Tennessee Sweeps NC State, Splits Doubleheader on Final Day of NC State Classic

Saturday, September 3

Raleigh, NC

11 AM

University of Tennessee

2-3,0-0SEC

Colgate

3-3,0-0Patriot

Tennessee

Colgate

Tennessee Sweeps NC State, Splits Doubleheader on Final Day of NC State Classic

September 03, 2022 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Colgate Box Score NC State Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – Led by a strong offensive night, the Lady Vols volleyball team swept (25-22, 25-22, 27-25) NC State in its final match of the NC State Classic after starting the morning off with a tough loss to Colgate in four sets (21-25, 25-15, 16-25, 18-25).

Four Lady Vols scored double-digit kills on the day with Emily Merrick putting down 11 kills in the opener against Colgate. In the nightcap versus NC State, Morgahn Fingall led the charge with 13 kills, while Erykah Lovett put away 12 and Kadynce Boothe fired home 10.

Sophomore Ashllyn King set a career-high with seven kills against Colgate, while's Boothe's 10 against NC State surpassed her previous best mark of eight.

Match One – Tennessee 1, Colgate 3
Errors hampered UT against Colgate as it committed 24 in attack and seven at the service line over four sets. In the opening frame, Colgate out-hit the Lady Vols .209 to .125 as errors put UT behind early. Tennessee responded in the second as it put away 11 kills as a team and hit .308 en route to tying the match at, 1-1.

It was the Raiders' turn to respond in the third as they scored 15 kills on a .375 hitting percentage. Attacker Julia Kurowski led the way with five kills in the frame. It was more of the same in the fourth set as errors continued to plague the Lady Vols. UT committed eight in attack to just four from Colgate in the closing set.

Abby Shadwick led Colgate with 12 kills and was followed by Harper Snyder with nine.

Match Two – Tennessee 3, NC State 0
The Lady Vols bounced back in the weekend's final match as they secured the team's first sweep of the season with their win over the Wolfpack. Boothe – a freshman from Kernersville, North Carolina – and Lovett led UT's attack in the opening set. Boothe put down five kills on a .455 hit percentage, with Lovett scoring five kills and hitting .500.

Fingall took charge in the second as she powered home seven kills while hitting 462. Lovett found the court with four kills of her own in the frame. Boothe and JaKya Moore added a pair of service aces and redshirt freshman Klaudia Pawlik tallied two kills and a block.

The final set was tight as NC State battled to extend the match on its home floor, but the combination of Boothe and Fingall proved to be too much. Both players notched five kills in the third set and hit over .500 – Boothe at .556 and Fingall at .833.

Lovett also punched home three more kills and setter Natalie Hayward scored a trio of kills with dumps over the net.

Both teams hit over .300 in the match but the Lady Vols came out on top with a .361 hitting percentage to NC State's .328. UT also out-blocked the hosts six to three.

Tennessee's service line pressure was a key factor in the win as it earned seven aces, led by Boothe with a career-high of three.

UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to Thompson-Boling Arena as it welcomes New Hampshire, Norfolk State and The Citadel to Knoxville for the Rocky Top Classic. The two-day tournament runs Friday and Saturday, Sept. 9-10.