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:

• LSU: Friday 11/14 at 8:30pm ET
  website | match info from LSU | live stats | live video
• Texas A&M: Sunday 11/16 at 2:30pm ET
  website | match info from TAMU | live stats | live video
• South Carolina: Wednesday 11/19 at 6:00pm ET
  website | match info from SC | live stats | live video | TV: ESPNU
• Tennessee: website | match info from UT
• See what these teams are saying on Twitter…

statistical rankings coming soon…

• UT is now 2-5 all-time vs Missouri.
• UT is 29-16-1 all-time vs Auburn.
• The Lady Vols had their third highest hitting percentage in conference play vs Missouri, and their lowest vs Auburn.
• As a team vs Missouri, the Lady Vols hit over .200 for the fourth time in a loss.
• For just the 16th time since 2001 (and the second time this year), Tennessee had more statistical points than an opponent in a loss (67.5 for UT and 67.0 for Mizzou).
• Kendra Turner’s 23 kills vs MU were the 11th most in a four-set match in the rally-scoring era.
• Ashley Mariani notched her fourth career double double vs Missouri.
• Auburn’s three match winning streak over Tennessee is the second longest in series history.
• Auburn’s 81 statistical points were the most scored by any UT opponent this year.
• Auburn’s .191 hitting percentage was the second lowest by a winning opponent this season.
• Auburn was just the second SEC team this year Tennessee has allowed double digit blocks. Auburn is the third league team to allow UT double digit blocks this season.
• Lexi Dempsey picked up her 21st career double double vs Auburn. With it she now has the seventh most double doubles earned by a Lady Vol in the rally-scoring era. (All six of the players above her on the list have All-America honors on their resumes.)
• Dempsey is now 127 shy of catching Kelsey Mahoney at #8 on the UT career assists list.
• Both matches this weekend had exactly the same number of people in attendance: 701.

CAREER HIGHS (matched or exceeded)

• Kelsey Bawcombe: kills in a four-set match, attacks in a four-set match, digs in a four-set match (vs MU)
• Iesha Bryant: solo blocks (vs MU), points in a four-set match (vs AU)
• Lexi Dempsey: points in a four-set match (vs MU), kills in a four-set match (vs AU)
• Megan Hatcher: digs in a four-set match (vs MU & AU), assists (vs AU)
• Raina Hembry: block assists in a four-set match, total blocks in a four-set match (vs AU)
• Kanisha Jimenez: attacks in a four-set match (vs AU)
• Ashley Mariani: kills, attacks in a four-set match, block assists, total blocks, points (vs MU)
• Kendra Turner: kills, attacks, digs in a four-set match, block assists in a four-set match, total blocks in a four-set match, points (vs MU)

Tennessee put up a tough fight but ultimately fell in four sets to Missouri (20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21). More details tonight.

UPDATE: There were some impressive individual performances tonight. Kendra Turner had 23 kills, the highest total by any Lady Vol this season. And her 52 attacks were the second most this year. Overall she hit .308. Ashley Mariani had career high kills (18), blocks (6), and points (22), and earned her first double double of the year (and fourth of her career). Lexi Dempsey put up 46 of the team’s 48 assists — again the most by any player this season. Iesha Bryant had her second best block total of the year with six — two of which were solo. Raina Hembry contributed three more. Megan Hatcher had 16 digs and Kelsey Bawcombe 11. As a team the Lady Vols hit over .200 for the fourth time in a loss. And for the seventh time in eleven SEC matches, UT’s opponent failed to outblock them.

UT STORY / BOX SCORE / MU STORY

Tennessee begins a three-match stretch tonight against the SEC’s three Tiger teams: Missouri, Auburn, and LSU next week.

