Volleyball Central: Tennessee Classic

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee will round out their non-conference slate when it hosts ETSU, Georgia Southern and North Dakota State at the annual Tennessee Classic at Thompson-Boling Arena this weekend.

The Lady Vols (3-4) come into the weekend after defeating Houston and falling to No. 5 Baylor at the Baylor Invitational last weekend in Waco, Texas.

In the first match of the tournament, Tennessee squares off against the Buccaneers (7-2) who are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the UAB Tournament where they were defeated in five sets by the host Blazers in the final match of the tournament.

Georgia Southern (4-4) dropped a close five-set match to North Florida on Tuesday night. The Eagles are led by sophomore outside hitter Maddie Bryant who is averaging 3.62 kills per set, which ranks eighth in the Sun Belt Conference.

The Lady Vols will finish the weekend against North Dakota State (5-4) on Saturday night. Sophomore setter Kalli Hegerle has four triple-double performances already this season and has tallied double-digit kills in five of the nine matches this season.

Friday's match against ETSU is scheduled for at 6:30 p.m. (ET) with matches against Georgia Southern and North Dakota State set for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (ET). All Tennessee matches can be seen on SEC Network+.

TENNESSEE CLASSIC HISTORY
Tennessee has hosted the Tennessee Classic since 2015, and currently sits at 13-0 all time in the tournament's history. The last time the Lady Vols lost a home tournament game came in 2014 at the DISH Lady Vol Classic against Memphis in four sets.

Last year during the Classic, Tennessee opened up the year with a win over No. 22 Michigan State and went on to sweep the next two matches against Belmont and Chattanooga. Tessa Grubbs and Lily Felts earned All-Tournament honors.

LAST TIME
Tennessee at No. 5 Baylor (Sept. 14)
Result: L, 0-3

University of Tennessee fell in three sets to host No. 5 Baylor in the final match of the Baylor Invitational.
- 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). She was honored as the

SERIES HISTORY
Versus ETSU
Series: Tennessee leads 28-7
-Last: Sept. 4, 2018 L, 3-2 Johnson City, Tenn.
-After winning six straight to open the 2018 season, Tennessee fell for the first time in five sets in Johnson City. Outside hitter Tessa Grubbs tallied a then career-high 25 kills in the five-set loss.

Versus Georgia Southern
Series: First Meeting

Versus North Dakota State
Series: First Meeting

STANDOUT STAT
Since moving to Thompson-Boling Arena in 2008, the Lady Vols hold a record of 106-51 (.675) at home including a record of 14-1 (.933) last season. Tennessee has won its last 21 matches at home tournaments including 13 straight in the Tennessee Classic.

QUEEN OF KILLS
Over the last two seasons, Tessa Grubbs has averaged 4.10 kills per set including a 4.00 kills/set though five matches this season.

The Tega Cay, S.C. native has now had double-digit kills in 26 of the last 27 matches including all seven matches this season. During that stretch, she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior setter Sedona Hansen recorded her third double-double of the season with 40 assists and 10 digs in a loss to No. 5 Baylor on September 14. She surpassed Kelsey Robinson (2011-12) for third all-time in program history in career double-doubles with 50 just 12 matches off the all-time program record.

She currently ranks eighth all-time in career assists with 2,762 while ranking 19th in digs with 945.

Hansen is just 55 digs away from becoming just the third player in Tennessee history to have 2,500-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs.

NEXT UP
The Lady Vols open conference play on the road for the second consecutive season traveling to Ole Miss on Friday, Sept. 27.

First serve is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (ET) at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center in Oxford, Mississippi. The match will air on SEC Network+.