University of Tennessee Athletics
Friday, August 27
Knoxville
7 PM
University of Tennessee
1-0,0-0SEC
3
vs
0
Texas Tech
1-1,0-0Big 12
1
2
3
F
Texas Tech
15
17
18
0
Tennessee
25
25
25
3
Tennessee Opens 2021 Campaign with Dominant Victory over Texas Tech
August 27, 2021 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee volleyball team turned in a dominating performance Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, as it swept Texas Tech in straight sets (25-15, 25-17, 25-18) to open the 2021 campaign in the victory column.
Tennessee's (1-0) offense was on fire as it hit a blistering .350 and played suffocating defense, limiting the Red Raiders (1-1) to a .139 hitting percentage.
Colorado State graduate transfer Breana Runnels shined in her Tennessee debut, recording a double-double that included 17 kills and 12 digs. Runnels, along with junior Morgahn Fingall, led the offense with 17 kills on the night.
Senior Lily Felts notched a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. With her first double-double of the season, Felts has now earned 18 double-doubles in her career, which makes her 10th all-time in Lady Vol history. The Knoxville native is tied with Jena Berg for the 10th spot and needs just two more to move up the list into ninth.
Senior setter Natalie Hayward paced the Lady Vols with 43 assists and eight digs as she kept all of Tennessee's offensive weapons in rhythm.
The Lady Vols made quick work of the Red Raiders with a 25-15 first-set victory. Runnels wasted no time getting involved with her new team as she recorded seven kills in the opening set.
Texas Tech made a late charge in the second set, cutting the lead to 21-17, but the Lady Vols proceeded to win the next four points, winning the set 25-17.
UT brought out the brooms in the third set, completing the sweep with a 25-18 victory to win the match, 3-0.
FROM HEAD COACH EVE RACKHAM WATT
"I thought it's a great way to start the season. I feel like we played really well and I feel like Texas Tech is a good team, so I thought it was a great win for the team. I liked the fact that I saw a lot of communication from this team. That's one thing we've been talking a lot about with a couple of new players out there. I liked the fact that we just played really hard from the beginning to the end, and didn't really look at the score. We just kind of kept playing and competing."
STAT LEADERS
Kills – Breana Runnels (17), Morgahn Fingall (17)
Assists – Natalie Hayward (43)
Digs – Madison Bryant (18)
Blocks – Danielle Mahaffey (5)
Tennessee Debuts
In addition to Runnels making her debut on Rocky Top, freshman and Tennessee native Ashllyn King saw action in the match, entering to serve in the first set.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to the court Saturday with a pair of matches. The day gets going at 12:30 p.m. ET as the Lady Vols square off with ETSU. In the nightcap, UT and NC State meet up at 6:30 p.m. Both matches can be streamed on SEC Network+.
Tennessee's (1-0) offense was on fire as it hit a blistering .350 and played suffocating defense, limiting the Red Raiders (1-1) to a .139 hitting percentage.
Colorado State graduate transfer Breana Runnels shined in her Tennessee debut, recording a double-double that included 17 kills and 12 digs. Runnels, along with junior Morgahn Fingall, led the offense with 17 kills on the night.
Senior Lily Felts notched a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. With her first double-double of the season, Felts has now earned 18 double-doubles in her career, which makes her 10th all-time in Lady Vol history. The Knoxville native is tied with Jena Berg for the 10th spot and needs just two more to move up the list into ninth.
Senior setter Natalie Hayward paced the Lady Vols with 43 assists and eight digs as she kept all of Tennessee's offensive weapons in rhythm.
The Lady Vols made quick work of the Red Raiders with a 25-15 first-set victory. Runnels wasted no time getting involved with her new team as she recorded seven kills in the opening set.
Texas Tech made a late charge in the second set, cutting the lead to 21-17, but the Lady Vols proceeded to win the next four points, winning the set 25-17.
UT brought out the brooms in the third set, completing the sweep with a 25-18 victory to win the match, 3-0.
FROM HEAD COACH EVE RACKHAM WATT
"I thought it's a great way to start the season. I feel like we played really well and I feel like Texas Tech is a good team, so I thought it was a great win for the team. I liked the fact that I saw a lot of communication from this team. That's one thing we've been talking a lot about with a couple of new players out there. I liked the fact that we just played really hard from the beginning to the end, and didn't really look at the score. We just kind of kept playing and competing."
STAT LEADERS
Kills – Breana Runnels (17), Morgahn Fingall (17)
Assists – Natalie Hayward (43)
Digs – Madison Bryant (18)
Blocks – Danielle Mahaffey (5)
Tennessee Debuts
In addition to Runnels making her debut on Rocky Top, freshman and Tennessee native Ashllyn King saw action in the match, entering to serve in the first set.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to the court Saturday with a pair of matches. The day gets going at 12:30 p.m. ET as the Lady Vols square off with ETSU. In the nightcap, UT and NC State meet up at 6:30 p.m. Both matches can be streamed on SEC Network+.
Team Stats
TTU
UT
Kills
27
58
Errors
12
16
Attempts
108
120
Hitting %
.139
.350
Points
32
66
Assists
22
47
Aces
1
0
Blocks
4
8
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
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