University of Tennessee Athletics
Volleyball Geared Up to Open SEC Action at LSU Friday
September 17, 2009 | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2009
By Cameron Harris, Assistant Media Relations Director
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team (6-3) will begin its 27th season of play in the Southeastern Conference this weekend when it travels to the Pelican State for a 7 p.m. CT showdown against LSU, Friday evening at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. Live video and stats will be available at LSUSports.net.
Despite a rough start at the Carolina Classic this past weekend, the Lady Volunteers closed out their stay at the two-day competition on a high note, sweeping Marshall to earn runner-up honors. Junior Leah Hinkey and senior Chloe Goldman were both named to the all-tournament team.
The Lady Vols' most consistent offensive player over the course of the weekend, Hinkey posted a stellar .383 hitting percentage in the three matches and finished with a total of 25 kills. She also led the team with 19 blocks. On Saturday night against Marshall, the Glenwood Springs, Colo., native posted one of the best offensive performances in school history, hitting at a near-perfect .923 clip with 12 kills and no errors on 13 swings. She tallied kills on her last 11 swings of the match, as her only attack that did not go down as a kill came on her second swing of the opening frame. Hinkey added eight blocks in the contest as well to move her career total to 345, placing her seventh on the UT career blocks chart.
Not to be outdone, Goldman was also terrific last weekend, collecting a total of 56 digs in three matches, including 13 against North Carolina, a season-best 25 versus Colorado State and 18 against Marshall. Her 25 digs against the Rams marked her 26th career match with 20+ scoops and she has now recorded double-digit dig totals in all nine of UT's matches this season and 64 of the 69 contests in which she has played since becoming the team's full-time libero in 2007. With her solid play, Goldman increased her career digs total to 1,327, passing Stephanie Ehlers (1,312) for third all time in the UT record book. She needs just 11 more to tie Amy Morris for second and 148 to surpass Kristy Dobson for the top position.
Following this Friday's match-up against LSU, Tennessee will have a week off from competition before returning home for contests against Arkansas and Ole Miss on Sept. 25 and 27, respectively. The showdown with the Rebels will be televised live on ESPNU at 5 p.m.
