter added two more blasts from the outside and senior Kylie Marshall got in on the action with a cross-court shot. Now up 17-8, Tennessee remained ahead by at least seven until consecutive kills by Marshall and an ace by Goldman ended the frame.
A 9-2 run in the middle of the third frame proved to be the knockout blow for the Big Orange as it took the final set, 25-15. Ahead by two at 6-4, Marshall got the Lady Vol offense going with a roll shot over the left block. Kills by Powe and Jeter, sandwiched around back-to-back aces by Goldman, forced UGA Head Coach Joel McCartney to burn a timeout in an attempt to steady his troops. The tactic did not work though, as Marshall added another putaway to put Tennessee up 12-4.
Following a pair of Bulldog points on kills by Michele Simmons and Briana Bahr, UT took advantage of three Georgia unforced errors and got an ace from sophomore Kelsey Mahoney to keep the momentum on its side of the court. From there, the Lady Vols cruised until Jeter's 11th kill of the evening gave them a 23-14 lead. Georgia would then post its only run of more than two points for the entire match, tallying three straight on a pair of Tennessee errors and an ace by Nicole Choi. That would be all the prompting the Orange and White would need though and it closed out the contest on a kill by Marshall and a block by Fowler and redshirt freshman DeeDee Harrison.
Tennessee will be back in action Sunday afternoon when it hosts Auburn at 1:30 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena. The match the Lady Vols' designated "Dig for the Cure" contest as they team up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help to promote breast cancer awareness and research.
The Lindsay Young Downtown YMCA will loan a pink treadmill, which will be set up courtside, and the YMCA will donate 10 cents for each mile that is walked or ran during the event. The Knoxville affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority will also be collecting donations at the match.
From the time the gates open at 12:30 p.m., fans will have the chance to participate in the "Pink Ribbon Run" by running or walking on the treadmill for up to three minutes. Those who do will receive a pink volleyball. Once the match starts, either a cheerleader, Smokey or a member of the UT staff will walk on the treadmill. For every $10 donation, the speed will be bumped up a notch. The money donated during this time will go to the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen foundation and everyone that donates time will receive a pink prize.
All fans in pink will receive free admission and kids 12-and-under will receive a free hot dog and drink.
