Since 2004, Tennessee has only given up 3 sets to Georgia. This afternoon, Georgia almost doubled that total. Tennessee was able to hold them off and get their 20th win of the season (24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10). Nikki Fowler kept her double-double streak intact with 29 kills and 13 digs. She also had 8 blocks. Her 29 kills is a career high, the 17th most ever recorded at UT, and the 9th most ever at UT in a 5-set match. Kylie Marshall had 8 kills, 13 digs, and a career high 8 blocks. Leah Hinkey had 10 kills and 8 blocks. DeeDee Harrison, in her first start, had 8 kills and 7 blocks. Kayla Jeter had 12 kills. Chloe Goldman had 17 digs. Kelsey Mahoney set another career high with 57 assists.

UPDATE: Tennessee and Georgia have the story.

For the second year in a row, home-standing Auburn takes Tennessee to five sets. Despite two UT match points, this year the Tigers get the win (11-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15). The Lady Vols’ second loss this year when leading 2-0 for all intents and purposes knocks them out of the SEC race.

Nikki Fowler notched her 10th double-double in a row with 22 kills and 15 digs; she also had 4 blocks. Kayla Jeter had 15 kills and 5 blocks. Kelsey Mahoney demolished her career high in (what I believe is) her first match doing the setting duties alone — 53 assists. She completed a double double with 19 digs. Kylie Marshall almost gets one as well with 9 kills and 9 digs. Leah Hinkey had 7 blocks and Farren Powe had 4. Chloe Goldman has 23 digs.

UPDATE: Story and stats from Tennessee and Auburn.

Just some quick notes this time. I’ve got a sick kid home from school today! Note the starting time for Auburn is 5pm ET tonight.

• Tennessee is 24-12-1 vs Auburn and 9-1 in their last 10 meetings. The Lady Vols won the previous match earlier this season 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20).

• Tennessee is 37-23 vs Georgia and 9-1 in their last 10 meetings. The Lady Vols won the previous match earlier this season 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-17).

• Tennessee’s set record in their last 10 matches with each team are 29-10 vs the Tigers and 29-3 vs the Bulldogs.

• The Lady Vols have not lost at Auburn since 1998.

• Check out this season’s previous notes for these matches here: pre-notes | post-UGA | post-AU | recap

• Don’t forget to check out the official notes (PDF) for a lot more.

Auburn (14-12, 6-9)
Game time is Friday, November 13th at 5pm ET in Auburn
Follow the match with live stats

Georgia (15-11, 6-9)
Game time is Friday, November 15th at 1:30pm ET in Athens
Follow the match with live stats or on CSS.
Georgia match notes (PDF)

It’s national signing day — the first day prospective student athletes can sign a letter of intent with a school. I have no information about who may or may not sign with Tennessee this week. But we can look at some possible recruits and what they have done this past high school volleyball season. I obviously can’t keep track of everything so feel free to point out anything I’ve missed. Here are the first three — look for more tomorrow.

Ellen Mullins and Father Ryan High School in Nashville finished second in the State Tournament. During her four year high school career Mullins’ team made the state championship match every year, winning it once. She was named the All-Region MVP.

Kylann Scheidt helped lead Farragut High School to a District Championship and a District Tournament Championship before eventually dropping out of the state race after a loss in a Sectional match. Scheidt was named the regular season District MVP, the District Tournament MVP, and was named to the Region Tournament Team.

Kelsey Robinson of St Francis in Wheaton IL lost in the Sectional finals, but not before being named an All-Area Captain. If you want to read more about her, Robinson has got a lot of hometown press — check out these articles: here and here.

UPDATE: Tennessee has just announced that Kelsey Robinson, Kylann Scheidt, and Carly Sahagian have signed with the Lady Vols.

After UT’s announcement I’ll forgo part 2 and just mention Sahagian here: Bartlett High School in Illinois made it to the regional championship match. Sahagian was named all-area and was a unanimous All-Upstate Eight Conference selection.

Nikki Fowler has been honored for her weekend performances for the third time this week. After picking up a school award and a conference award yesterday, today she gets some national recognition. Congratulations to Fowler on being named a CVU.com Top Performer for the second time this season.

And also congratulations to Kelsey Benorden, who picked up the overall CVU.com National Player of the Week award. Benorden is a junior at UNC Asheville, but played here in Knoxville at Farragut High School and Smoky Mountain Juniors Volleyball Club.

