Tennessee Wins Rocky Top Invitational, Defeat Furman 3-2

Saturday, September 16

Knoxville

7:00 PM

University of Tennessee

7-2

Furman

6-7

Furman

Tennessee

Tennessee Wins Rocky Top Invitational, Defeat Furman 3-2

September 16, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee came out on top 3-2 (20-25, 25-10, 22-25, 25-23, 15-7) in a tough five-set match against the Paladins of Furman University in the final match of the Rocky Top Invitational to claim the championship on Saturday in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols (7-2) used a balanced attack to fight off a pesky Furman team that would not give in to the Big Orange. Breana Jeter had a team-high nine kills, while Kanisha Jiminez and Alyssa Andreno each added eight kills; Jiminez also had 11 digs, while Andreno hit .333 to lead the Vols.

Sedona Hansen had 21 of Tennessee's 43 assists, and Brooke Shumacher led the defense with 14 digs.

Furman (6-7) took a close first set 25-20, but Tennessee stormed back in the second set, tying the match with a 25-10 win – aided in large part by Furman's -.240 hitting percentage in that frame. Furman recorded just four kills in that set, committing 10 errors.

But the Paladins bounced back to win the third set, forcing Tennessee to win the fourth set just to extend the match. The Vols did just that, taking a tight fourth set 25-23 after eight ties and two lead changes.

The Lady Vols hit .400 in the final set, going error-free, while holding Furman to -.056 hitting.

Tennessee hit .204 for the match, racking up 45 kills to just 16 errors. Furman committed 41 errors on the night, hitting just .116. The Vols also had a 19-4 edge in blocks and 8-3 in aces.

Coach Rob Patrick Says…
(On facing adversity against Furman)
"Very proud of the way our team handled the adversity of playing against a team that really kept balls in play and was very effective in play against us. Our players kept plugging away and we were able to do just enough to get that match to a fifth set. I like that our players played uncomfortable basically for two hours; nothing in the match was easy for us, so I was very happy with how we handled that. We did a great job blocking at the net, but we did not do a great job attacking and I think that's what made the game long for us. Our hitters really struggled to get consistent kills, Alyssa (Andreno) led us with a hitting percentage of.333, Breana Jeter did a really nice job when she was in helping us gets kills, I was also happy that Tessa Grubbs was able to play and play some very meaningful points in the match."

(On a successful tournament championship)
"It was a successful weekend for us, as we played a couple of different lineups that our players really did a great job of staying organized in. I like that a lot of people contributed throughout the weekend. We had five players averaging two kills or above during the weekend, so that's something that really shows how diversified we are and also shows how our setters were able to really find a lot of our different players and I think that's really going to bode well for us in the future. Our serving has been one of the things we wanted to concentrate on this year. To be nine matches into the year and have more aces than errors is something that I'm also very proud of."

(On members of the All-Tournament Team)
"I thought Erica Treiber, Andrano, and Jeter really led us this weekend. I thought they played very consistently in all phases of the game: hitting, blocking, defensively. They definitely deserved being recognized for their really steady play throughout the weekend. It's really neat that we have different people on our team step up at different times."

Match Notes:
Rocky Top Invitational All-Tournament Team
Erica Treiber – Tennessee (MVP)
Breana Jeter – Tennessee
Alyssa Andreno – Tennessee

Hanson and Callie Williams recorded at least 10 assists for the ninth straight match.