Volleyball Falls to Tennessee in Straight Sets

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU volleyball team was downed in straight sets by Tennessee 22-25, 23-25, 18-25 Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

LSU falls to 13-9 and 5-6 in the SEC, and Tennessee moves to 12-9 overall and 5-6 in league play.

LSU was held to a .189 hitting percentage, while Tennessee hit .306 on 44 kills. The Tigers had the advantage in aces (4-2) and blocks (9.0-5.0). Both teams were high-error, with 25 total.

Jurnee Robinson paced the Tigers with 12 kills and added six digs and two blocks, while middle blocker Angelina Lee followed with nine kills on a .375 hitting percentage and had a match-high five blocks. Setter Bailey Ortega recorded 23 assists, her third being her 3,000th career assist, making her the fourth active SEC setter to reach that milestone. She also had five digs and two kills. Freshman libero Aly Kirkhoff led all players in the match with 10 digs.

No players from Tennessee recorded double-digit kills, but Nina Cajic and Paityn Chapman led the Lady Vols with nine kills each, and Keondreya Granberry and Hayden Kubik tacked on eight kills.  

Set 1

LSU trailed Tennessee 15-10 at the media timeout and used its first timeout down 18-11. The Tigers scored three out of the break, triggering a Lady Vols timeout to bring the count to 18-14. LSU applied pressure and pulled within two at 24-22, but Tennessee won the set 25-22 despite being out-hit, .355-.325.  

Set 2

The Bayou Bengals took a 10-7 lead after Ortega’s dump to cap a 4-1 run. The Lady Vols called a timeout and responded with a 6-2 run to take a 13-12 lead. LSU later regained the edge 17-16, but back-to-back kills by Tennessee forced LSU to use its first timeout of the set down, 18-17. The Tigers rattled off three out of the break for another lead change at 20-18, but the visiting club called a timeout with Tennessee back on top 23-21 thanks to a 5-1 run, which were all LSU errors. After a Tennessee service error and a kill by Robinson to tie the set at 23, LSU committed two costly errors to drop the set, 25-23. The second set featured 12 ties and six lead changes.   

Set 3

A 4-0 run highlighted by two kills by Lee gave LSU a 14-10 lead, but Tennessee returned the favor and tied the set at 14 when LSU called a timeout. After trading points to a 16-16 tie, the Tigers called their final timeout when the Lady Vols took an 18-16 advantage behind three unanswered points. The run expanded to five unanswered as Tennessee pulled away to a 20-16 lead and won the third set, 25-18.

Up Next

LSU travels to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 13 Kentucky at Historical Memorial Coliseum at 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 10, on SEC Network. Sam Gore and Jennifer Hoffman will be on the call.

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