Volleyball Central: at Georgia

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Volleyball team is back on the road for the third match of conference play as it will take on Georgia Friday night in Stegeman Coliseum.

The Lady Vols (7-5, 1-1 SEC) are coming off their first win over in SEC play, defeating Texas A&M in five sets on Sunday afternoon. Senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs helped lead them to the victory, tallying seven of her team-high 18 kills in the final set including the match clincher.

The Bulldogs (9-4, 1-1 SEC) started conference play with a five-set win over South Carolina before falling at No. 12 Florida on Sunday. Freshman Kacie Evans tied her season high with 16 kills against the Gators.

The first serve of Friday's match against Georgia is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) in Athens, Georgia. The match can also be seen on SEC Network+.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD
For the second consecutive season, Tennessee had a player named as a top 30 candidate for the Senior Class Award. Tessa Grubbs joined 2018 nominee Erica Treiber. Additionally, Grubbs was one of five players from the SEC to be named to the list.

Tennessee is the only SEC school to have players named to the list in the last two seasons and one of just five programs nationally to have that honor.

LAST TIME
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 29)
Result: W, 3-2

After dropping the fourth set to Texas A&M, Tennessee fended off four match points to prevail over the Aggies 19-17 in five sets for the first conference win of the season
- Sedona Hansen and Danielle Mahaffey both had their second double-double performance of the weekend with Hansen tallying 43 assists and 14 digs while Mahaffey notched 15 kills and 15 digs.

SERIES HISTORY
Versus Georgia
Series: Tennessee leads 48-27
-Last: Oct. 28, 2018 W, 3-2 Athens, Georgia

The Lady Vols battled back from 0-2 down to defeat Georgia in Athens, giving the team its 18th win of the season and ninth of SEC play. Tennessee became ranked for the first time that season the next day.
- Tessa Grubbs tallied a then career-high 27 kills in the come-from-behind victory while Addisyn Rowe had eight blocks in the win.

STANDOUT STAT
Tennessee enters the match against the Bulldogs with 48 wins over Georgia which marks the most wins over any program they have ever played. The Lady Vols have also played the Bulldogs (75 matches) more than any other team in their history.

QUEEN OF KILLS
Over the last two seasons, Tessa Grubbs has averaged 4.19 kills per set though 12 matches this season which ranks second in the SEC.

The Tega Cay, S.C. native has now had double-digit kills in 31 of the last 32 matches including all 12 matches this season. During that stretch, she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills.

Her career 3.71 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 19th on the career active leaders list among all of Division I.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior setter Sedona Hansen recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 43 assists and 14 digs in the SEC home opener against Texas A&M on Sunday. She is alone in second all-time in program history for career double-doubles with 53 just nine matches off the all-time program record.

She currently ranks sixth all-time in career assists with 2,970 while ranking 16th in digs with 996.

Hansen is just four digs away from becoming just the fourth player in Tennessee history to have 2,500-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs.

She also needs just six assists to enter the top five in program history in career assists while also needing just 30 assists to join the 3,000-assist club.

MADJICAL
Junior libero/defensive specialist Madison Coulter had a special weekend along the back row. She finished the weekend with 58 digs including a new career-high 35 digs in the match against Ole Miss.

Her 5.80 dig per set average is the highest weekly average she has had in her career. The Maryville, Tennessee native enters the match against Georgia with a 4.19 dig per set average this season.

Coulter also ranks ninth in program history with a 3.13 digs per set average in her Tennessee career.

NEXT UP
The Lady Vols continue their road weekend, traveling to Auburn for a match on Sunday afternoon. Last season, Tennessee defeated the Tigers in four sets to open up SEC play.

First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (ET) at Auburn Arena. The match will also air on SEC Network+.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Madison Coulter

Tessa Grubbs

Sedona Hansen

Danielle Mahaffey

Addisyn Rowe

Erica Treiber

University of Tennessee Athletics