Tennessee Takes Down Arkansas in Five Sets

Wednesday, November 13

Fayetteville, AR

6 PM

University of Tennessee

12-12, 6-8

Arkansas

8-17, 2-11

Tennessee

Arkansas

November 13, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Post-Match Interview

Junior middle blocker Addisyn Rowe finished the match with a season-high 16 kills in the come-from-behind win

By: Andy Kovar

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After trailing 2-1 sets, the University of Tennessee volleyball team came back to defeat Arkansas in five sets (25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-8) Wednesday night in Fayetteville.

Behind a season-high 16 kills from junior middle blocker Addisyn Rowe, the Lady Vols (12-12, 6-8 SEC) took the final two sets to capture their third win in the last four matches. Heading into a nine-day break, Tennessee is now just a half game back of Ole Miss in the conference standings.

Rowe was one of four Lady Vols to finish the match with double-figure kills. This included a double-double performance from sophomore outside hitter Lily Felts. The Knoxville, Tennessee native posted 14 kills and 12 digs in the five-set victory over the Razorbacks (8-17, 2-11 SEC). Five of those kills came in the final set of the match as she helped the Lady Vols build their lead early before the break.

To help close out the match, Tennessee turned back to Rowe as two straight kills from the junior gave the Lady Vols match point. After a long rally, an Arkansas attack error gave the match to Tennessee at 15-8 in the fifth.

Senior setter Sedona Hansen ended the match just one dig short of her 13th double-double of the season, posting a match-high 49 assists along with a match-high three aces. She was one of six UT players to tally an ace on Wednesday night as the team notched eight in total.

Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Mahaffey was one of those six Lady Vols. She also posted a team-high seven blocks to go along with 11 kills. For Mahaffey, it marks the fourth consecutive match she has gone for double-digit kills.

For the 42nd time in 44 matches, senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs tallied double-figure kills with 12 in the match. She had three each in the final two sets of the match to help lift Tennessee to the come-from-behind win.

From Lily Felts:
On what the talks were heading into the fifth set:
"We were saying we needed to make one more play. Just like Coach Rackham always says we just needed one more play. One more kill from the middle, one more ace. We just went into it thinking that if we just go for it on every play, try to make every hustle play and make sure every ball comes up. We knew that twould give us the best opportunity to win." – Sophomore Lily Felts

On momentum after two road wins:
"It gives us a lot of momentum, especially because winning on the road in the SEC is so much harder than winning at home. It opens up an opportunity for us to have a lot of confidence going into our next three home matches."– Sophomore Lily Felts

On getting five kills in the fifth set:
"I just went up knowing that I absolutely had to score. It was a lot our last ditch effort, our last opportunity to put it out. I knew that every set I got had to either put the other team in a bad situation or had to score. There was no other option."– Sophomore Lily Felts

Standout Stat

Over the last two matches, Tennessee has gotten 5.38 kills per set from the combination of Addisyn Rowe and Alyssa Andreno in the middle. This included a season-high 16 kills from Rowe on Wednesday night.

Match Notables:

Daniell Mahaffey tied her career high and set a new season high with seven blocks in the match.
Lily Felts notched her fourth double-double of the season and the eighth of her career. All four double-doubles this season have come in SEC play.
With nine digs in the match, Sedona Hansen enters the final four matches of the regular season needing 42 digs to join the top 10 in career digs in program history.

Next Up
The Lady Vols are off for nine days before heading back to Thompson-Boling Arena for their second match against the Crimson Tide in 11 days. On Nov. 10, both middles in senior Alyssa Andreno and junior Addisyn Rowe hit .700-plus, combining for 18 kills.

First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET) in Knoxville, Tenn. The match will also air on SEC Network+.