University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
5-2
Seton Hall
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Fifth-Set Comeback Lifts Lady Vols
September 03, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2011
BY AMANDA PRUITT
UTSports.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When the Tennessee Lady Volunteers lost the first five points of the fifth and deciding set Saturday, they were down but never out.
The Lady Vols reeled seven consecutive points to turn the momentum in the final frame to beat No. 21 Dayton 25-17, 25-23, 14-25, 23-25, 15-12 and earn their first ranked victory of the season at the Illinois State Farm Classic at Huff Hall.
After losing a close fourth set, the Lady Vols (4-1) fell behind 5-0 to start the fifth but slowly started to pick up steam.
"There wasn't too much I needed tell the team," said Tennessee coach Rob Patrick, who called a timeout when the team trailed 4-0. "We knew what we were going to do. Dayton knew what we were going to do. And we knew what Dayton was going to do. It was basically who was going to make the play, and they did a fantastic job after a slow start."
A kill by sophomore Kelsey Robinson cut Dayton's lead to 9-7, and fellow sophomore Ellen Mullins started her service game. While she did not get any aces during her turn, she kept the ball in play and Dayton off balance as the Lady Vols won six consecutive points during the possession to take a 13-10 lead.
"Ellen did a great job of putting the ball on the person we wanted to pass the ball, which provided us with an easier time of defending that rotation," Patrick said. "Ellen continued to do that, even through timeouts and them trying to break her concentration and serving routine. Our defense did a great job picking the ball up in transition."
From there, the Lady Vols' final two points came off an attack error and a serve that sailed beyond the baseline.
Robinson scored a career-best 28 kills, the second-most by a Lady Vol in the rally scoring era, while hitting .297 and adding 19 digs. At libero, Mullins led the team in digs with a personal-best 20.
"This is what she wanted; this is why she came to Tennessee," Patrick said. "She wanted to be a person that made a difference in big matches. We saw that potential. I didn't know when it was going to happen, whether it would be as a sophomore or junior or senior. She put herself in this position to make these things happen."
The Lady Vols also benefitted from the consistency of junior Leslie Cikra, who made her season debut after coming back from an ankle injury. She played a handful of points against Illinois on Friday, but Saturday marked her return to the lineup.
She made her presence count on the court, tying her career best with 14 kills and hitting a team-best .323.
Saturday's first match started fast for the Lady Vols, who entered the contest having won the first set only once in first four matches. Tennessee took the first two sets while hitting at a .370 pace in the first and a whopping .419 in the second.
The Lady Vols jumped ahead on the opening point and never relinquished the lead in the first set. The second set had 17 ties and five lead changes before Robinson had two kills on the final two points to give the Lady Vols a two-set advantage.
Tennessee's offense tapered off drastically in the next two sets, hitting just .024 and .182 average over the next two frames as Dayton climbed back into the match, winning the third 25-14 and the fourth 25-23.
"When we competed really hard, we controlled the match, and when we didn't compete like we needed to, Dayton just took advantage," Patrick said. "When you play great teams like Dayton and Illinois, if you don't compete every point, the other team will control the match and take momentum."
Dayton (4-1) was led by Rachel Krabacher, who had 24 kills.
The Lady Vols wrap up play at the Illinois State Farm Classic with a match against Houston at 5:30 p.m. Central.