• Tennessee is 37-7 vs Mississippi State and 27-12 vs Alabama.

• Tennessee has swept MSU in 9 of the last 13 meetings.

• The Lady Vols have won 4 in a row vs Alabama for the first time since a 7 match win streak from 1996-2000.

• Nikki Fowler got her 8th and 9th consecutive double-doubles this weekend. Since 2001 (as far back as I have records) that is the most consecutive double-doubles recorded by any player. Only three other players in that span have 5 or more in a row:

– Julie Knytych had streaks of 5 and 6 in a row in 2003.
– Amy Morris had streaks of 5 in both 2003 and 2004
– Jena Berg had a streak of 7 in 2007.

• Kylie Marshall moves into 5th place on the career digs while Kelsey Mahoney jumped into the top 10 career assists list.

• With her performance this weekend, Chloe Goldman is the first Lady Vol and just the 8th player in SEC history to reach 1,600 career digs.

• Talk about consistency! In Fowler’s first ever match against Alabama in 2007 she had 17 kills off 41 attacks, an ace, a solo block, and scored 19 points. In her last match vs Alabama this weekend she had 16 kills off 41 attacks, an ace, a solo block, and scored 18.5 points. The only stat with a significant difference was her errors — almost halved from 12 to 7.

• Besides Fowler’s two, Kelsey Mahoney also had a double-double this weekend.

• Career records matched or exceeded:
– Leslie Cikra: hitting percentage
– Nikki Fowler: attacks (in a 3-set match), digs (in a 3-set match)
– Amanda Friday: assists
– Chloe Goldman: assists (in a 3-set match), aces
– Natalie Guerra: assists and digs
– DeeDee Harrison: kills and points
– Kayla Jeter: attacks (in a 3-set match), block solos
– Kelsey Mahoney: digs (in a 3-set match)
– Kylie Marshall: block assists (in a 3-set match)
– Farren Powe: assists (in a 3-set match)

The NCAA and SEC have updated their weekly statistical rankings of players and teams for the 2009 season. The national stats rank 329 teams and the top 250 players in each category. All stats (except hitting percentage) are “per set”, not totals. Tennessee’s ranks in the polls are also listed. Numbers in parentheses are the changes from last week.

AVCA: 35th nationally (+2); 4th SEC (UNCH)
NCAA RPI: 22nd nationally (-2); 3rd SEC (UNCH)
Pablo Rankings: 31st nationally (-1); 4th SEC (UNCH)
RickKern.com Poll: 33rd nationally (-2); 4th SEC (UNCH)

NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE

Aces: 206th (+10)
Assists: 91st (+11)
Blocks: 29th (-2)
Digs: 47th (+8)
Hitting Percentage: 105th (+5)
Kills: 82nd (+10)

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – ALL MATCHES

Aces: 5th (+3)
Assists: 7th (UNCH)
Blocks: 2nd (UNCH)
Digs: 2nd (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: 6th (+3)
Kills: 5th (+2)
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1st (UNCH)

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – SEC MATCHES

Aces: 9th (+1)
Assists: 5th (+1)
Blocks: 3rd (UNCH)
Digs: 1st (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: 4th (UNCH)
Kills: 4th (UNCH)
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 3rd (UNCH)

NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Blocks: Farren Powe – 41st (+2)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 90th (+6)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 50th (-2)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 128th (-25)
Hitting Percentage: Leah Hinkey – 132nd (–)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 104th (+10)
Points: Nikki Fowler – 80th (+8)

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – ALL MATCHES

Assists: Kelsey Mahoney – 10th (UNCH)
Blocks: Farren Powe – 2nd (+1)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 6th (+1)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 1st (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 6th (-1)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 5th (UNCH)
Points: Nikki Fowler – 4th (+1)

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – SEC MATCHES

Blocks: Farren Powe – 3rd (+1)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 7th (-1)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 2nd (-1)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 5th (-1)
Hitting Percentage: Kayla Jeter – 10th (-4)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 5th (UNCH)

Congratulations to Nikki Folwer on being named both the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week. You can read more from the SEC and from UT.

Tennessee takes down Alabama in 3 this afternoon (25-20, 25-19, 25-23). Nikki Fowler had 16 kills and 15 16 digs to keep her double double streak intact. Much more later!

