University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
5-6
Austin Peay
4-9
APSU Spoils Lady Vols' Home Opener, 3-0
September 18, 2014 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee dropped Thursday's home opener to Austin Peay, 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 23-25) at Thompson-Boling Arena. The defeat was only the third home-opening loss in Rob Patrick's 18 seasons in Knoxville.
"I'm disappointed in how we played," said Patrick. "We started off really strong doing nothing special and just playing our game, but the story of the match was that we could not sustain any momentum. Whenever we created any momentum we either had a net, or we missed a serve, or we had over passes on serve/receive. Eventually Austin Peay got some momentum and we just couldn't stop it."
Kanisha Jimenez recorded the second double-double of her career with 13 kills and a team-high 11 digs. The freshman did her offensive damage on a career-high .414 attack percentage. Jamie Lea added seven kills for UT (5-6). Senor Shealyn Kolosky was also efficient in attack, registering five kills without an error on 11 swings for a .414 hitting clip.
For the match, Austin Peay (4-9) swung .384 to best UT's .262, and had two players in double digit kills. The Lady Govs also dictated the net on the defensive side, coming away with 12 total blocks compared to seven for Tennessee.
"We hit fine tonight," Patrick added. "We'll take .260 any day of the week. We didn't play defense very well. Defensively, we were just out of whack and I don't know why. We had balls where we were right in system in terms of our positioning and we didn't come up with the ball. Or if we did dig it, we didn't control it. I don't know where it came from because we did a really good job this week in practice and last week in our matches at those things."
The Lady Vols looked sharp to start the match, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage behind back-to-back kills from Jimenez and another from fellow freshman Iesha Bryant. The hot start did not deter APSU, though, which pieced together a big 12-3 spurt to take the lead at 12-8. UT would fight back to within three on a couple occasions, but could get no closer as it ultimately dropped the first set 25-18.
The momentum stayed with the visitors throughout the second frame as well. The Lady Govs never trailed during the game, opening things up with a 4-0 run. A 3-1 rally from Tennessee got the Lady Vols to within two very early on, but it was all Austin Peay from there as it maintained a steady distance from the home side for the remainder of the set on its way to a 25-17 win.
With its back now against the wall, UT regrouped during the match break and came out with a renewed resolve in the third set. After falling behind 4-1, the Lady Vols bounced back to get within striking distance after an APSU error and a pair of Jimenez kills made the score 5-4. UT nipped at the heels of its opponent for the next several points before a Kelsey Bawcombe kill gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the night since early in the first set. Bawcombe's smash also capped a 4-0 spurt for Tennessee.
The two teams seesawed back and forth through the middle portions of the set and the match came to a head in final points of the frame. Trailing 21-19 and needing a push, the Lady Vols got kills from Jimenez and Bawcombe to again level things at 21. Two more traded points made the score 22-22, but APSU put together the final rally as it tallied three of the final four points to decide the match with a 25-23 third-game victory.
"We never take anybody lightly," said Patrick. "I hope our team understands but if we don't play hard and we don't play well, anyone can beat us. There is a lot of good volleyball players out there and a lot more parity in our sport than we've seen in the past. We need to really understand that and take it to heart."
Austin Peay's .384 hitting percentage was the highest allowed by Tennessee so far this season, and the Lady Vols also suffered their first loss of the year when hitting .250 or better.
Tennessee will look to bounce back when it hosts another Volunteer State rival in Memphis on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET. That match is preceded by three others at TBA as part of the 2014 DISH Lady Vol Classic. APSU begins the day at 10 a.m. with a match against Montana State and Mercer will play an early afternoon doubleheader with consecutive matches against Memphis (12:30 p.m.) and APSU (5 p.m.).
