Volleyball Central: vs. Texas A&M

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Volleyball team returns to Thompson-Boling Arena for the SEC home opener against Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Vols (6-5, 0-1 SEC) dropped their first match of conference play on Friday night at Ole Miss. Despite having a higher hitting percentage and more kills, Tennessee fell in a closely contested five-set match.

The Aggies (8-2, 1-0 SEC) are coming off a four-set win on Tuesday night against Alabama. Senior outside hitter Hollann Hans tallied 24 kills in the victory over the Crimson Tide.

The first serve of Sunday's match against the Aggies is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET) in Thompson-Boling Arena. The match can also be seen on SEC Network.

CAREER-HIGHS
Senior setter Sedona Hansen, junior Madison Coulter and sophomore Danielle Mahaffey all recorded new career-highs in Friday night's match in Oxford, Miss.

Hansen finished the match with 60 assists, topping her previous career-high by four assists. Mahaffey tallied a career-high in both kills with 17 and digs with 21. Coulter notched 35 digs, marking just the 10th time in program history a Lady Vol has had 35 or more digs in a match.

LAST TIME
Tennessee at Ole Miss (Sept. 27)
Result: L, 3-2

Despite career-highs from three separate Lady Vols, Tennessee fell on the road in five sets Friday night against Ole Miss. Two points decided all three sets in which the Lady Vols lost.
- Tessa Grubbs, who had a career-best 11 kills in the first set of the match, finished with a team-high 19 kills in the loss just one shy of her fourth 20-plus kill outing of the season.

SERIES HISTORY
Versus Texas A&M
Series: Texas A&M leads 10-8
-Last: Nov. 4, 2018 W, 3-1 Knoxville, Tennessee

The Lady Vols grabbed their 20th win of the season defeating Texas A&M in four sets while limiting All-SEC selection Hollann Hans to just four kills (.111 hitting percentage).
- Tessa Grubbs led the way with a game-high 18 kills including the match clincher over the Aggies. She finished the night hitting .361 in the match.

STANDOUT STAT
Tennessee enters Sunday with a 17-2 record (.895 percent) in home matches under Eve Rackham. Last season, the Lady Vols went 8-1 in home conference matches.

QUEEN OF KILLS
Over the last two seasons, Tessa Grubbs has averaged 4.21 kills per set including a 4.26 kills/set though 11 matches this season.

The Tega Cay, S.C. native has now had double-digit kills in 30 of the last 31 matches including all 11 matches this season. During that stretch, she has 11 matches with 20-plus kills.

Her career 3.71 kills per set rank third in program history just trailing Tamala Bightman (4.32 K/S) and Ariana Wilson (4.08 K/S).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior setter Sedona Hansen recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 60 assists and 14 digs in the SEC opener at Ole Miss on Friday night. She is now tied for second all-time in program history in career double-doubles with 52 just 10 matches off the all-time program record.

She currently ranks seventh all-time in career assists with 2,927 while ranking 16th in digs with 982.

Hansen is just 32 digs away from becoming just the third player in Tennessee history to have 2,500-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs.

SEC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
After being named the MVP of the Tennessee Classic, senior Sedona Hansen was named the SEC Player of the Week while also being named SEC Setter of the Week. Fellow senior Tessa Grubbs took home Offensive Player of the Week honors, an award she earned twice last season.

Hansen played out of the 5-1 in all three matches as the team nearly averaged a .400 hitting percentage, finishing with a .399 hitting percentage on the weekend. Grubbs posted 5.00 kills per set this week with 12 or more kills in all straight-set victories.

NEXT UP
The Lady Vols are back on the road on Friday night when they travel to Athens, Georgia for a matchup against Georgia. Last season, Tennessee defeated the Bulldogs in five sets.

First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at Stegeman Coliseum. The match will also air on SEC Network+.