University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
8-22, 1-15SEC
South Carolina
16-12, 6-9SEC
Lady Vols Drop Fierce Five-Setter vs. SC
November 19, 2014 | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2014
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Led by a trio of double-doubles, Tennessee erased a four-point deficit late in the fourth set to force a decisive fifth, but South Carolina rode a .450 hitting mark in the final set to steal a 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9) victory Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Lexi Dempsey, Kanisha Jimenez, and Ashley Mariani all finished with double-doubles on the night. Dempsey's team-leading sixth double dip came on 27 assists and 12 digs while Jimenez came away with her fifth of the year behind 13 kills and 13 digs. Mariani rounded out the double-double effort on Wednesday night, matching her career-high with 18 kills while also scooping up 10 digs. It was Mariani's second double-double of the season.
"South Carolina is a good team with some athletic players and they had some of the breaks tonight and they made fewer unforced errors than we did," said UT head coach Rob Patrick. "Our players tried to the right thing, the execution just wasn't what we would have liked. Still, we did a lot of good things tonight."
Trailing 18-14 in the do-or-die fourth set, Tennessee (8-22, 1-15 SEC) rallied all the way back to knot the score at 20-20 after an ace from Taylor Johnson. Kendra Turner added two kills in the sequence while Mariani came through with another. On the ensuing race to five, the two sides found themselves battling to two ties before back-to-back Jimenez kills put the home team at set point, 24-22. The huge comeback effort was finally punctuated when Johnson sent in the decisive kill to force the decisive fifth set.
It was Johnson's lone kill of the evening, but she also finished the match with 20 assists. Meanwhile, Kendra Turner was the third Lady Vol to reach double digit kills on the night, notching 12. It was the eighth match of 10 or more kills for the true freshman.
Betraying the effort put forth in the fourth set comeback, the momentum established by UT's feverish play fizzled out in the final frame as South Carolina (16-12, 6-9 SEC) jumped out to an 8-3 lead. The deficit would grow to 14-5, but UT wouldn't go down without a fight, rattling off four straight points to pull itself to within five before SC finally put the match away at 15-9.
"Sometimes these matches come down to who plays the big points better," Patrick said. "South Carolina just played the big points a little better than us. That's because we have a lot of youth on the floor so we're learning how to play the big points through experience. We'll be better the next time that happens."
It was the fourth consecutive match to reach five sets for the Gamecocks, who entered the night on a five-match losing streak. Tennessee falls to 1-2 in five-set matches this season, 0-2 in SEC play.
After dropping set one, Tennessee rebounded in set two with a consistent offensive effort that resulted in a 25-15 win. The Lady Vols found some breathing room early, using an 8-1 run to separate themselves from a 2-2 tie to start the set. Mariani had two kills during the rally, on her way to 7 for the frame, while Jimenez capped the spurt with a kill of her own. That early advantage stood for the remainder of the set and UT extended its lead to as much as 11 en route to a 25-15 victory to level the match.
As a team, UT swung .292 in the second set win, improving on its .231 mark from the first set. Dempsey added 13 digs to go along with her two kills in the second set while Megan Hatcher collected 10 digs.
The momentum remained with Tennessee as it emerged from match break to take a quick 4-1 advantage in the third set. Despite the rapid start, it was South Carolina that seized control of the set after bouncing back to take a 15-12 advantage at the midway point. UT clawed back to tie things up at 17-17, but a 3-0 run for the Gamecocks put them ahead for good as they went on to close the set on an 8-2 rally.
The Lady Vols will now have six days to rest and prepare for its final home match of the season -- another Wednesday night affair against Arkansas on Nov. 26. Tennessee will honor the career of four-year contributor Shealyn Kolosky in a Senior Night ceremony before the match. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and the match will be televised on the SEC Network.
