Tennessee falls to Butler in the de facto championship game of the UC Invitational 3-0. I’ll have more tomorrow when I get back to Knoxville.
UPDATE: Ashley Mariani put down 14 kills. Jamie Lea picked up her first double double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Shealyn Kolosky had 8 and hit .316, while Whitney Heeres had 6 kills.
Lexi Dempsey had her highest output of the weekend in the final match with 37 assists and just missed the double double with 9 digs. Ellen Mullins reached 20 digs in all three matches.
The team went from one of their best days blocking Friday morning to one of their worst Saturday afternoon. Their two team blocks vs the Bulldogs tied for the lowest amount ever notched in the rally-scoring era. They also matched another team low, with no aces in a match for just the 17th time since 2001.
Ellen Mullins and Ashley Mariani were named to the All Tournament team.
I normally try to keep to statistical analysis, but since this is such a young team I know fans are curious about how they look. Despite the loss, I think over the course of three matches they actually showed improvement. During the first match you could tell they had talent, but they just weren’t working together well yet. By the third match you could see signs that they were starting to gel against real opponents. I saw lots of promise and am looking forward to seeing how the team progresses.
Butler takes down Tennessee
