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Sept. 21, 2008

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - With a four-set victory over Alabama, the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer volleyball team (7-4) improved to 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since the 2004 season. Senior Milan Clarke led the team with 15 kills as UT took out the Crimson Tide (7-4, 0-2 SEC) in four sets, 25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18, Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"Winning our first two SEC matches is huge for our team," UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "It is a testament to how our players have really bounced back from our play in Denver a couple of weeks ago. I was very proud of the way that we stuck to our game plan in games one, two and four and how we defended Alabama in the transition game.

"We went away from our game plan in the third game and made way too many unforced hitting errors, which allowed Alabama to stay in that game longer than we would have wanted," Patrick said. "However, our team did a good job of refocusing in the fourth game and getting the job done."

Junior Kylie Marshall had 12 kills in the contest, finishing just one off her career high set at Marquette earlier this season. She also collected 12 digs in the contest to account for her second double-double of the season.

"Kylie has been filling up the stat sheet a little bit more than we thought she would offensively," Patrick said. "She has been working diligently on a couple of new shots to diversify her attack a bit more. She has also been a stabilizing force for our defense and passing with her consistent ball-handling skills."

Besides Marshall and Clarke, the only other Lady Vol to reach double digits in kills was sophomore Nikki Fowler who had 11 putaways. The Dallas, Texas, native was a force defensively as well, tallying a career-high 20 digs. She was bested, however, by junior libero Chloe Goldman who led all players with 25 digs in the match. Freshman Alyssa Hilby, meanwhile, continued her dominance at the net, recording a match-best and career-high tying six blocks in the UT victory.

The Big Orange offense was at full force in the opening set, as UT out-hit Alabama, .424 to -.025 en route to a dominating 25-17 win. Clarke paced the attack with four kills on six swings with no errors for a blistering .667 hitting percentage, while Marshall, junior Farren Powe, Fowler and senior Mindy Flynn all had multiple kills in the frame.

The Orange and White wasted little time jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead before a UT service error, an ace by Mary Catherine Aune and a kill from Lauren Martin tied it up at five-all. The Lady Vols, however, responded with a 6-2 run, highlighted by a pair of kills by both Clarke and Flynn to go claim an 11-7 advantage. Although the Crimson Tide would pull within three points twice more, the Big Orange remained comfortably in the lead for the remainder of the set until a Marshall blast ended the frame.

Despite falling behind early in the second set, UT rallied for a 25-18 win and a two-game advantage at the intermission. Bama jumped out to an early 5-3 lead behind the strength of a pair of Webster kills and another ace by Aune before a smash by Hilby sparked a four-score spree for Tennessee.

The Lady Vols went up by three at 9-6 just moments later after getting back-to-back kills from Powe and Flynn, prompting a timeout by Alabama Head Coach Judy Green. The tactic worked as her squad was able to fight back to take three of the next four scores to move within one at 10-9. That would be as close as the Tide would get though, as another blast by Powe and consecutive Alabama attack errors gave the Big Orange a four-point advantage.

With the Bama deficit still at three scores at 19-16, UT decided it had seen enough and yet another kill by Powe marked the beginning of the end for the Tide. Fowler followed with a kill of her own before an attack error by Ashley Frazier put the Lady Vols up 22-16. Although UA got back a pair of points on the next two plays, kills by Marshall and Clarke closed out the scoring and gave the Orange and White the 25-18 victory.

Alabama was able to stave off a sweep in the next frame, taking advantage of 16 unforced errors by Tennessee, including 12 hitting errors, to claim a 26-24 third-set victory. Neither squad was ever able to gain more than a three-point lead at any time and the frame saw 15 tie scores and five lead changes.

The two teams traded runs throughout the entire set before emerging at a 23-23 deadlock. Unfortunately for fans of the Orange and White, UT was unable to finish off the sweep, allowing Alabama to win three of the next four points to account for the final score of 26-24.

The Big Orange got right back on track in the fourth frame, however, closing out the victory by winning 25-18. Clarke and Marshall made sure that a repeat of the third set did not occur, combining to smash out 10 kills, with five putaways each. Goldman did her part as well, digging up 10 Tide attacks.

After an Alabama attack error tied the set at nine-all, Tennessee broke open the deadlock with four more scores, including kills by Clarke and Marshall and a block by Clarke and Hilby, to go up 13-9. Calli Johnson stopped the bleeding for the Tide with a putaway of her own, but it would prove too little, too late, as the Big Orange allowed UA to score just eight times in the final 20 plays to win 25-18 and take the match, three sets to one.

The Lady Vols will return to action on Fri., Sept. 26, when they travel to Baton Rouge, La., for an 8 p.m. ET matchup against LSU. Following that contest, UT will take on Georgia in Athens, Ga., at 1:30 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 28.

"We have a big challenge in front of us next weekend," Patrick said. "It is going to be tough to go on the road against two very physical and well-coached teams. If we want to come home with two more wins, we are going to have to continue to play the type of defense that we did this weekend against Mississippi State and Alabama.

"LSU is a terrific team that has had a lot of success the past few years," Patrick said. "There is a reason that they were chosen to win the Western Division before the season started. Georgia has a lot of talent on its roster as well, and is led by a very good offensive player in Maria Taylor."