MATCH CENTRAL: Spartan Invitational

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 21 University of Tennessee volleyball heads to East Lansing, Mich. for the Spartan Invitational starting on Friday.

The Lady Vols come into the weekend after a home-and-home series with No. 6 Illinois. Tennessee fell in both matches in five-set thrillers. Seniors Tessa Grubbs set a new career high with 29 kills on Friday while fellow senior Sedona Hansen set new career-high in digs with 29 in the season opener.

In the opening match of the tournament, Tennessee will face off against Cincinnati. The Bearcats finished last season 26-8 and fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Cincinnati returns an AVCA All-American in Jordan Thompson, who led NCAA Division I with 6.27 kills per set in 2018 and played for the US National Team in the Volleyball Nations League over the summer.

The Lady Vols will close play on Friday against Miami (OH). The Redhawks finished 2018 with a record of 23-9 and advance to the MAC Championship. Miami (OH) is led by Margaret Payne, who is averaging .373 hitting with 2.86 kills per set.

To conclude the weekend, Tennessee will face the host, Michigan State. The Spartans faced off against the Lady Vols in Knoxville during 2018 with Tennessee grabbing a four-set win to open up the Eve Rackham era.

Friday's matches against Cincinnati and Miami (OH) are at 10:15 a.m. and 5 p.m. (ET), respectively. Tennessee closes out the tournament against Michigan State at 1:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. All matches during the weekend will be streamed on Big Ten Network+.

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN
In just the second match of the season, freshman right side hitter Morgahn Fingall made an immediate impact. Fingall led the Lady Vols with 11 kills while adding three block assists at No. 6 Illinois as Tennessee nearly came all the way back from 0-2 down to defeat the Fighting Illini on their home floor.

LAST TIME
Tennessee vs. No. 6 Illinois (Sept. 1)
Location: Champaign, Illinois

No. 19 University of Tennessee was defeated in five sets by No. 6 Illinois on Sunday. Illinois took the first two sets of the match and the Lady Vols came back to force a fifth set, but fell to the Illini.
- Sophomore Danielle Mahaffey led Tennessee offensively hitting .280 with 11 kills, while junior Addisyn Rowe led defensively with four block assists. Rowe leads the team in blocks (10) and blocks per set (1.00) in the opening weekend.

SERIES HISTORY
Versus Cincinnati
Series: Tied 7-3
-Last: Aug. 26, 2016 W       3-1    Knoxville, Tenn.

Versus Miami (OH)
Series: Miami (OH) leads 3-4
-Last: Aug. 26, 2006 W        3-1    Knoxville, Tenn.

Versus Michigan State
Series: Tied 1-1
-Last: Aug. 24, 2018 W        3-1    Knoxville, Tenn.

STANDOUT STAT
Tennessee holds a combined record of 40-25 (.625) against the Mid-American Conference, Big Ten and the American Athletic Conference.

This marks the first time since 2011 the Lady Vols will play a team from each conference in the same season.

IN BIG TEN COUNTRY
This marks the first time since the 2005 season that Tennessee will be traveling to Big Ten country twice in the same season.

That season, the Lady Vols advanced to the Final Four including a four-set victory at No. 2 Penn State in the Sweet 16.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Senior setter Sedona Hansen recorded her second double-double of the season with 37 assists and 14 digs in a loss to No. 6 Illinois on September 1. She is tied with Kelsey Robinson (2010-12) for third all-time in program history in career double-doubles with 49 just 13 matches off the all-time program record.

She currently ranks ninth all-time in career assists with 2,623 while ranking 20th in digs with 915. Hansen is just 85 digs away from becoming just the third player in Tennessee history to have 2,500-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Tennessee is one of just five programs in the nation to start the season with three matches against teams who finished the 2018 season in the Top 25 in RPI. The Lady Vols open with a home-and-home series against Illinois who finished No. 2 in the RPI.

Tennessee faces of against Cincinnati, who finished No. 24 in the RPI, at the Spartan Invitational at 10:15 a.m. on Friday in East Lansing, Michigan.

NEXT UP
The Lady Vols will travel to Waco, Texas for the Baylor Invitational at Baylor. The field will include Houston and Baylor next weekend.

The first match is scheduled for Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET against the Houston Cougars.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Morgahn Fingall

Tessa Grubbs

Sedona Hansen

Danielle Mahaffey

Addisyn Rowe

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