VB Preview: #12 Lady Vols at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 12 Tennessee concludes its four-match road trip this Wednesday, as the Lady Vols take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 8 p.m. ET in Foster Auditorium.

The Big Orange (13-1, 4-0 SEC) enters the matchup against Alabama (10-4, 0-3 SEC) riding an eight-match winning streak and looks to stay perfect in league play. The match will be televised on SEC Network.

BIG ORANGE ATTACK AMONG NATION'S ELITE GROUPS
Tennessee's attack has been stellar this season, and it's the primary reason for the Lady Vols opening the year 13-1. UT ranks inside the top 5 nationally and leads the SEC in kills per set (2nd/14.70), hitting percentage (4th/.311) and assists per set (4th/13.51). With elite hitters leading the way, the group continues to get better with the development of redshirt freshman setter Caroline Kerr.

FINGALL CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
During Tennessee's win at Mississippi State, right side Morgahn Fingall surpassed Sonja Thomas to move into 10th all time on UT's career kills list. Fingall now boasts 1,362 career kills and needs just 32 more to move into ninth.

HIGHEST RANKING SINCE 2006
Tennessee stay at 12th in the AVCA rankings this week. That marks the highest ranking for the Lady Vols since also being No. 12 during the Week 1 poll in 2006.

LADY VOLS IN THE SEC WEEKLY HONORS
Tennessee's play this season hasn't gone unrecognized. With many impressive outings from the Lady Vols, the SEC has honored UT players a combined 12 times in six weeks. In total, the Lady Vols have won three SEC Player of the Week honors, four Freshman of the Week awards, two Offensive Player of the Week recognitions, two Defensive Player of the Week honors and one Setter of the Week award. On Monday, two Tennessee players earned conference honors after victories against Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
So far this year, the Lady Vols boast 10 sweeps in just 14 matches. Over the last three seasons, UT has swept 34 opponents, including 23 at home. The Big Orange has swept six of its last seven points and went on a streak of 18 straight set wins between Loyola (4th set) and Mississippi State (2nd set).

SIDEOUT SUCCESS KEY FACTOR FOR UT EACH MATCH
One element of Tennessee's impressive season that hasn't been touched on much has been the Big Orange winning the battle on sideouts. The Lady Vols are scoring 68 percent of the time when opponents serve, while scoring on 49 percent of the time when UT serves. Tennessee has recorded a sideout percentage of 70 percent or better in 25 sets this year, while holding foes to a sideout percentage of less than 50 percent in 20 sets.

DON'T LET 'EM GET HOT
Winning the first set is crucial to winning the match, as the Lady Vols are 13-0 when taking the opening frame this year. If you don't get UT in the first set, good luck, because it doesn't get easier. In the second and third sets, respectively, Tennessee is outscoring opponents 348-245 (+103 points) and 339-242 (+97 points). That's compared to 342-266 (+76 points) in the first frame.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Morgahn Fingall

Caroline Kerr

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site