• UT is 2-4 all-time vs Missouri. This will be only the third match between the teams played in Knoxville. Tennessee is currently 1-1 at home.
• UT is 29-15-1 all-time vs Auburn. Tennessee is 7-3 in the last ten matches and has only lost two matches in Auburn since 2001.
• Earlier this season vs Mizzou: The Lady Vols lost in three (25-19, 25-15, 25-16). Kendra Turned had a team-leading eight kills. Shealyn Kolosky and Iesha Bryant had four blocks each, and Kanisha Jimenez put up three more. Lexi Dempsey had 11 digs and eight assists. Bridgette Villano had ten digs. As a team, Tennessee had their fifth lowest kill total of the rally scoring era with just 26. It was also the first match since at least 2001 where no player reached double-digit assists.
• Tennessee hasn’t won a single set vs either team being faced this weekend since 2012.
• Auburn is currently on a two match winning streak vs the Lady Vols. This is just the third time the team has had a run of wins against Tennessee and the first time since a six-match streak from 1994-1998.
• Before sweeping the Lady Vols in their last two meetings, Auburn hadn’t earned a 3-0 victory over Tennessee since 1998.
• Tennessee’s head coach Rob Patrick met both of this weekend’s opposing head coaches (and one of their assistant coaches) during the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Auburn coach Rick Nold was the then head coach of Jacksonville State, who were in Knoxville making their first ever NCAA appearance. Tennessee won that match 3-0. A week later UT faced then Big 12 power Missouri in the Elite Eight, coached by Susan Kreklow (now MU’s Director of Volleyball Operations) and assisted by her husband Wayne Kreklow (now head coach). Current Missouri assistant coach Lindsay James was a setter on the court in that match. UT won 3-1 and moved on to the Final Four.
• Auburn’s Tate Pember and Mary Hannah Arrington were members of the same club as Lady Vol Claudia Coco, A5 in Georgia.

More information:

• Missouri (14-12, 5-6): Friday 11/7 at 7:00pm ET
  website | match info from MU | live stats | live video
• Auburn (10-13, 2-8): Sunday 11/9 at 2:30pm ET
  website | match info from AU | live stats | live video
• Tennessee: website | match info from UT
• See what these teams are saying on Twitter…

LAST TEN MATCHES VERSUS

2005 0-3 AWAY

2005 3-1 NEUTRAL

2012 2-3 AWAY

2012 3-2 HOME

2013 0-3 HOME

2014 0-3 AWAY

2008 3-2 AWAY

2009 3-0 HOME

2009 2-3 AWAY

2010 3-1 AWAY

2010 3-0 HOME

2011 3-0 HOME

2011 3-1 AWAY

2012 3-2 HOME

2013 0-3 HOME

2013 0-3 AWAY

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	TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
	ACES PER SET	ASSISTS PER SET	BLOCKS PER SET	DIGS PER SET	KILLS PER SET	HIT PERCENT	OPP HIT PERCENT
	13th SEC 324th NCAA 0.78	12th SEC 278th NCAA 10.43	11th SEC 127th NCAA 2.17	8th SEC 233rd NCAA 13.91	12th SEC 283rd NCAA 11.12	12th SEC 227th NCAA .182	11th SEC 251st NCAA .222
	7th SEC 223rd NCAA 1.12	7th SEC 133rd NCAA 12.11	8th SEC 105th NCAA 2.24	7th SEC 229th NCAA 13.96	6th SEC 126th NCAA 13.09	6th SEC 72nd NCAA .241	12th SEC 255th NCAA .224
	10th SEC 307th NCAA 0.90	8th SEC 137th NCAA 12.05	12th SEC 165th NCAA 2.05	3rd SEC 150th NCAA 14.97	8th SEC 153rd NCAA 12.77	11th SEC 219th NCAA .185	7th SEC 152nd NCAA .199

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	INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
ACES PER SET	Kelsey Bawcombe 0.22	Emily Thater 19th SEC 0.24	Courtney Crable 7th SEC 0.29
ASSISTS PER SET	Lexi Dempsey 10th SEC 8.10	Loxley Keala 12th SEC 5.73	Alexa Filley 7th SEC 106th NCAA 10.14
BLOCKS PER SET	Iesha Bryant 11th SEC 1.00	Whitney Little 10th SEC 1.01	Breanna Barksdale 18th SEC 0.89
DIGS PER SET	Bridgette Villano 12th SEC 3.19	Sarah Meister 7th SEC 3.82	Alyssa Ivey 5th SEC 4.01
KILLS PER SET	Kendra Turner 20th SEC 2.66	Carly Kan 6th SEC 3.45	Courtney Crable 14th SEC 2.83
POINTS PER SET	Jamie Lea 3.00	Carly Kan 8th SEC 155th NCAA 3.80	Courtney Crable 15th SEC 341st NCAA 3.33
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Shealyn Kolosky 20th SEC .295	Whitney Little 3rd SEC 26th NCAA .392	Stephanie Campbell .278

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highest ranked

middle ranked

lowest ranked

Tennessee played back-to-back matches this past week against ranked opponents, falling to both #18 Kentucky and #8 Florida.

