University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
7-12, 0-5SEC
Kentucky
15-2, 5-0SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 19 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
Lady Vols Downed 3-0 by No. 13 Kentucky
October 10, 2014 | Volleyball
Oct. 10, 2014
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee was defeated in SEC play on Friday night, falling 3-0 (19-25, 20-25, 13-25) to 13th-ranked Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena. Jamie Lea had a team-high eight kills while Shealyn Kolosky added seven more behind a .357 attack percentage.
"We played pretty clean at the beginning of the match and took advantage of Kentucky's errors," said UT head coach Rob Patrick. "But they started to clean up their side of the net a little bit and we made some mistakes that let them back in the game. Our passing wasn't sharp enough for us to be able to effectively run our offense and that's something you need to do when you are facing as a big a block as Kentucky has."
Tennessee, donning pink uniforms in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, came roaring out of the gates to open the match, scoring seven of the first eight points in set one. Kolosky, Kanisha Jimenez, and Lea each delivered a kill in the sequence, setting the early offensive tone for a Lady Vol team that would swing .333 in the opening frame. Lea would go on to post a team-high five kills at a blistering .556 attack percentage in the set while Jimenez and Kolosky each had a pair.
Despite a slow start riddled with early errors, Kentucky gradually found its offensive rhythm and steadily worked back its way back into the set. The UT lead would be as much as seven at 10-3, but the Wildcats used a 7-2 run to level the score at 16-16. The two sides traded points and reached 18-18 before UK took control behind 10-2 spurt that put the visitors ahead 24-18. Kentucky eventually sealed the set on a kill from Anni Thomasson -- her ninth of the game on just 14 attempts.
Lexi Dempsey, who currently ranks ninth all-time at Tennessee in career assists, reached the 1,500 assist mark midway through the first game when she set up Lea for a kill to keep UT in front 16-14.
Neither team could find any separation in set two as UT and UK battled to 12 ties and six lead changes to reach a 15-15 gridlock. Four straight Wildcat points put UK in front 19-15, but a combined block at the net from Lea and Raina Hembry, preceding another kill from Lea, got the Lady Vols to within a couple points late in the set. But the next three points went the way of Kentucky and the Wildcats were able to hold off UT for a 25-20 victory in the second set.
Ashley Mariani led UT with four kills in the second set while Dempsey and Taylor Johnson combined for eight assists. Meanwhile, UK hit .231 and posted three total team blocks in withstanding the Lady Vols just before intermission.
After battling the 13th ranked team in the country through two tightly contested sets, Tennessee ran out of steam in the third and final set. After the two sides split the opening four points, UK rallied to score 14 of the set's next 17 points to build a significant cushion. The visitors remained in control from there, hitting .348 over the final frame to complete the sweep.
Jimenez finished with five kills and tied Bridgette Villano for the team lead in digs with nine. Hembry posted four kills to go along with her team-high four blocks.
As a team, UT swung .184 for the match while UK enjoyed an attack percentage of .317 after its slow start. Kentucky's defense also settled in late, powered by the effort from Kaz Brown who posted two solo blocks and four block assists in the third set alone.
The Lady Vols outdug their Wildcat counterparts, 39-35.
"We did some good things today, in the first two sets especially," Patrick said. "We're going to continue to build on those things and I think we're getting better every match we play."
SEC play rolls on when Tennessee hosts LSU at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Tigers are 7-7 on the year and 2-3 in conference play, but enter the weekend off back-to-back wins against Arkansas and Mississippi State.
