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Thursday, November 13, 2014

2014 Match Notes: at LSU, at Texas A&M, vs South Carolina

Tennessee hits the road for a western swing where they’ll face LSU and Texas A&M, before heading back to Knoxville for a midweek showdown with South Carolina.

  • UT is 21-35 all-time vs LSU. Tennessee is 4-6 in the last ten meetings. The Lady Vols have a two match winning streak playing in Baton Rouge.
  • UT is 6-5 all-time vs Texas A&M. The Aggies have a three match winning streak.
  • UT is 36-26 all-time vs South Carolina. Tennessee is 9-1 in the last ten meetings.
  • All three opponents this week are ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA RPI: Texas A&M at 15th, LSU at 21st, and South Carolina at 89th. LSU is also receiving votes in the latest Coaches Poll and stands at an unofficial #34.
  • After starting their SEC season with three losses, the Tigers have roared back to win their last ten in a row — the longest conference winning streak for the team in 22 years.
  • LSU will finally get to host the Lady Vols after playing their last three meetings in Knoxville.
  • LSU has only played six of their 22 matches at home this year, all conference games. They are 4-2 in those matches.
  • Last time this season vs LSU: “The Lady Vols fell to LSU in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-16). Jamie Lea had eight kills, four blocks, and hit .300. Raina Hembry had six kills and six blocks. Lexi Dempsey and Taylor Johnson had 11 assists each. Bridgette Villano dug up 9 balls. For the fifth time this season, UT held an opponent to four or less blocks. LSU held Tennessee to the second fewest attack attempts of the rally scoring era.”
  • TAMU is 5-2 at home vs the SEC this season.
  • Texas A&M spent seven weeks in the Coaches Poll this season before dropping out two weeks ago after losses to Alabama and LSU.
  • The Aggies have had a tough schedule in 2014. They’ve faced seven opponents ranked 16th or higher. They defeated #6 USC, #13 San Diego, and #16 Kentucky, and lost to #6 Florida State twice, #9 Florida, and #13 Kentucky.
  • Tennessee and A&M have played in College Station on four occasions. Each time the result was a sweep for one team or the other. In fact, every time UT and the Aggies have played outside Knoxville the match has always been a sweep.

    TENNESSEE VS TEXAS A&M OUTSIDE KNOXVILLE
    1983 Tennessee wins Baton Rouge LA 3-0
    1983 Tennessee wins College Station TX 3-0
    1987 Tennessee wins Baton Rouge LA 3-0
    1994 Texas A&M wins College Station TX 3-0
    2012 Tennessee wins College Station TX 3-0
    2013 Texas A&M wins College Station TX 3-0

  • Last time this season vs TAMU: “Tennessee dropped a three set match to #21 ranked Texas A&M (25-14, 25-21, 25-15). Kelsey Bawcombe led the team with both ten kills and six digs. With just three errors on 22 attempts she hit .318. Shealyn Kolosky had six kills and hit .444. Lexi Dempsey had 12 assists. As a team the Lady Vols had some lower than usual numbers in assists, attacks, digs, and especially blocks — they had only two total team blocks, which is the second lowest total of the rally scoring era.”
  • South Carolina is one of only two SEC opponents the Lady Vols defeated in their last meeting: SC (on October 25, 2013) and Mississippi (on October 26, 2014).
  • The Gamecocks have lost seven of their last nine matches, with games vs Auburn and Arkansas this weekend before they take on Tennessee.
  • Each opponent this week has a player who shares a club team with a Lady Vol. LSU’s Katie Lindelow and UT’s Kendra Turner both played club ball at Louisiana Volleyball. Ashley Mariani and Texas A&M’s Katelyn Labhart both played club under former UT assistant coach Mike Minnis at Dallas Summit. And South Carolina’s Abby Feruck and Tennessee’s Claudia Coco both played for A5 in Georgia.

More information:

statistical rankings coming soon…