• Kendra Turner had 12 kills against Kentucky, while Ashley Mariani was just behind with 11. Shealyn Kolosky, Raina Hembry, and Jamie Lea had two blocks each. Lexi Dempsey put up 28 of the team’s 30 assists. Megan Hatcher had ten digs and Bridgette Villano added seven more.
• Against Florida, Turner again led the Lady Vols with seven kills, and Mariani had five. Hembry and Turner had two blocks each. Dempsey had 19 of the team’s 20 assists. And Kelsey Bawcombe had the team lead in digs with eight. The team had a season low 21 kills, while allowing Florida a season high .444 hitting percentage.
• With only seven games remaining on the schedule, Tennessee will end the season with a losing schedule for the second year in a row. But despite that, they still have a chance to finish on a positive note. If they can pull off one more win they’ll at least match last season’s record. Two or more wins and they’ll surpass it.



• The Lady Vols had no aces vs Mississippi or Kentucky, the first time in the rally-scoring era the team had ace-less back-to-back matches.
• I don’t have set-level stats in my files, but according to UT’s official game notes (PDF) the team had six consecutive sets without an ace in the Mississippi and Kentucky matches, which was “the longest such stretch since 2011”. UT didn’t get an ace until the second set vs Florida, so that streak ended at seven sets.
• Tennessee’s 21 kills vs Florida were the second fewest in the rally-scoring era. The UT player with the most kills only had seven — the fourth lowest team high for kills in a match in that time.
• The Lady Vols’ 26 statistical points against Florida were the fewest since 2001. Their 39 total actual scored points were the second fewest.
• Florida held Tennessee to nine points in the first set of their game. That was just the third time in the rally-scoring era Tennessee has been held to single digits in a set.
• UT is 26-48 vs ranked opponents since 2001, and has lost the last eight in a row.
• Tennessee is now 24-30 in televised matches since 2001, and has lost the last ten in a row.

Apologies if these stats seemed a little more dreary than usual! I think it had more to do with the level of competition this week (two ranked teams in a row for the first time this year) than anything else.

The Lady Vols lost their second match in a row to a ranked team, falling to #8 Florida in three (25-9, 25-13, 25-17). Recap tomorrow.

Tennessee fell to the 18th ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this evening 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-18). Recap on Monday.

It’s a big week for Tennessee volleyball, but unfortunately I don’t have time to write about it! We’re hosting a foreign student in our home this week, and she gets here the day of the Kentucky match and leaves the day of the Florida match. I’ll be a at both games but that’s about all the time I can spare until Monday, when I’ll recap the week as usual.

UPDATE: I was able to get some photos from this weekend’s win posted!

• Kanisha Jimenez had ten kills and ten digs to earn her fourth career double double. Ashley Mariani put down 11 kills. Shealyn Kolosky had nine kills and hit .667, the second highest of her career. Kelsey Bawcombe also had nine kills. Raina Hembry was one shy of her career best with seven blocks. Lexi Dempsey got 41 of the team’s 43 assists in the match. She also had a career high four blocks. Megan Hatcher picked up 12 digs.
• Tennessee is now 41-8 all time vs Mississippi.
• The win snapped an eight match losing streak for the Lady Vols, ending it as the third longest in program history.
• Tennessee won a match while serving up no aces for just the ninth time in the rally scoring era.
• UT’s .291 hitting percentage was a season high, and the second highest of the last two years.
• Mississippi was stopped in their attempt to earn their first ever three match winning streak over Tennessee.
• Only 13 times in SEC history has a team been held winless in conference play. Sunday’s win ensured the only Lady Vols on that list are the 1995 team.

