August 25, 2010 | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2010
ROB PATRICK ON JETER: "Kayla is just an extremely physical player. Most people don't realize that she played in the middle for most of her high school and club career, so this is only going to be her third year as an outside hitter. Her improvement at that position has been tremendous and I am very excited to see what she has in store for this season now that she has become more comfortable and has had some success within our offense. In addition to being a huge force at the net and just more flexible in terms of her attacking, I think another area where she is really going to stand out is in her back-row play."
2009 (SOPHOMORE): Earned a spot on the 2009 All-SEC Second Team...Played in all 121 sets of the season, starting 23 matches...Opened her sophomore campaign with a then-career-high eight kills against Tennessee Tech in UT's season opener on Aug. 29 at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic...Hit at a .353 clip in that contest with just two errors on 17 swings...Also had four digs versus Lipscomb in the championship match on Aug. 30....Played well in the final two matches of the Xavier Invitational, recording five kills against Notre Dame and seven versus Xavier...Posted 14 kills on 46 swings and seven digs against Colorado State on Sept. 12 at the Carolina Classic...Added nine kills, four digs and three blocks versus Marshall later that evening....Opened SEC action with a strong, 13-kill, five-dig, seven-block effort at LSU on Sept. 18....Was terrific on national television against Ole Miss on Sept. 27, tallying a .583 hitting percentage (7-0-12)...Followed that up with a breakout performance at Louisville three days later, setting career-highs with 20 kills and 48 attacks...Also had six digs and a block...Led UT to a four-set win at South Carolina on Oct. 2 with 12 kills, seven digs and three blocks...Picked up two more matches with double-digit kill totals the following weekend with 11 versus Georgia and 12 against Auburn on Oct. 9 and 11, respectively...Hit at a career-best .611 clip (11-0-18) against the Bulldogs and .385 (12-2-26) versus the Tigers...Posted 13 kills in a 3-1 triumph at Alabama on Oct. 16...Played a key role in UT's 3-1 triumph at No. 7 Kentucky on Oct. 21, pounding out 14 kills, hitting .325 and recording three digs, three blocks and a pair of aces...Registered a 16- kill, four-dig, three-block performance in a loss to No. 20 LSU on Oct. 26...Struck for 17 kills and hit .342 in a 3-1 win at Ole Miss on the day before Halloween....Tied her career-high just two days later with 20 hammers on the road at Arkansas as UT edged the Razorbacks, 3-2...Put forth a solid performance at Auburn on Nov. 13, tallying 15 kills, five blocks, four digs, one assist and an ace in a 3-2 loss...Added 12 kills and two blocks to her weekend total two days later in a five-set victory at Georgia...Played a vital role in UT's 3-1 victory over No. 13 Florida on Nov. 22, recording 12 kills, six digs and three blocks...Blasted out 19 kills in just three sets two days later against South Carolina, while hitting at a blistering .567 clip and tying her career-high with seven blocks...Claimed the final SEC Player of the Week award for the 2009 campaign on Nov. 30 after pounding out a career-high 23 kills in UT's thrilling, five-set victory over No. 10 Kentucky to finish off the regular season...Led the Lady Vols in kills in their NCAA Tournament First-Round matchup against Duke with 18 putaways...Also had six digs and three blocks in that contest...Concluded the season with a six-kill, five-dig performance against Minnesota in the second round...Was tabbed to the 2009 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll as well.
2008 (FRESHMAN): Started two matches and played in 19 contests during her first season at Tennessee...Played sparingly at the Marquette Kickoff Tournament but was able to finish off UT's victory over Chattanooga with her first career kill...Earned the first starting nod of her career against Virginia on Sept. 6 at the Denver Pioneer Classic, recording four kills, seven digs and six blocks...Followed that up with a pair of kills, five digs and a block later that evening against Denver...Powered down a career-high six kills in UT's home opener against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 12 at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic...Saw the first SEC action of her career against Mississippi State on Sept. 19, getting a kill on her only attack...Earned significant playing time against Kentucky on Oct. 1, taking 11 swings in the contest...Started to find her groove offensively against South Carolina on Oct. 10, htting .400 with four kills and no errors on 10 swings...Was errorless at No. 9 Florida two days later as well, tallying three kills on five attacks for a career-best .600 hitting percentage...Finished with four kills on nine swings in UT's 3-0 sweep over ETSU on Oct. 14...Provided a spark off the bench in UT's five-set victory over No. 17 Kentucky on the road on Nov. 28 with three digs...Recorded a kill on the only swing in her NCAA Tournament debut at Clemson on Dec. 5.
HIGH SCHOOL: Was rated No. 67 on the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list and was named to the AVCA High School Senior All-America Team...Guided Solon H.S. to a remarkable 84-24 record during her four years with the team...The squad reached the playoffs in all four seasons, nabbing district championship crowns each year, conference titles in the final three and a trip to the state tournament as regional champions in 2006...Was named 2005 third-team all-state, 2006 second-team all-state and 2007 first-team all-state...Also was tabbed first-team all-district in her sophomore, junior and senior campaigns, in addition to claiming all-conference laurels in both 2006 and 2007...Following her junior year, Jeter was honored as a Cleveland Plain Dealer All-Star, while earning player of the week honors from the paper during her senior season.
PERSONAL: Is majoring in sociology with a minor in gerontology...Her father, Gary, was an All-American defensive tackle for Southern California, a top-five draft pick and played in the NFL for 13 seasons with the New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots...Lists shopping, painting, four-wheeling and football as hobbies and interests...Especially enjoys strawberry ice cream...Former teammates playing college volleyball include Katie Dull (Ohio State), Allie Schwarzwalder (Ohio State) and Rachel Rodriguez (Bucknell)...Chose Tennessee over Ohio University, Michigan, and Ohio State...Has three siblings, Ayisha, 33, Denyse, 22, and Breana, 13...Kayla Simone Jeter, the daughter of Gary and Leslie Jeter, was born on Jan. 7, 1990, in Solon, Ohio.
