Lady Vols Capture Third Straight over Houston

Friday, September 13

Waco, Tx

4 PM

University of Tennessee

3-3

Houston

5-6

Houston

Tennessee

September 13, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

Tennessee dominates the final two sets of the match to capture its third consecutive win and the second straight in five sets

By: Andy Kovar

WACO, Texas – For the second consecutive match, the Tennessee volleyball team erased a 2-1 deficit to come back and win in five set over Houston (23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 15-8).

The Lady Vols dominated the final two sets of the match, holding the Cougars to .000 hitting percentage while limiting them to just 12 kills combined in the final two frames. Meanwhile, Tennessee combined for 26 kills over that span while having a .404 hitting percentage to close out its third consecutive win of the season.

Led by a career-high tying performance of 29 digs from junior libero Madison Coulter, Tennessee had the most digs in two seasons, finishing with 90 in the match. Last season, the Lady Vols season-high was 88 in a four-set win over LSU.

Offensivlely, Austin, Texas native, sophomore Ava Bell, finished with 12 kills on the night without committing an attack error. She hit .545 in the match while also adding two blocks and an ace.

Senior Tessa Grubbs recorded 20-plus kills for the second consecutive match and the third time this season, posting a match-high 20 kills to go along with two blocks and four digs.

Freshman setter Kailey Keeble tallied her first career double double with 18 assists and 10 digs in the victory. Both Lady Vol setters finished the match with a double double as senior Sedona Hansen had a match-high 40 assists along with 10 digs.

From Coach Rackham:
On dominating the final two sets of the match:
"Our team made a decision that they were going to win that match. Physically, we were making a lot of errors in the first three sets, even in the set we won. We weren't playing very clean volleyball, but I think they recognize that we needed to play a little bit cleaner. And we're able to do that in the fourth."-- Coach Eve Rackham

On Ava Bell's performance:
"I'm just proud of her because she's worked really hard to put herself in a position to be able to help us. She gives us another option, offensivley. I'm just excited for what she's been able to do. And in terms of her efficiency, the setters are really comfortable and confident in setting her the ball. She's been able to make good decisions. I also was really happy with her blocking. In the stats, she didn't have a lot of blocks, but she was she made things easier for our defense. "-- Coach Rackham

On playing against No. 5 Baylor on the road:
"What I feel confident about is that this isn't going to be anything new for this team. We've been challenged in every match. We've played with played a number of really good teams this season. Baylor's another really good team. So, our team is going to feel confident going in that. We've faced some really good players and some really good teams already this season and Baylor is going to be another one of them. Our team knows that we're going to need to be ready to play at a high level. "-- Coach Rackham

From Ava Bell:
On playing back in her home state:
"It was really exciting to be back home and playing in front of my family and friends. I miss them, of course, but it's just good to know you have support behind you. I think that they were a great support system for the whole team. They were very loud and excited the whole time." -- Sophomore Ava Bell

On having 12 kills and no errors:
"It all comes down to what kind of dig I'm given and what kind of set. Our defense is doing a really great job of just being scrappy and helping get the ball up." -- Sophomore Ava Bell

Standout Stat

Tennessee's 90 digs in the match set a new season high on Friday night. It marks the most digs in a match since Oct. 27, 2017 when the Lady Vols had 101 digs in a five-set loss at Texas A&M. Five Lady Vols finished with double-digit digs with Lily Felts (13 digs) and Kailey Keeble (10 digs) posting season-high performances.

Match Notables:

Bell now has a team-best .558 hitting percentage in five matches this season while averaging 1.68 kills per set. She has hit north of .380 in the last three matches.
Keeble set new season-highs with 18 assists and 10 digs en route to her first collegiate double double.
Grubbs has now had double-digit kills in 26 of the last 27 matches including all six matches this season. During that stretch she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills including tonight.

Next Up:
The Lady Vols conclude the Baylor Invitational with a match against host No. 5 Baylor on Saturday. The Bears (6-0) enter undefeated after defeating Houston in four sets on Thursday night.
First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.