CAREER HIGHS (matched or exceeded)

• Lexi Dempsey: attacks in a three-set match, blocks, and points
• Raina Hembry: blocks in a three-set match

The Lady Vols earned their first conference win of the season — and their first at home since 2012 — with a sweep over a previously 18-4 Mississippi squad. Recap coming soon!

UT STORY & VIDEOS / BOX SCORE / UM STORY

For the first time in program history, the Lady Vols have a home. The Joan Cronan Volleyball Center was dedicated yesterday, meaning the team no longer has to be at the mercy of other UT teams to get practice time. The official site has details, video, and photos. The Knoxville News-Sentinel also covered the story.

The Lady Vols get a small break this weekend, with only one match on the schedule.

• Tennessee is 40-8 all time vs Mississippi. UT is 8-2 in the last ten meetings, but UM has won the last two.
• Not counting the two schools that just joined the conference, Mississippi is the only SEC team Tennessee still has single digit losses against. After 48 meetings since 1975, UT has lost just eight times.
• Mississippi has never won three matches in a row vs the Lady Vols. The Rebels’ current two-match win streak matches their longest run in series history.
• The Rebels have had a record breaking year with the best start, the most consecutive home wins, the longest winning streak, and the most SEC weekly awards in a season in school history.
• Like Lady Vol Ashley Mariani, UM player Laura Beaty played club under former UT assistant coach Mike Minnis at Dallas Summit.

More information:

• Mississippi (18-4, 4-4): Sunday 10/26 at 1:30pm ET
  website | match info from UM | live stats
• Tennessee: website | match info from UT
• See what these teams are saying on Twitter…

	LAST TEN MATCHES VERSUS
	2008 3-0 AWAY	2009 3-0 HOME	2009 3-1 AWAY	2010 3-0 HOME	2010 3-1 AWAY	2011 3-2 HOME	2011 3-2 AWAY	2012 3-0 AWAY	2013 1-3 AWAY	2013 1-3 HOME

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	TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
	ACES PER SET	ASSISTS PER SET	BLOCKS PER SET	DIGS PER SET	KILLS PER SET	HIT PERCENT	OPP HIT PERCENT
	13th SEC 316th NCAA 0.84	12th SEC 273rd NCAA 10.44	11th SEC 111th NCAA 2.22	6th SEC 212th NCAA 14.10	12th SEC 277th NCAA 11.13	11th SEC 233rd NCAA .178	11th SEC 220th NCAA .215
	5th SEC 203rd NCAA 1.16	3rd SEC 55th NCAA 12.73	6th SEC 69th NCAA 2.36	8th SEC 228th NCAA 13.82	3rd SEC 53rd NCAA 13.66	2nd SEC 20th NCAA .271	3rd SEC 80th NCAA .182

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	INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
ACES PER SET	Kelsey Bawcombe 17th SEC 0.25	Lexi Thompson 6th SEC 0.31
ASSISTS PER SET	Lexi Dempsey 10th SEC 7.89	Aubrey Edie 3rd SEC 21st NCAA 11.20
BLOCKS PER SET	Iesha Bryant 11th SEC 1.03	Nakeyta Clair 9th SEC 1.04
DIGS PER SET	Bridgette Villano 11th SEC 3.32	Cara Fisher 8th SEC 3.66
KILLS PER SET	Jamie Lea 18th SEC 2.72	Nakeyta Clair 8th SEC 134th NCAA 3.43
POINTS PER SET	Jamie Lea 20th SEC 3.11	Nakeyta Clair 5th SEC 92nd NCAA 4.11
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Shealyn Kolosky 19th SEC .278	Nakeyta Clair 2nd SEC 9th NCAA .427

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TENNESSEE vs MISSISSIPPI STATE

