Mississippi State
Tennessee
Lady Vols Blank Cold-Hitting State In SEC Volleyball Opener
September 19, 2008 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Hitting errors proved costly for the Volleyball Bulldogs in their SEC season-opener Friday night at Tennessee. State (5-7, 0-1 SEC) had 24 hitting errors and was held to negative .050 hitting in dropping a 3-0 decision (25-20, 25-13, 25-13) to the Lady Vols (5-4, 1-0 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Area. The Bulldogs, with their lone senior, outside hitter Cristina Jucan sidelined by a recurring back injury, started three freshmen and played three others in the 80-minute match. The Tennessee Volunteers amassed a commanding 42-19 advantage in kills, with Nikki Fowler leading the way with 10. UT was also deadly at the net, amassing an 11.5-3.0 in total team blocking. Alyssa Hilby had six block assists for UT and led a foursome of UT players with at least four blocks in the match. Junior outside hitter Ioana Demian tallied seven of MSU's 19 kills while sophomore middle blocker Ashley Cooper finished with four kills and a team-best three blocks. Tennessee scored three of the first four points in the opening set and trailed only once at 4-3. But the Bulldogs, who held an 11-9 edge in kills, stayed close. Ioana Demian had five kills in the set and State, down 24-15, went on a 5-0 run to close the gap before Nikki Fowler put down a kill for a 25-20 UT win. State's late-set momentum continued in the early going of the second set. A kill by Ashley Newsome put State on top 3-1. But UT came alive, and parlayed a 9-0 run into a 13-6 advantage that the Bulldogs were never able to challenge. Mindy Flynn delivered five kills and Fowler added four as the Lady Vols, with an18-4 advantage in kills, took a 2-0 lead in the match with a convincing 25-13 win. MSU setter Dorey Gray recorded der second double-double of the year with 11 assists backed with a team-leading 11 digs. Freshman Faith Steinwedell also reached double figures with 10 digs. The Bulldogs continue their SEC season-opening weekend trip Sunday in Lexington, Ky., with a 12:30 p.m. (CDT) match against the Kentucky Wildcats (10-2, 1-0 SEC) UK blanked Alabama 3-0 (30-28, 25-10, 25-20) in the Wildcats' Friday night SEC opener at Memorial Coliseum.
? Official Statistics (PDF)
