Tennessee Falls in Four Sets in NCAA Tournament Second Round

Saturday, December 1

Pullman, WA

9 pm

University of Tennessee

26-6

#19 Washington State

23-9

Tennessee

Washington State

Tennessee Falls in Four Sets in NCAA Tournament Second Round

December 01, 2018 | Volleyball

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Lady Vols season ends after advancing to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the 10th time in school history

By: Andy Kovar

PULLMAN, Wash. – No. 19 University of Tennessee fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Washington State in four sets.

The Lady Vols (26-6, 16-2 Southeastern Conference) season ends after making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012 and their first appearance in the second round since the 2011 campaign.

In the loss, junior Tessa Grubbs finished with 21 kills while hitting .306 for the match. In her final match as a Lady Vol, senior Erica Treiber finished with 13 kills (.435 hitting percentage) to go along with a team-high five blocks

After dropping the first two sets of the match, Tennessee rallied back to take the third set, leading nearly the entire way. Up 8-6, the Lady Vols went on a 7-1 run to increase their lead out to eight points. Tennessee was able to force Washington State (22-10, 12-8 PAC-12) to hit negative in the set with nine hitting errors.

The Lady Vols had five blocks in the frame including four from freshman Raquel Perinar who came in along the front row to start the frame.

In the opening frame, Grubbs helped pace the Lady Vol offense with seven kills. Tennessee dropped a close opening set in extra points 30-28. Defensively, the team was able to limit the effectiveness of Cougar senior Taylor Mims who lead the team in kills/set.

The Lady Vols held her to a negative hitting percentage and just four kills at the midway point of the second set. Grubbs added seven more kills to her name in the second set as the junior hit the ball at a .321 clip through two sets.

Washington State took the second set to take a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.

From Coach Adams:
On the match and season:
"I'm proud of our team. Throughout the year, this team has found a way to win to get us to this point. Washington State played great. They were able to get in a lot of one-on-one situations and execute." – Coach Adams

On final timeout in the four set:
"I told them that we were just going to keep fighting. We were going to keep playing our game no matter what the score is we are going to play our brand and style of volleyball." – Coach Adams

From Erica Treiber and Tessa Grubbs:
On what worked in the third set:
"We were playing a lot cleaner and really playing true Tennessee volleyball compared to what we did in the other sets. Our mentality was great going into the third set because we knew we had the grit and we were trying to give it all we had." – Erica Treiber

On feelings in her final match:
"There were lots of emotions. It stinks to lose this way but, we have a lot to be proud of over our four years. I'm excited to see where Tennessee volleyball goes next year and into the future because they are going to runs. They have so much to be proud of." –Erica Treiber

On mindset after the second set:
"What we were thinking was that we have been in this situation before and we have done this before. We have the grit to do it and it was just a matter of execution is what it really came down to." – Tessa Grubbs

On what was learned in the tournament for next season:
"This whole process has been a learning experience for us. Not a single person on this roster has been to the NCAA Tournament so, making it here was huge for us. Everything was a learning experience to us from the trip, to playing, to the level that you have to maintain to beat teams at this point of the season. What we have learned both yesterday and today is going to have to convert next year. We are going to come back with a vengeance." – Tessa Grubbs

Standout Stat

Tennessee's 14 game win increase from a year ago is tied for the most in program history and is the most in the NCAA era. The Lady Vols 26 wins mark the most since the 2011 season and is the third most in the rally-scoring era.

Match Notables:

In the match, Brooke Schumacher moved into fourth all-time in the Tennessee digs list. The senior finishes tied with Kylie Marshall (2006-09) for fourth all-time with 1,374 career digs.
Erica Treiber finished the season with 46 services ace which ties the second most by any Tennessee player in the rally scoring era and is the most since the 2002 season.
Overall on the season, the Lady Vols finish 4-4 vs. ranked opponents, giving them the most wins by an SEC team over ranked opponents and making them the only team with a winning record vs. top-25 teams.