University of Tennessee Athletics
Friday, February 12
Knoxville
6:30 PM
University of Tennessee
5-4,5-4SEC
3
vs
2
Missouri
8-3,8-3SEC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Missouri
25
27
25
24
11
2
Tennessee
27
25
18
26
15
3
Lady Vols Knock Off #16 Missouri in five-Set Thriller
February 13, 2021 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Rallying from a two sets to one deficit, the Lady Vol volleyball team knocked off No. 16 Missouri in a five-set thriller Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The win is Tennessee's (5-4, 5-4 SEC) second victory over a ranked opponent this season and extends its winning streak to three-straight dating to the final two matches in the fall.
"Volleyball is a game of runs. You never like to be down but this team has a lot of fight and grit," head coach Eve Rackham Watt said. "The comeback in the fourth set shows what this team is about. Even in the second set when we were down I still felt like we're in this because that is the kind of team that we have. We don't give up."
Down 18-12 in the fourth set, UT chipped away at Mizzou as it strung together a 10-2 run to flip the set in its favor at 22-20. The Tigers clawed back twice to even up the score at 23-23 and 24-24. A kill from Lily Felts, one of her 16 kills on the night, gave the Lady Vols set-point at 25-24.
Mizzou (8-4, 8-4 SEC) thought it had again knotted up the set with a kill from Leandra Mangual-Duran, but after a Tennessee challenge, Mangual-Duran was ruled to have touched the ball on its way out of bounds. That gave Tennessee the fourth-set win at 26-24 and sent the match into a fifth and final set.
With Tennessee leading 12-9 in the fifth set, Missouri made things interesting by securing back-to-back points to close to within one of the Lady Vols. However, Felts and Morgahn Fingall closed the door on the rally by helping UT rattle off three-straight kills to secure the match victory.
Four Lady Vols posted double-digit kills on the night, led by Felts' 16. Felts hit at a .325 clip in UT's first match of the spring and added 18 digs to her night's tally. It is the seventh-straight double-digit kill performance for the Knoxville native and her fifth double-double of the year.
Fellow junior Danielle Mahaffey pitched in 15 kills, while hitting a team-high .440. The Cincinnati, Ohio native added a pair of blocks to her night's work. Freshman Jasmine Brooks scored 14 kills, six digs and also tallied two blocks against Mizzou on Friday night.
Rounding out the quartet was Fingall who notched 13 kills and four total blocks.
Keeping the offense running, junior Natalie Hayward scored a season-and-career-high 54 assists. She also earned herself a double-double with 14 digs on the night.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to the court Saturday for its second match against No. 16 Missouri. First serve from Thompson-Boling Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
QUOTABLES
Junior Lily Felts
On her message to the team when they were down 2-1 going into set four…
"That we have to fight. They had more to lose than us because they were ranked and we just laid it all out there. I told my teammates – make every play, hit the ground as hard as you can, and don't let the ball drop. We had to play hard."
Junior Danielle Mahaffey
On having to play the same team tomorrow night…
"We only have until midnight to celebrate this win. We won but we have to be able to do it again."
The win is Tennessee's (5-4, 5-4 SEC) second victory over a ranked opponent this season and extends its winning streak to three-straight dating to the final two matches in the fall.
"Volleyball is a game of runs. You never like to be down but this team has a lot of fight and grit," head coach Eve Rackham Watt said. "The comeback in the fourth set shows what this team is about. Even in the second set when we were down I still felt like we're in this because that is the kind of team that we have. We don't give up."
Down 18-12 in the fourth set, UT chipped away at Mizzou as it strung together a 10-2 run to flip the set in its favor at 22-20. The Tigers clawed back twice to even up the score at 23-23 and 24-24. A kill from Lily Felts, one of her 16 kills on the night, gave the Lady Vols set-point at 25-24.
Mizzou (8-4, 8-4 SEC) thought it had again knotted up the set with a kill from Leandra Mangual-Duran, but after a Tennessee challenge, Mangual-Duran was ruled to have touched the ball on its way out of bounds. That gave Tennessee the fourth-set win at 26-24 and sent the match into a fifth and final set.
With Tennessee leading 12-9 in the fifth set, Missouri made things interesting by securing back-to-back points to close to within one of the Lady Vols. However, Felts and Morgahn Fingall closed the door on the rally by helping UT rattle off three-straight kills to secure the match victory.
Four Lady Vols posted double-digit kills on the night, led by Felts' 16. Felts hit at a .325 clip in UT's first match of the spring and added 18 digs to her night's tally. It is the seventh-straight double-digit kill performance for the Knoxville native and her fifth double-double of the year.
Fellow junior Danielle Mahaffey pitched in 15 kills, while hitting a team-high .440. The Cincinnati, Ohio native added a pair of blocks to her night's work. Freshman Jasmine Brooks scored 14 kills, six digs and also tallied two blocks against Mizzou on Friday night.
Rounding out the quartet was Fingall who notched 13 kills and four total blocks.
Keeping the offense running, junior Natalie Hayward scored a season-and-career-high 54 assists. She also earned herself a double-double with 14 digs on the night.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to the court Saturday for its second match against No. 16 Missouri. First serve from Thompson-Boling Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
QUOTABLES
Junior Lily Felts
On her message to the team when they were down 2-1 going into set four…
"That we have to fight. They had more to lose than us because they were ranked and we just laid it all out there. I told my teammates – make every play, hit the ground as hard as you can, and don't let the ball drop. We had to play hard."
Junior Danielle Mahaffey
On having to play the same team tomorrow night…
"We only have until midnight to celebrate this win. We won but we have to be able to do it again."
Team Stats
Mizzou
UT
Kills
59
71
Errors
25
21
Attempts
163
169
Hitting %
.209
.296
Points
69
82.5
Assists
47
61
Aces
4
2
Blocks
6
9.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH/RS
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