University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
7-9, 0-2SEC
Missouri
11-5, 2-0SEC
Lady Vols Swept at SEC Champ Mizzou
September 28, 2014 | Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2014
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Tennessee suffered a 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 16-25) conference setback at reigning SEC champion Missouri on Sunday in front of 1,660 fans at the Hearnes Center. Kendra Turner led UT in kills for the second straight match with eight and Jamie Lea added six.
"We actually did some very good things in terms of our play at the net today," said Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick. "I was pleased with our effort along the net both in blocking and the attack. We played very uneven in the digging part of the game and in our ball control. We need to get more consistent on those fronts."
Tennessee (7-9, 0-2 SEC) got three kills from Turner and four blocks from Shealyn Kolosky in the opening set, but it wasn't enough to get past the Tigers. After Missouri (11-5, 2-0 SEC) opened the match on a 5-1 spurt, UT responded by scoring the next five points to grab a 6-5 lead. Three straight blocks up front, all featuring Kolosky, powered the rally. Little separation existed between the two sides over the next sequence and a kill from Turner made the score 18-18 late in the frame. But it was all Mizzou over that crucial final stretch, outscoring the Lady Vols 7-1 on its way to a 25-19 win.
Libero Bridgette Villano registered six of her 10 blocks in the match during the first set.
After some early back-and-forth, Missouri seized control of the second game behind a 5-0 rally to take a 9-5 lead. UT battled back to within three when Iesha Bryant rose up for a kill to cut the deficit to 11-8, but that was as close as the Orange and White would come. The Tigers went on to swing .353 for the game on and settled a 25-15 win.
Another hot start for the home team spelled trouble for Tennessee in set three. The Tigers opened up a quick 7-1 score line and a Lady Vol timeout did little to quell the Mizzou momentum as the Tigers rattled off two more points to get to 9-1 before a kill from Bryant stopped the rally at 8-0. Tennessee would get no closer than six the rest of the way and Missouri put the finishing touches on its seventh win its last eight matches with a 25-16 win in the third and final set.
Three of Jamie Lea's six kills came during the final stanza while Sabrina Tavakoli -- making her Lady Vol debut -- finished the set with a kill and three assists.
As a team, the Lady Vols posted an attack percentage of just .099. The Tigers countered with a .281 attack percentage and had five players with five kills or more. UT falls to 0-3 all-time against Mizzou in Columbia, while UM has now won 20 consecutive SEC matches dating back to last season.
Missouri also sent in seven service aces on the day, resulting in seven receiving errors for UT.
"Some things that we can control, but we didn't control as well as we could this weekend were our serving, our passing, and our digging," Patrick said. "If we can clean up those three areas -- and I think our players are seeing how they affect each match -- I think we'll take a big step forward in being more competitive in some of these matches."
The Lady Vols now return to Knoxville for a four-game homestand - their longest of the season. The SEC home opener is slated for Friday night at 7 p.m. ET against Texas A&M and Alabama will be on hand for a Sunday afternoon tilt. Kentucky and LSU visit Thompson-Boling Arena the following weekend.