• Tennessee is 43-10 all-time vs Mississippi State.
• Mississippi State has only won four matches vs UT during head coach Rob Patrick’s tenure. Three of those matches were in Starkville.
• In the entire series history, MSU has only two winning streaks of more than a single game over Tennessee: a five-match run from 1994-1996 and the current three-match streak.
• Mississippi State defeated the Lady Vols with just a .086 hitting percentage, the lowest total by a winning UT opponent in the rally scoring era. The previous low was .107 in a loss to Kentucky in 2006.
• For the fourth time this year, and the first time since the Mercer game on September 20th, multiple players earned double doubles in a match: Kelsey Bawcombe and Taylor Johnson vs MSU. Jamie Lea was one dig short of getting a double double (and four blocks short of a triple double).
• The Mississippi State game was just the second five set match for the Lady Vols this season. The last time UT had played that few tie-breaker matches to this point in the season was 2006.
• Tennessee’s 18 team blocks vs MSU were the 13th most since 2001, and the best total since 2012.
• Setter Lexi Dempsey moved into ninth place on the UT career assists chart. After the weekend she now has 1,560.

TENNESSEE vs GEORGIA

• Tennessee is 42-27 all-time vs Georgia.
• Georgia’s Jasmine Eatmon had a .818 hitting percentage, the second highest by an opposing player with double digit attacks in the rally scoring era.
• As a team the Bulldogs hit .404, the fifth highest by an opposing team since 2001, and the second highest by an unranked team in that time.
• No Lady Vols had double digit kills for the ninth time this year. Since 2001, this is just the second season there were more than two matches with no players in double digit kills.
• Tennessee lost their eighth televised match in a row. UT has played UGA ten times on TV since 2001 and is 7-3.
• UT is currently on an eight match losing streak. That ties as the third longest in school history.
  

  UT SINGLE SEASON LOSING STREAKS
  1995	11 matches	10/20 – 11/17
  2013	10 matches	10/27 – 11/30
  2014	8 matches	9/26 – 10/19
  1997	8 matches	9/5 – 9/19

• The 0-8 SEC start is the second worst for Tennessee.
• The latest loss was career #200 for head coach Rob Patrick.

CAREER HIGHS (matched or exceeded)

• Kelsey Bawcombe: kills, attacks, and digs vs MSU
• Megan Hatcher: digs vs MSU
• Taylor Johnson: assists and digs vs MSU
• Jamie Lea: total blocks, block assists, kills in a five-set match, digs in a five-set match, and points in a five-set match vs MSU
• Ashley Mariani: total blocks and block assists vs MSU
• Kendra Turner: kills in a three-set match and digs vs UGA; first career solo block, block assists, and total blocks vs MSU
• Bridgette Villano: digs in a five-set match vs MSU

The Lady Vols lost to UGA in three this afternoon (25-17, 25-17, 25-21). More tonight.

UPDATE: Kendra Turner had nine kills, while Jamie Lea and Kanisha Jimenez had six each. Six players had a block a piece. Lexi Dempsey had 19 assists and Taylor Johnson seven more. Jimenez had eight digs.

After UT held Mississippi State to the lowest hitting percentage in a loss in the rally scoring era two days ago, this afternoon Georgia notched one of the highest hitting percentages by a UT opponent: .404, the fifth highest since 2001.

UT STORY / BOX SCORE / UGA STORY

(I took some photos at this match but most of them turned out really bad. I’ll try to salvage a few and post them later this week.)

The Lady Vols almost completed a big comeback but fell just short in the fifth set vs Mississippi State this evening (25-18, 29-27, 18-25, 19-25, 15-13). Kelsey Bawcombe had 17 kills and 17 digs to earn her second double double. Jami Lea also had 17 kills and fell just short of the double double with nine digs. Kendra Turner put down ten kills and six blocks. Shealyn Kolosky had seven blocks, while Ashley Mariani added in six, Iesha Bryant five, and Raina Hembry three more. Taylor Johnson got the first double double of her UT career with 34 assists and 14 digs. Lexi Dempsey had 21 assists. Megan Hatcher was back on the court and shattered her career high with 25 digs. Bridgette Villano contributed 14 and Kanisha Jimenez eight more.

Tennessee led the Bulldogs in kills, hitting percentage, assists, and blocks. Their 18 team blocks were the most by UT since 2012. Mississippi State’s .086 hitting percentage was the lowest by a winning UT opponent in the rally scoring era.

UT STORY / BOX SCORE / MSU STORY