No. 14 Tennessee Powers Past No. 22 Kentucky in Three

For the first time since 2010 the Tennessee women’s volleyball team left Lexington with a win, as the No. 14 Volunteers took down No. 22 Kentucky in straight sets (23-25, 18-25, 18-25). 

Despite a solid offensive showing against LSU to begin Southeastern Conference play Friday night, the Cats’ offense grinded to a halt against the Vols as they hit just .134 on the evening. No one for Kentucky managed to eclipse double figures. In the final two frames alone, Kentucky hit .056 and .089 respectively. 

UK head coach Craig Skinner said that consistency is one of the biggest things his team can improve upon moving forward in order to find more offensive success. 

“Little bit more consistent passing, little bit more consistent tempo and rhythm with the set quality, and just finishing,” Skinner said. “Getting opportunities and being balanced and trying to get a lot of people involved and when you get one on one blocks we’ve got to put the ball away.”

Megan Wilson and Elise Goetzinger led the way in kills for Kentucky with each totaling eight terminations. Azhani Tealer had six on the right side as she once again filled in for injured senior Reagan Rutherford. Brooklyn DeLeye had five kills and Erin Lamb and Jordyn Williams each added four.

Defensively, junior libero Eleanor Beavin was one of the lone bright spots for the Cats on the afternoon as she picked up a match-high 18 digs. Freshman Molly Tuozzo added nine of her own, DeLeye had six, and Emma Grome had five. 

The Cats totaled six blocks in the match with Williams accounting for four of them, but the Volunteers still hit .282 and saw three players reach double figures. Graduate Morgahn Fingall recorded a match high 17 kills on a .361 clip and added 10 digs for the Vols in the winning effort. Through four sets of play, Tennessee had 50 team kills with only 15 errors. 

With the loss, Kentucky falls to 3-7 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play. They’ll hit the road again this week as they travel to Athens, Georgia for a matchup with the Bulldogs on Friday before taking on Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sunday. First serve Friday against Georgia is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.