UPDATES: Leah Hinkey had 9 kills, 4 blocks, and hit .500. Kayla Jeter had 8 kills and 2 blocks. Kylie Marshall had 3 blocks and 15 digs. Chloe Goldman had 18 digs. Kelsey Mahoney had 21 assists, 2 aces and 14 digs for the double-double. Natalie Guerra had 15 assists.

Story and stats are now online for Tennessee and Alabama.

Tennessee defeated Mississippi State tonight in three (24-13, 25-14, 25-19). Nikki Fowler just keeps her double-double streak alive, getting her 10th kill to give UT match point. She also had 16 digs. Leah Hinkey also had a big night with double digit kills. More soon.

UPDATE: Stats here. Hinkey had 10 kills, hit .600, and had 3 blocks. Besides the double-double, Fowler also had 3 blocks. Farren Powe had 6 kills and 7 blocks. Kayla Jeter and Leslie Cikra each had 7 kills. Chloe Goldman tied her career high with 3 aces. Freshman Natalie Guerra, who continues to fill in for the injured Emily Steinbeck, had 19 assists. Kylie Marshall moves into 5th place on the career digs list with 9 tonight; she also had 4 blocks and hit .455. Kelsey Mahoney jumps into the record book with 21 assists tonight giving her a career total of 1,202. That puts her at 10th in school history — pretty impressive for a sophomore setter playing in a 6-2 system!

Tennessee takes on Mississippi State and Alabama this weekend and there are several ways you can get in free, so be sure to check those out below and come support the Lady Vols!

• Tennessee is 36-7 vs Mississippi State. In their past 10 matches the Lady Vols are 9-1 vs the Bulldogs. Tennessee won the last meeting earlier this year 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22).

• Tennessee is 26-12 vs Alabama. In their past 10 matches the Lady Vols are 4-6 vs the Crimson Tide. Tennessee won the last meeting earlier this year 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23).

• Tennessee has swept MSU in 8 of the last 12 meetings.

• Mississippi State has not won a match in Knoxville since 1995.

• The Lady Vols have won 3 in a row vs Alabama. They haven’t won 4 in a row vs the Tide since a 7 match win streak from 1996-2000.

• In the 15 matches played between Tennessee and Alabama since 2000, only 4 have been sweeps — with each team claiming 2 of them.

• The Tide’s strength is our weakness — Alabama ranks first in service aces in conference matches while Tennessee ranks next to last.

• Alabama and MSU have only won one match each since last playing the Lady Vols. Both beat South Carolina.

• Alabama has played in 7 matches this season that went to five sets. They’ve won 2 and lost 5 of them. MSU is 2-2 in their 4 five set matches. Tennessee has played in 5 five set matches and is 3-2.

• Check out the notes from these matches earlier this season for more.

• Also be sure to check out the official UT match notes (PDF).

Mississippi State (6-19, 2-12)
Game time is Friday, November 6th at 7:00pm ET
Follow the match with live stats or a free live video feed.
MSU match notes

Alabama (7-17, 5-9)
Game time is Friday, November 8th at 1:30pm ET
Follow the match with live stats or a free live video feed
Alabama match notes (PDF)

All fans who wear green or donate a new or slightly used book will receive free admission to the Mississippi State match. First 200 fans at the MSU match will get a free Lady Vol reusable grocery tote.

All kids 12 and under will receive a voucher for a free hot dog and drink at Sunday’s match vs Alabama.

Head coach Rob Patrick gives a “Chalk Talk” 45 minutes before every home match where he talks about the team, their opponent, and answers questions.

Tennessee’s Nikki Fowler was named to the 2009 College Sports Information Directors of America/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV first team it was announced today. CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program recognizes the nation’s premier college scholar-athletes for their ability to achieve excellence on the playing field and in the classroom. By being named to the first-team, Fowler is now eligible for consideration for Academic All-America status. Fowler is a business major with a 3.82 GPA. Congratulations Nikki! More info: full list (PDF), Tennessee’s story

The NCAA and SEC have updated their weekly statistical rankings of players and teams for the 2009 season. The national stats rank 329 teams and the top 250 players in each category. All stats (except hitting percentage) are “per set”, not totals. Tennessee’s ranks in the polls are also listed. Numbers in parentheses are the changes from last week.

