Tennessee Falls on the Road to No. 5 Baylor

Saturday, September 14

Waco, TX

2 PM

University of Tennessee

3-4

Baylor

7-0

Tennessee

Baylor

September 14, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

Tessa Grubbs finishes with 15 kills in the three-set loss to the top-5 Bears

By: Andy Kovar

WACO, Texas – After coming into the match on a three-match winning streak, the Tennessee volleyball team (3-4) fell on the road to No. 5 Baylor in three sets (18-25, 17-25, 16-25) on Saturday afternoon.

Senior outside hitter Tessa Grubbs finished with a match-high 15 kills in the loss to the Bears (7-0). This marks the 25th time in the last 26 matches the Tega Cay, S.C. native posted double-digit kill numbers. For her performance in the tournament, she was honored with the Best Attacker Award at the end of Baylor Invitational.

Grubbs got off to a quick start in the match with seven kills in the opening frame while also having a .286 hitting percentage. She now is just three kills away from passing Erica Treiber for 16th on the all-time kills list.

Fellow senior Alyssa Andreno also took home tournament accolades as she was awarded with the Best Blocker award. In the today's match, Andreno posted team-high five total blocks and finished the weekend with 12 total blocker (1.50 blocks per set).

Senior setter Sedona Hansen closed out the tournament with a team-high 25 assists while also chipping in five digs. After accumulating 15 digs on the weekend, the Wrightwood, Calif. native is now just 55 digs away from reaching the 1,000 career dig mark.

Standout Stat

Tennessee limited AVCA National Player of the Week Yossiana Pressley to a season-low .226 hitting percentage on Saturday while also limiting her to just 4.00 kills per set, which is two less than her season average of 6.20 kills per set she had coming into the match.

Match Notables:

The Lady Vols aced Baylor libero Tara Wulf twice on their three aces in the match. She came into Saturday's match having just seven return errors on the season. She also finished with just six digs in the match (2.00 digs per set), her second-lowest total of the season.
The Tennessee defense limited the Bears' offense to just 12.67 kills per set, nearly two kills less per set than their season average of 14.55 coming into the afternoon.
Grubbs has now had double-digit kills in 25 of the last 26 matches including all three matches this season. During that stretch she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills. Today she finished with 5.00 kills per set, a full kill better than her season average entering the match.

Next Up:
The Lady Vols return home to close out the non-conference slate at the Tennessee Classic on Friday and Saturday. The opening match is set against East Tennessee State on Friday night.
First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on SEC Network+.