University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
9-5, 2-3SEC
Kentucky
8-6, 2-2SEC
#25 Tennessee Blanked By UK, 3-0
September 26, 2012 | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the 71st meeting between the two Southeastern Conference rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats prevailed over the 25th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team in straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-20) in front of 1,726 fans at Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday night in Lexington, Ky.
The defending SEC champion Lady Vols drop to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in league action this season, while the Wildcats improve to 8-6 overall and level their SEC mark at 2-2. UT's .107 attacking percentage is the lowest of the season, while its 32 kills and 28 assists were also season lows. It was the first match of the season where the Lady Vols didn't have more kills and assists than their opponent.
"My hats off to Kentucky, they played a great match," said head coach Rob Patrick. "They really controlled the tempo of the match and were really on a mission. We dug ourselves into a huge hole in the beginning of the first set. I think nine out of Kentucky's first 10 points came on our errors and you're not going to be very successful like that when you're playing a good team like Kentucky. The culprit was errors on our side. We have to get back in the gym and continue to work on that."
Junior outside hitter Kelsey Robinson tallied eight kills and nine digs, snapping her 11-match double-double streak. Senior DeeDee Harrison added eight kills and hit .263 on the night. The middle blocker tallied three rejections. Sophomore setter Mary Pollmiller, who recently eclipsed 2,000-career assists, dished out 20 helpers and fell one dig shy of her sixth double-double of the season. With her eight kills, Robinson is now nine shy of becoming the Lady Vols' 18th member of the 1,000-kill club.
Defensively, junior libero Ellen Mullins posted 12 digs, while senior defensive specialist Jasmine Brown added five digs and two aces. At the net, senior Leslie Cikra had three blocks. UT had a season-low four team blocks.
"We're going to take a couple days off," said Patrick. "We need this break. We've been traveling quite a bit and had a lot of matches. I think the players will enjoy having a couple days off to get their bodies healed a bit. Then we're going to get back in the gym and work on our consistency in all phases of the game. We'll really work on getting a little more consistency, especially offensively. If we can do that, I think we'll be ok."
The Wildcats forced 10 Lady Vol errors and held UT to a -.088 hitting percentage in the opening game, as they went on to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 win. Kentucky used a 9-2 run during the game and had three players with five or more kills. Kentucky's Whitney Billings and Lauren O'Conner combined for six kills in the set. Harrison led the Lady Vols with three kills. The 15 points matched a season-low in sets 1-4 for UT this season.
The Lady Vols jumped out to the early lead in the second game, taking a 9-6 advantage following a block from Harrison and Kayla Jeter. The Wildcats responded with a 4-0 run to go up 10-9, but the Lady Vols would rally once again to take a 15-14 lead following a 3-0 run into a media timeout. After another Wildcat rally, senior defensive Brown cut into the UK lead with an ace to make in 19-18. A Wildcat error tied the set, but Big Blue finished out the frame on a 6-2 run to take the frame, 25-21, and go into the break up 2-0. The second set consisted of nine ties and three lead changes.
Kentucky hit .357 and outdug the Lady Vols 26-19 in the third en route to a 25-20 third-set victory to seal the sweep. UK ended every set of the match with a block. It was just the second time of the season UT was swept, and the first time the Wildcats won the rivalry in three in 17 years (11/10/95).
With no match scheduled this weekend, the Big Orange returns to SEC action when it welcomes Missouri to Thompson-Boling Arena on Friday, Oct. 5 for its annual "Dig for the Cure Night." First serve is slated for 7 p.m. and all fans wearing pink will be admitted free. UT will then host Georgia on Sunday at 1 p.m.
