Tennessee Drops a Heartbreaker to No. 7 Pittsburgh in Five Sets

Sunday, September 5

Knoxville

1 PM

University of Tennessee

4-1,0-0SEC

Pittsburgh

5-0,0-0ACC

Pittsburgh

Tennessee

Tennessee Drops a Heartbreaker to No. 7 Pittsburgh in Five Sets

September 05, 2021 | Volleyball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee volleyball team fell in a heartbreaker Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena, dropping a five-set match to No. 7-ranked Pittsburgh (23-25, 25-16, 26-28, 25-20, 10-15).

Tennessee (4-1) played its second top-10 opponent of the weekend and for the second time, played a five-set match. The Lady Vols defeated No. 9 Baylor in five on Friday but was unable to pull out the victory over Pittsburgh (5-0) in five.

Morgahn Fingall and Breana Runnels led the attack Sunday as they combined for 39 of the Lady Vols 66 kills. Fingall tallied a team-leading 21 kills and hit .250 against the Panthers, while also playing stout defense.

The Fairfax, Virginia, native picked up seven blocks in the match and had nine digs. For the weekend, Fingall led UT in digs with 32.

Runnels earned her fourth double-double in Orange & White, scoring 18 kills and recording 10 digs. The graduate transfer hit .282 on Sunday. Against Baylor and Pitt, Runnels recorded 38 total kills, averaging 3.80 kills per set.

For the second consecutive match, Natalie Hayward posted 50-plus assists. The senior setter served up 51 assists versus Pittsburgh and put away seven kills of her own. Hayward earned 11 digs in the match en route to her second double-double of the season.

Hayward also earned seven blocks in the match.

Tennessee and Pitt battled it out in the opening set with both teams totaling 14 kills. The Lady Vols posted five blocks in the first set to Pitt's three, but UT committed three more attack errors than Pittsburgh which put Pitt over the top, 25-23.

UT ran away with the second set, winning 25-16, as it hit .565 as a team. Middle blocker Ava Bell scored four kills in the set, while Runnels, Fingall and Lily Felts all chipped in with three.

In the third, neither team gave the other any breathing room as the score was tied or changed hands on 21 different occasions. The Lady Vols picked up 18 kills to Pitt's 17 but hit .244 to Pittsburgh's .270. In the end, Pitt was just able to edge out UT, 28-26.

The Lady Vols responded in the fourth, hitting .371, picking up five blocks and a pair of service aces to go with 14 kills. With its 25-20 fourth-set victory, Tennessee forced the fifth and deciding set.

Tennessee and Pitt traded short runs to begin the fifth set but eventually leveled out at 7-7. From then on Pitt stayed just out of reach as it slowly pulled away to win the deciding set, 15-10.

UP NEXT
Tennessee heads out on the road for the first time this season as it plays a home-and-home with Morehead State. The Lady Vols play at the Eagles on Friday, Sept. 10, before playing host to MSU on Sunday, Sept. 12.