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Sept. 12, 2008

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In front of 468 fans on Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team (4-4) dropped a tough five-setter to No. 17 Illinois (6-2) by a 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 11-15 count. The two-hour and thirty-two minute match brought an end to the day's action at the sixth annual Comcast Lady Vol Classic.

"This was just a terrific collegiate volleyball match," UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "Although we played very hard, it just came down to a few big points at the end and Illinois just played a little better than us on those points."

Sophomore outside hitter Nikki Fowler led the way offensively for the Big Orange, tallying her first double-double of the season by posting a team-high 18 kills and 19 digs. Junior libero Chloe Goldman contributed 23 of Tennessee's season-high 93 total digs (previous high was just 51), while freshman setter Kelsey Mahoney hit the double-digit mark in digs for the first time in her brief career. Senior outside hitter Milan Clarke and junior middle blocker Farren Powe rounded out the Tennessee players with double-figure kill totals by tallying 11 and 10, respectively.

"The key to our success in this match was the passing of Chloe, Nikki and Kylie (Marshall)," Patrick said. "Even though it doesn't show up on the box score, their serve receive allowed us to stay in our offense and be effective offensively in spite of the fact that Illinois served extremely tough.

"I was especially impressed with how Nikki bounced back from last weekend," Patrick said. "Even though she had 18 kills, the first thing I noticed was her improved play in the back row defensively, as is evidenced by her dig total. She was also extremely effective transitioning into our back-row attack."

Having battled to a 3-3 tie to christen the opening set, kills from UT freshman middle blocker Alyssa Hilby and Fowler along with a pair of Illinois hitting errors granted the Lady Vols a 7-3 lead. After the Fighting Illini clawed back within three points at 8-5 on a kill by Abby Nelson, Tennessee's Fowler and junior middle blocker Farren Powe contributed a pair of successful blasts to stretch the advantage out to 13-7. The lead eventually reached eight at 19-11, following a kill from Hilby, before No. 17 Illinois put together its own 9-3 spurt to creep within a pair of scores at 22-20. Senior middle blocker Mindy Flynn then delivered a big kill to increase the UT lead back to three and senior outside hitter Milan Clarke finished off an important first set victory for the Big Orange at 25-22 by hammering home two assists from junior setter Michaela Hanakova. Fowler led the way for UT in the first set with five kills, while the Lady Vols out-hit the U of I, .351 to .233.

Behind a five-kill effort from freshman outside hitter Michelle Bartsch, No. 17 Illinois rebounded to take the second set, 25-21. The Fighting Illini out-hit the Big Orange .106 to .038 as the Lady Vols, despite 13 kills, were undermined by 11 hitting errors and five total blocks by Illinois. Neither team could gain more than a two-point advantage, combining for 11 ties (the last at 12-12), before Bangert and Bartsch joined forces for three consecutive kills and a 15-12 lead. Three UT attack errors and a ball-handling miscue granted Illinois a 22-15 advantage before blasts from Flynn and Marshall quickly brought the Big Orange back into the set. Consecutive attack miscues by the Fighting Illini drew Patrick's squad within three points at 23-20, but a UT hitting mistake and a Bangert kill finished off the set at 25-21 in favor of the Orange and Blue.

The hangover from the set two defeat seemed to continue into the third frame as Tennessee quickly fell behind 12-7. A kill by Marshall and consecutive hitting errors from Illinois brought the Orange and White within two scores at 12-10. Unfortunately for Patrick's charges, a quick spurt by the Fighting Illini stretched their advantage out to 18-13 before a big rally led by UT's Fowler, Marshall and Flynn cut the Lady Vol deficit to just one point at 19-18. The Lady Vols couldn't crest the hump, however, as an attack error and a kill from Illinois' Bartsch made it 22-19 in favor of the U of I. Tennessee never got closer than two points the rest of the way, eventually dropping a 25-22 decision and falling behind two sets to one.

Faced with a must-win situation in order to force a deciding fifth set, Tennessee rode the strong hitting of Fowler and Powe (four kills each) to a clutch 25-20 victory. Tied at 3-3, consecutive Clarke blasts pushed UT in front by two. The Big Orange's advantage grew to three points at 12-9 before the Orange and Blue rallied to move in front 14-13 on a kill from Nelson. Clarke and Fowler recorded consecutive kills and Kylie McCulley answered for the U of I to deadlock the count at 15. Following another kill from Fowler, Flynn hammered one home to stretch the lead back to two at 17-15. The gap eventually improved to 22-18 before Illinois battled back within a pair of scores, cutting its deficit to just 22-20. Following an Illinois attack miscue, Fowler drove a ball to the floor to place UT on the brink of triumph with a vital set point. A ball-handling error from U of I's Hillary Haen closed out the Big Orange victory and forced the deciding contest.

Unfortunately for the Big Orange, the Fighting Illini finished off the match with a 15-11 triumph in the final set. With the score deadlocked at four apiece, three consecutive kills by Illinois hitters granted the Orange and Blue a 7-4 lead. A kill from Fowler and an ace by Goldman, that hit the top of the net and just trickled over, brought UT within one point at 8-7. Illinois responded, however, with a pair of blasts from DeBruler and their own service ace to regain a four-score advantage. A Lady Vol attack miscue ended the set as No. 17 Illinois hung on for its sixth victory of the 2008 campaign.

Tennessee returns to the court at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday at 1 p.m. to battle Dayton in the final action for both squads at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic.

"Our match against Dayton on Sunday should be another fun and exciting one for our fans," Patrick said. "Much like Illinois, Dayton is a well coached team that plays very hard. They are more of a defensive team than Illinois is, but they are very patient on the offensive end and are tremendous in the ball control game. We will definitely need to bring our `A' game again if we want to have success against them."