AVCA: 37th nationally (-5); 4th SEC (UNCH)
NCAA RPI: 20th nationally (-4); 3rd SEC (UNCH)
Pablo Rankings: 30th nationally (-3); 4th SEC (UNCH)
RickKern.com Poll: 31st nationally (+2); 4th SEC (UNCH)

NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE

Aces: 216th (-39)
Assists: 102nd (+16)
Blocks: 27th (-4)
Digs: 55th (-17)
Hitting Percentage: 110th (+2)
Kills: 92nd (+22)

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – ALL MATCHES

Aces: 8th (-1)
Assists: 7th (UNCH)
Blocks: 2nd (UNCH)
Digs: 2nd (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: 9th (UNCH)
Kills: 7th (UNCH)
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1st (UNCH)

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – SEC MATCHES

Aces: 10th (UNCH)
Assists: 6th (UNCH)
Blocks: 3rd (UNCH)
Digs: 1st (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: 4th (UNCH)
Kills: 4th (+1)
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 3rd (UNCH)

NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Blocks: Farren Powe – 43rd (-7)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 96th (-20)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 48th (-14)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 103rd (-33)
Hitting Percentage: Leah Hinkey – 211th (-5)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 114th (+27)
Points: Nikki Fowler – 88th (+16)

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – ALL MATCHES

Assists: Kelsey Mahoney – 10th (UNCH)
Blocks: Farren Powe – 3rd (UNCH)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 7th (-1)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 1st (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 5th (UNCH)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 5th (UNCH)
Points: Nikki Fowler – 5th (+1)

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – SEC MATCHES

Blocks: Farren Powe – 4th (-1)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 6th (UNCH)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 1st (UNCH)
Digs: Nikki Fowler – 10th (UNCH)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 4th (-1)
Hitting Percentage: Kayla Jeter – 6th (UNCH)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 5th (UNCH)

• I’m getting things back on track this week, just in time for Tennessee’s final 7 matches of the regular season. The big news there is that 5 of those 7 matches will be here in Knoxville — and it’s about time the home crowd got some love from the schedule if you ask me!

• Tennessee got their 10th SEC win of the year this past Sunday vs Arkansas. This is the 6th season in program history where the Lady Vols have won at least 10 regular season SEC matches (but remember we didn’t used to play as many conference matches as we do these days). This year ties as the second fastest a Tennessee team has reached that 10-win plateau, doing so in their 13th conference match. The other 10 SEC win seasons and how fast they reached that threshold:
– 2004: 15-1 SEC; 10th win in their 11th conference match
– 2005: 13-3 SEC: 10th win in their 13th conference match
– 2008: 15-5 SEC: 10th win in their 14th conference match
– 2003: 10-6 SEC: 10th win in their 16th conference match
– 2006: 10-10 SEC: 10th win in their 20th conference match

• Chloe Goldman has moved up to 8th on the SEC career digs list.

• Nikki Fowler passed the 3,000 career attacks mark this weekend and is just 58 more away from jumping into the UT top 10 chart. She also moved up to 14th on the UT career kills list.

• Leah Hinkey has moved into 5th place on the school all-time blocks list.

• Kelsey Mahoney is only 15 assists away from joining the top 10 on the UT career assists list.

• Kylie Marshall is just 7 digs away from passing Julie Knytych and joining the top 5 on the UT career digs list.

• Farren Powe is tied for 7th on the single season blocks per set list.

• Fowler has a seven match streak of double-doubles going, now more than doubling her previous best streak of three in a row from November 2007.

• Career highs matched or exceeded during the past three matches:
– Leslie Cikra: hitting percentage
– Amanda Friday: assists
– Natalie Guerra: assists, aces, digs, points
– Kayla Jeter: kills, attacks, solo blocks, points
– Emily Steinbeck: digs

In case you hadn’t already heard, Tennessee won a tight one yesterday in Arkansas 3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24, 15-11). Check the link for all the details.

Sorry for going quiet on you for two days! As I’ve mentioned before, after 6 years online one of my other websites has been getting ready for a huge relaunch with updated content and a new look. The staff and I were working on that from early Sunday morning until 3am Monday making sure everything was ready to go live today! Since then I’ve been troubleshooting a few of the issues that always come up when a new site lets actual visitors in. But with this project done I should finally get my life back, which means regular volleyball updates start tomorrow — after I get some sleep!