University of Tennessee Athletics
Wednesday, October 16
Knoxville
7:00 PM
University of Tennessee
9-8,3-4SEC
0
vs
3
Kentucky
12-5,5-1SEC
1
2
3
F
Kentucky
25
25
30
3
Tennessee
23
17
28
0
Lady Vols Fall to Nationally-Ranked Kentucky
October 16, 2019 | Volleyball
Sophomore Lily Felts finishes with a team-high 14 kills to go along with nine digs in the loss to No. 16 Kentucky
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee volleyball team fell inside of Thompson-Boling Arena in three sets to No. 16 Kentucky (23-25, 17-25, 28-30) Wednesday night.
The Lady Vols (9-8, 3-4 SEC) nearly took the first and third sets off the nationally-ranked Wildcats (12-5, 5-1 SEC), but ultimately were unable to close out either frame.
Tennessee had four set point opportunities in the third set nearly forcing the match to a fourth frame, but a pair of Lady Vol service errors and two Wildcat kills pushed to set to 28-28. Reigning SEC Player of the Year Leah Edmond put Kentucky up for good giving them match point at 29-28 before a kill from Azhani Tealer gave the Wildcats the match.
Sophomore Lily Felts continued to anchor the Tennessee offense, recording a team-high 14 kills while also posting nine digs. For just the second time in 37 matches, senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs was held to single-digit kills, posting eight in the match.
Kentucky came into the match with a 45-match streak of having a service ace dating back to Aug. 25, 2018 against Northern Iowa. Tennessee held the Wildcats without an ace on 72 attempts Wednesday night. The Lady Vols were led along the back row by junior Madison Coulter who posted a team-high 14 digs.
Senior Sedona Hansen notched her ninth double double of the season and her second consecutive, adding 15 assists to her team-high 11 digs.
In four of the last five matches, Tennessee has had more blocks than its opponent. This included Wednesday night when the it recorded seven blocks to Kentucky's five. Freshman right side Morgahn Fingall had a match-high four blocks in the loss.
From Coach Rackham:
On playing a closely contested match against No. 16 Kentucky:
"I'm proud of our efforts, I think that the mentality we had going into this match was one that we can build off. We put ourselves in a position to have success tonight. It wasn't our night, but I liked the way our team came out and and I liked a lot of the stuff we did. It just wasn't enough tonight"-- Coach Eve Rackham
On the positives to take away from the match:
"Kentucky is one of the best serving teams in the conference if not around the country. I thought our receivers handled handled the service pressure really well. That is progress for us. Morgahn Fingall started slow, but came on and she got better. Lily Felts was tremendous for us. There were some positive moments, but it wasn't enough."-- Coach Rackham
On Lily Felts recent stretch of double-digit kills:
"Lily had another great night. She's a competitive kid and when she comes to play hard, and she comes with a mentality of winning she's really tough to stop. I was happy for her from an offensive standpoint. I also thought she did a nice job as a receiver, and as serving for us."-- Coach Rackham
Standout Stat
The Lady Vols play their second straight match against a ranked opponent as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to play the Missouri Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Tennessee swept the season series against the Tigers last season including a four-set win at Missouri.
First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) at the Hearnes Center. The match will also air on SEC Network.
The Lady Vols (9-8, 3-4 SEC) nearly took the first and third sets off the nationally-ranked Wildcats (12-5, 5-1 SEC), but ultimately were unable to close out either frame.
Tennessee had four set point opportunities in the third set nearly forcing the match to a fourth frame, but a pair of Lady Vol service errors and two Wildcat kills pushed to set to 28-28. Reigning SEC Player of the Year Leah Edmond put Kentucky up for good giving them match point at 29-28 before a kill from Azhani Tealer gave the Wildcats the match.
Sophomore Lily Felts continued to anchor the Tennessee offense, recording a team-high 14 kills while also posting nine digs. For just the second time in 37 matches, senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs was held to single-digit kills, posting eight in the match.
Kentucky came into the match with a 45-match streak of having a service ace dating back to Aug. 25, 2018 against Northern Iowa. Tennessee held the Wildcats without an ace on 72 attempts Wednesday night. The Lady Vols were led along the back row by junior Madison Coulter who posted a team-high 14 digs.
Senior Sedona Hansen notched her ninth double double of the season and her second consecutive, adding 15 assists to her team-high 11 digs.
In four of the last five matches, Tennessee has had more blocks than its opponent. This included Wednesday night when the it recorded seven blocks to Kentucky's five. Freshman right side Morgahn Fingall had a match-high four blocks in the loss.
From Coach Rackham:
On playing a closely contested match against No. 16 Kentucky:
"I'm proud of our efforts, I think that the mentality we had going into this match was one that we can build off. We put ourselves in a position to have success tonight. It wasn't our night, but I liked the way our team came out and and I liked a lot of the stuff we did. It just wasn't enough tonight"-- Coach Eve Rackham
On the positives to take away from the match:
"Kentucky is one of the best serving teams in the conference if not around the country. I thought our receivers handled handled the service pressure really well. That is progress for us. Morgahn Fingall started slow, but came on and she got better. Lily Felts was tremendous for us. There were some positive moments, but it wasn't enough."-- Coach Rackham
On Lily Felts recent stretch of double-digit kills:
"Lily had another great night. She's a competitive kid and when she comes to play hard, and she comes with a mentality of winning she's really tough to stop. I was happy for her from an offensive standpoint. I also thought she did a nice job as a receiver, and as serving for us."-- Coach Rackham
Standout Stat
- After not having any double-digit kill matches entering the stretch, sophomore Lily Felts has now recorded double-digit kills in the five of the last six matches. She has led Tennessee in kills in two straight matches.
- Sedona Hansen's ninth double double of the season gives her 55 career double doubles, which ranks second in program history.
- For the first time this season, freshman Kailey Keeble finished the match with more assists than Sedona Hansen, posting a team-high 20 assists in the match.
- For the third time in her career, junior libero Madison Coulter ended the match with two aces, matching her career high. Both came in the first set.
The Lady Vols play their second straight match against a ranked opponent as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to play the Missouri Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Tennessee swept the season series against the Tigers last season including a four-set win at Missouri.
First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) at the Hearnes Center. The match will also air on SEC Network.
Team Stats
UK
UT
Kills
53
45
Errors
10
16
Attempts
121
126
Hitting %
.355
.230
Points
58.0
55.0
Assists
47
43
Aces
0
3
Blocks
5.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S
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