University of Tennessee Athletics
Friday, October 19
College Station, TX
7:30 pm
University of Tennessee
15-5, 6-2SEC
3
at
2
Texas A&M
12-8, 5-3SEC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Tennessee
25
22
25
24
15
3
Texas A&M
23
25
21
26
12
2
Tennessee Defeats Texas A&M in Five Sets
October 19, 2018 | Volleyball
Lady Vols move in to sole possession of fourth place in the SEC after win over the Aggies
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The University of Tennessee volleyball team grabbed its sixth victory of Southeastern Conference play with a five-set win over Texas A&M (12-8, 5-3 SEC).
Junior Tessa Grubbs led the way with 19 kills in the five setter including the clincher in the final frame hitting it deep court in between two Aggie defenders. Tennessee has now won all three matches that have gone to five sets in conference play.
The Lady Vols (15-5, 6-2 SEC) were able to force Texas A&M's offense out of system from the early part of the match. This helped Tennessee limit Aggie outside hitter Hollann Hans, who came into the match leading the conference in points per set (5.23).
Behind consistent service pressure and eight kills from the pins, the Lady Vols grabbed the opening set 25-22. Hans would hit .000 in the set with four hitting errors as well as two serving errors.
Led by a career-high six service aces from senior Erica Treiber, Tennessee continued to put the Aggie offense in tough positions all night long.
With the match tied a set a piece and the third set tied 21-21, Treiber stepped to the service stripe. She closed out the set on the line delivering three aces in the final four points including the clincher at 25-21.
After dropping a close 26-24 fourth set, Tennessee headed to a decisive fifth set. There the Lady Vols were paced by their middles in sophomore Addisyn Rowe and Treiber who combined for seven kills in the final frame.
With the win, Tennessee moves into sole possession of fourth place in the SEC with a conference record of 6-2 breaking a tie they had with the Aggies heading into the match.
From Coach Rackham:
On service pressure impacting the game:
"We have worked on serving for almost two full weeks and talking about being more aggressive and willing to take risks. I thought in the sets we won we not only served tough but, we hit the zones we were trying to hit. Overall, I think the team saw how much that can dictate how successful we are."
On Erica Treiber's serving:
"She had an unbelievably good serving match. For someone that is a middle blocker, you don't necessarily expect her to be such a good server, but she has worked really hard on it. She spent a lot of time in the summer. She takes a lot of pride in being the serving middle. We needed every single one of those tonight."
On having Tessa Grubbs back for this match:
"She adds a lot of confidence for the setters. She bails us out of a lot of tough positions and has a lot of experience. Just to have her back out there, it adds another dynamic for us and certainly takes some pressure off of the other hitters. It was just exciting to see her back and healthy. It was great to see her finish the match the way she did."
From Tessa Grubbs:
On getting back on the court:
"It was really exciting because I don't like sitting at home watching the game. It was exciting to just be at the game and play a part in a big win on the road." – Tessa Grubbs
On closing out the match with her 19th kill:
"It was super exciting. We haven't beat them since I have been here and we haven't beat them since 2012. It was a win for us but, it was a huge win for the program as well because it has been so long." – Tessa Grubbs
Standout Stat:
Tennessee continues its weekend road stretch against LSU on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers were one of four SEC teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Tigers lost to Kentucky in three sets Friday night and are now 7-12 record and a hold 2-6 mark in conference play.
The match will air on SEC Network+ with the first serve scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (ET) in Baton Rouge, La.
Junior Tessa Grubbs led the way with 19 kills in the five setter including the clincher in the final frame hitting it deep court in between two Aggie defenders. Tennessee has now won all three matches that have gone to five sets in conference play.
The Lady Vols (15-5, 6-2 SEC) were able to force Texas A&M's offense out of system from the early part of the match. This helped Tennessee limit Aggie outside hitter Hollann Hans, who came into the match leading the conference in points per set (5.23).
Behind consistent service pressure and eight kills from the pins, the Lady Vols grabbed the opening set 25-22. Hans would hit .000 in the set with four hitting errors as well as two serving errors.
Led by a career-high six service aces from senior Erica Treiber, Tennessee continued to put the Aggie offense in tough positions all night long.
With the match tied a set a piece and the third set tied 21-21, Treiber stepped to the service stripe. She closed out the set on the line delivering three aces in the final four points including the clincher at 25-21.
After dropping a close 26-24 fourth set, Tennessee headed to a decisive fifth set. There the Lady Vols were paced by their middles in sophomore Addisyn Rowe and Treiber who combined for seven kills in the final frame.
With the win, Tennessee moves into sole possession of fourth place in the SEC with a conference record of 6-2 breaking a tie they had with the Aggies heading into the match.
From Coach Rackham:
On service pressure impacting the game:
"We have worked on serving for almost two full weeks and talking about being more aggressive and willing to take risks. I thought in the sets we won we not only served tough but, we hit the zones we were trying to hit. Overall, I think the team saw how much that can dictate how successful we are."
On Erica Treiber's serving:
"She had an unbelievably good serving match. For someone that is a middle blocker, you don't necessarily expect her to be such a good server, but she has worked really hard on it. She spent a lot of time in the summer. She takes a lot of pride in being the serving middle. We needed every single one of those tonight."
On having Tessa Grubbs back for this match:
"She adds a lot of confidence for the setters. She bails us out of a lot of tough positions and has a lot of experience. Just to have her back out there, it adds another dynamic for us and certainly takes some pressure off of the other hitters. It was just exciting to see her back and healthy. It was great to see her finish the match the way she did."
From Tessa Grubbs:
On getting back on the court:
"It was really exciting because I don't like sitting at home watching the game. It was exciting to just be at the game and play a part in a big win on the road." – Tessa Grubbs
On closing out the match with her 19th kill:
"It was super exciting. We haven't beat them since I have been here and we haven't beat them since 2012. It was a win for us but, it was a huge win for the program as well because it has been so long." – Tessa Grubbs
Standout Stat:
- Tennessee forced Texas A&M's Hollann Hans to a season-high 12 attack errors in the match while limiting her to a .164 hitting percentage. It is just the sixth time this season Hans has been held under .200 hitting in a match.
- Sedona Hansen recorded her 10th double-double of the season with a team-high 27 assists to go along with 12 digs. This is her fifth in conference play.
- Tessa Grubbs has now recorded double-digit kills in 14 of the 16 matches she has played this season including every match in SEC play. The junior is having a career year averaging 3.75 kills per set.
- Erica Treiber's six service aces are the most by any Tennessee player this season and she now ranks sixth in the conference with .35 aces/set and is the only player to rank in the top 10 in hitting percentage, blocks/set and aces/set.
Tennessee continues its weekend road stretch against LSU on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers were one of four SEC teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Tigers lost to Kentucky in three sets Friday night and are now 7-12 record and a hold 2-6 mark in conference play.
The match will air on SEC Network+ with the first serve scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (ET) in Baton Rouge, La.
Team Stats
UT
TAMU
Kills
61
66
Errors
25
30
Attempts
178
185
Hitting %
.202
.195
Points
77.5
83.0
Assists
57
65
Aces
7
6
Blocks
9.5
11.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
6
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballVB | Eve Rackham Watt Press Conference (9.22.25)
Monday, September 22
VB | Eve Rackham Watt Press Conference (8.25.25)
Monday, August 25
Everything Orange S2 I Volleyball Mashup
Thursday, October 03
VB | Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky Highlights (12.2.23)
Saturday, December 02
