Lady Vols Sweep Alabama Sunday in Tuscaloosa

Sunday, November 10

Tuscaloosa, AL

3 PM

University of Tennessee

11-12,5-8SEC

Alabama

12-11,4-8SEC

Tennessee

Alabama

November 10, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Post-Match Interview

Tennessee hits an SEC-best .419 hitting percentage as five players finish with eight or more kills in the match

By: Andy Kovar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Tennessee volleyball team swept Alabama in three sets (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon in Foster Auditorium.

The Lady Vols (11-12, 5-8 SEC) had five players with eight or more kills, while the team had a SEC season-best .419 hitting percentage en route to the first straight-set victory over Alabama (12-11, 4-8 SEC) since 2016. With the win, Tennessee passes the Crimson Tide in the conference standings and sits just a game back of Ole Miss.

Senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs led the way with 11 kills from the left pin. With her fourth kill in the first set, she joined the top-10 in program history in career kills. The clinching kill handed the Lady Vols a 25-18 first set win as she powered from the left pin into the cross-court corner.

She was one of three Tennessee players to end the match with double-digit kills as junior middle blocker Addisyn Rowe and sophomore outside hitter Danielle Mahaffey each tallied 10 kills. Mahaffey ended the match just two digs shy of her third double-double of the season.

Defensively, the Lady Vols limited the Crimson Tide to just .206 hitting percentage while holding them below .200 through the first two frames of the match. Tennessee allowed Alabama to record just 32 kills in the match with just two players managing more than four kills.

Tennessee's .419 hitting percentage marks its second highest percentage of the season. Senior setter Sedona Hansen helped guide the offense as she tallied a match-high 37 assists and a match-high 11 digs to complete her double-double performance.

Hansen was able to find plenty of offense through the middle as Rowe and senior Alyssa Andreno combined for 18 kills while having a .708 hitting percentage in the match.

From Coach Rackham:
On balanced scoring throughout the team:
"That's what our team is capable of. I was excited to be able to do that against a good opponent on the road. We worked a lot this week on getting our middles more involved. They were able to come through, which obviously open things up for the pins. This is really a big team win for everybody that came in and contributed for us."-- Coach Eve Rackham

On getting big production from the middles:
"We challenged our middles to be a little bit more offensive this week. They definitely responded today. They're so important to us for our team to have success. We needed get them going and we were able to pass at a level that allowed us to get them in the game. Even in transition, we were able to find them a few times."-- Coach Rackham

On Tessa Grubbs joining the top 10 in career kills:
"I'm happy for her to be recognized. It is such a prestigious list. There are a lot of good players that are in the top 10, but she certainly deserves to be there for the work she has put in as an offensive player. I'm just proud of her and I know she's excited. I'm sure she will point to her teammates as well for her success, but she has certainly carried a big load for us."-- Coach Rackham

From Tessa Grubbs:
On entering the top 10 in career kills:
"It's really exciting. I've had ups and downs and the team around me has really allowed me to get to this point. I owe a lot of credit to the setters and to everyone who's played around me." – Senior Tessa Grubbs

On how balanced scoring helps her as a hitter:
"It helps a lot, especially when our middles get going. They were open all day and they can score at a high level. When they are doing well, it makes everything work better and the other team doesn't know where we're about to go with the ball."– Senior Tessa Grubbs

On sweeping on the road in the SEC:
"It's definitely hard. They practice every day in that gym and a lot of people in there are rooting for them. We have our group of fans, which is great. In these matches, we have to go into them with a mentality that we control everything. We determine how the game is going to go. We came in today and had a solid practice this morning. We practiced hard all week for this and it transferred into the game."– Senior Tessa Grubbs

Standout Stat

With a team-high 11 kills in the match, Tessa Grubbs joined the top-10 in program history in career kills, becoming just the second player in the 25-point rally-scoring era to enter the top 10. In the match, she also passed Sonja Thomas (1991-94) for ninth place on the list and now has 1,350 kills in her Tennessee career.

Match Notables:

With 37 assists and 11 digs in the match, Sedona Hansen needs just three more double-doubles to tie for the all-time program record. Sunday's performance was her 12th of the season and the 59th of her career.
This marks the seventh time this season Tennessee has held an opponent to 32 or less kills in a match and the third time in conference play.
Addisyn Rowe tied her season-high in both kills (10) and hitting percentage (.714) in the win over Alabama.

Next Up
The Lady Vols are back on the road Wednesday when they travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks. Last season, Tennessee swept the season series, winning in four sets at Arkansas.

First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET) at Barnhill Arena. The match will also air on ESPNU.