Volleyball Central: at No. 25 Missouri

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee volleyball team travels to Columbia, Missouri to square off against No. 25 Missouri Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Vols (9-8, 3-4 SEC) became the first team in 45 matches to hold No. 16 Kentucky without a service ace in the match. It was not enough as Tennessee fell to the Wildcats in three sets Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Tigers (11-4, 3-2 SEC) improved to one game over .500 with a Friday night road victory over Auburn. Kylie Deberg and Dariana Hollingsworth both finished with 15-plus kills in the four-set win at Auburn.

The first serve of Sunday afternoon's matchup against Missouri is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) in the Hearnes Center. The match can also be seen on SEC Network.

SHE'S BEEN MADJICAL
Junior libero Madison Coulter comes into Sunday's match as the leader in total digs with 141 digs in seven matches conference matches. She has a 5.04 digs per set average in SEC matches.

Coulter has a career-high 4.30 digs per set average this season. She is now is tied for seventh in digs per set in a career with former Lady Vol Bridgette Villano with a mark of 3.23 digs per set.

LAST TIME
Tennessee vs. No. 16 Kentucky (Oct. 16)
Result: L, 0-3

Tennessee nearly took the first and third sets off of the nationally-ranked Wildcats before falling in three sets at home. It was just the fourth loss at home in the Eve Rackham era with three coming against top-25 teams.
- Lily Felts nearly recorded her second double double of the season in the defeat, posting a team-high 14 kills and nine digs in the loss while Sedona Hansen notched her ninth double double of the season.

SERIES HISTORY
Versus Missouri
Series: Missouri leads 8-5
-Last: Nov. 14, 2018 W, 3-1 Columbia, Missouri

After dropping the opening set of the match, Tennessee came back to take the next three and the match. The Lady Vols ran away with the fourth and final set, winning 25-12 to help extend their winning streak over the Tigers to three matches.
- Sedona Hansen finished with a season-high 48 assists in the match while Tess Grubbs had a game-high 20 kills to lead the Lady Vols to its first ever victory in Columbia.

STANDOUT STAT
So far this conference season, Tennessee is 3-0 in bounce back games. The Lady Vols have stifled the opponents offense in all three matches, holding their opponents to a combined .146 hitting percentage in those matches.

In the last two, Tennessee has held its opponent to under a .100 hitting percentage.

FELTS ON FIRE
In the last six matches of the season, Lily Felts has recorded double-digit kills five times with a 3.22 kills per set average.

She notched a team-high 14 kills Wednesday night against No. 16 Kentucky, having a season-high .406 hitting percentage. She nearly recorded her second double double of the season as she finished the match with nine digs.

QUEEN OF KILLS
Tessa Grubbs has averaged 4.00 kills per set though 16 matches this season which ranks fourth in the SEC.

For the first time this season and just the second time in 37 matches, the Tega Cay, S.C. native was held to single-digit kills on Wednesday against No. 16 Kentucky. During that stretch of 37 matches, she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills.

Her career 3.70 kills per set ranks third in program history just trailing Tamala Bightman (4.32 K/S) and Ariana Wilson (4.08 K/S). Grubbs is also 21st on the career active leaders list among all of Division I.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior setter Sedona Hansen recorded her ninth double double of the season with 15 assists and 12 digs Wednesday night against No. 16 Kentucky. She is second all-time in program history for career double doubles with 55, just seven matches off the all-time program record.

She currently ranks fifth all-time in career assists with 3,082 while ranking 15th in digs with 1,040.

During the Auburn match on Oct. 6, Hansen became just the fourth player in Tennessee history to have 3,000-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs in her career.

NEXT UP
The Lady Vols face their third consecutive team who made the 2018 NCAA Tournament when they travel to Columbia, South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Friday. Last season, Tennessee dispatched South Carolina in three sets in Thompson-Boling Arena.

First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at the Carolina Volleyball Center. The match will also air on SEC Network+.