Volleyball Central: Tennessee at No. 1 Florida

Match Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee volleyball team will head south for the first of two road matches this week, starting in Gainesville when the Vols face the No. 1 Gators of Florida on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Vols (8-3, 1-1 SEC) went 1-1 in the opening weekend of conference play, losing to Arkansas 3-0 before defeating Mississippi State 3-1. Florida (9-0, 1-0 SEC) is currently ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll and comes into the match undefeated in conference play after defeating Arkansas in a tough five-set match.

Tennessee will be facing a top-ranked team for the seventh time in the program's history, looking for its first upset. The first No. 1 team UT faced was Hawaii in 1982, the first year of the poll.

Florida is ranked No. 1 in the poll for the third time in the program's history – 1996, 2010 and 2017 – and the Lady Vols have played them each time they were the top-ranked team in the nation.

More news and notes:

ON THE ROAD

Friday will start the first road swing of the SEC season for the Vols, as they face Florida and South Carolina, teams they faced just once last year.
The Vols are 0-2 in true road matches this season, having lost to then-No. 2 Minnesota the second weekend of the season and to Arkansas last week.
On the road, Kendra Turner has 20 kills and averages 3.33 kills per while Breana Jeter has 13 kills, for an average of 2.60 per set.

LAST WEEK

The Vols went 1-1 to open conference play, losing on the road at Arkansas 3-0 before beating Mississippi State 3-1 at home.
At Arkansas, Tessa Grubbs led Tennessee with 4.00 kills per set, hitting a team-high .491 to open SEC play. She had a season-high 20 kills and a .475 hitting percentage against Mississippi State.
Erica Treiber and Kendra Turner both had a .500 hitting percentage against Mississippi State.
Sedona Hansen recorded her fourth double-double of the season against Mississippi State with 28 assists and 13 digs.

SERIES VS. FLORIDA

Series: Florida leads 48-12-1
Last 10 meetings: Florida leads 7-3

Oct. 2, 2016          L        3-1   Gainesville
Nov. 15, 2015       L        3-0   Gainesville
Oct. 14, 2016        L        3-0   Knoxville
Nov. 2, 2014         L        3-0   Knoxville
Nov. 20, 2013       L        3-0   Knoxville
Oct. 27, 2013        L        3-0   Gainesville
Nov. 4, 2012        W       3-2   Gainesville
Oct. 28, 2011       W       3-1   Nashville
Sept. 25, 2011     W       3-2   Gainesville
Oct. 20, 2010        L        3-0   Gainesville

Last Match: Tessa Grubbs had 17 kills, and Bri Holmes had a.400 hitting percentage, but it was not enough as the Gators won 3-1 in Gainesville.

TENNESSEE VS. No. 1 RANKED TEAMS

Tennessee will be facing a team ranked No. 1 for the seventh time in the program's history, looking for its first upset.
The first No. 1 team UT faced was Hawaii in 1982, the first year of the poll.
Florida is ranked No. 1 in the poll for the third time in the program's history – 1996, 2010 and 2017
The Lady Vols have played the Gators each time they were the top-ranked team in the AVCA Poll.
Tennessee vs. No. 1 through the years:

Hawaii          1982        L, 2-1
Hawaii          1983        L, 3-0
Pacific           1984        L, 3-0
Florida          1996        L, 3-1
Nebraska      2007        L, 3-0
Florida          2010        L, 3-0

FAMILY TIES

Madison Coulter's grandfather, Kenny Coulter, also was a student-athlete at Tennessee.
Kenny lettered three years as a guard on the Tennessee basketball team from 1956-59.
The Maryville, Tennessee, native was the Vols' second-leading scorer as a senior in 1958-59, averaging 14.0 ppg.
A former college basketball official, Kenny now works as an officials' observer at UT home games.
Madison is averaging 0.43 kills per set and is hitting .123 with 13 kills on the season.
Breana Jeter is the younger sister of former Lady Vol Kayla Jeter, who played for UT from 2008-14 as an outside hitter.
Kayla Jeter finished her career at Tennessee with a .262 hitting percentage and 934 kills and 229 blocks.
Breana has a current average of .262 and averages 2.38 kills per set with 57 kills on the season.
Callie Williams is the daughter of a volleyball coach Jason Williams (assistant at Baylor) and a volleyball player in Baylor All-American Cory Williams.
Cory (Sivertson) Williams played volleyball at Baylor where she is the only volleyball player to be inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame.
Callie, a setter like her mom, has 181 assists so far this season averaging 4.64 assist per set and 1.62 digs per set.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Madison Coulter

Tessa Grubbs

Sedona Hansen

Bri Holmes

Breana Jeter

Erica Treiber

Kendra Turner

Callie Williams

University of Tennessee Athletics