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Oct. 8, 2008

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Behind the strength of 21 kills by sophomore Nikki Fowler, the University of Tennessee volleyball team (10-6) picked up a four-set victory, 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23, over BIG EAST foe Louisville (6-9), Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Freshman Kelsey Mahoney also tallied her third career double-double in the win with 28 assists and a career-high 16 digs.

"This was a terrific out of conference win for our team," UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "Louisville is one of the bigger teams that we will play against at the net this season and I thought our hitters did a very nice job of getting the ball past their block. I think that having success against such a big net team will give us confidence as we go on the road this weekend."

In addition to her 21 kills, Fowler also recorded eight digs, three blocks, a pair of assists and an ace. The Dallas, Texas, native hit at a solid .250 clip with just seven errors in a match-high 56 total attacks as well.

"Once again, Nikki just continues to fill up the stat sheet for us," Patrick said. "I could not be more proud of how she played, not only offensively, but defensively, passing and serving as well. She really came through in the clutch a number of times tonight and was able to get us out of some tight situations with a timely play, whether it was a kill, dig or block.

Also standing out offensively was senior Milan Clarke who was the only other Lady Vol to reach double-digits in kills, collecting 12 in the match. Mahoney, meanwhile, finished just four assists off her personal-best with 28 and destroyed her previous career high of 11 digs with 16 in the victory.

"I was really happy to see Milan hit effectively against a very physical block tonight and Kelsey continues to improve daily, not only in her ability to run our offense but in her leadership skill as well," Patrick said. "She has also made a commitment to defense, as evidenced by her play tonight, which really helps our team to play at a higher level."

On the defensive side of the court, junior libero Chloe Goldman continued her dominance with 22 digs in the contest, while freshman Alyssa Hilby paced the UT blocking effort with a career-high seven putbacks, including three of the solo variety. Junior Kylie Marshall also reached double-digits in digs for the ninth time this season, collecting 10 in the win.

Four early kills by Fowler jumpstarted the UT offense in the opening frame, propelling it to a quick three-point lead, en route to a 25-17 victory. Although Louisville struck the first blow with a three-score spree that gave it a 5-4 advantage, Fowler sparked a four-point rally by UT with a blast from the outside. That kill was followed by a Cardinal error, a putaway by Marshall and a block by Clarke and junior Farren Powe to give the Big Orange a lead it would not relinquish at 8-5.

UL was able to stop the bleeding for a bit, keeping the UT lead at three until yet another blast by Fowler opened up a streak in which the Orange and White claimed six of seven scores with a pair of three-point runs separated by a single Louisville point. Three consecutive kills by senior Mindy Flynn, Marshall and Clarke closed out the spree which gave Tennessee a commanding 20-12 advantage.

Louisville was able to cut its deficit down to five on a pair of occasions but a solo block by Hilby, a Cardinal attack error and a kill by Flynn finished off the set, giving UT a quick 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was more of the same, as the Big Orange hit at a stellar .314 clip with 15 kills in the frame, including six more by Fowler and three by both Clarke and Hilby, to claim a 25-18 victory. Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the early goings, with the two squads battling hard until a kill by Louisville outside hitter Justine Landi moved the score to 13-12 in favor of UT.

Immediately following that kill, however, Fowler got the Orange and White attack running at full speed once again, pounding out a kill that sparked a streak of five consecutive points for Tennessee. Hilby assisted on blocks on the next two plays, first combining with Clarke to send back a Landi attack before joining forces with Fowler. Marshall followed with one of UT's only two service aces on the night to force Cardinal Head Coach Leonid Yelin to call his first timeout. A Clarke kill greeted Louisville out of the break, however, to increase the Lady Vol lead to six at 18-12.

The Cardinals were never able to recover after UT's streak, which marked the only time in the set that either team was able to string together three or more scores. The two squads then proceeded to trade the next 10 points before Hilby helped her team close out the set strong with a solo block and a kill on two of the final three plays.

Fowler continued to have the hot hand early in the third game, recording a pair of kills in the first three plays. Louisville would answer immediately this time, however, ripping off a five-point run shortly thereafter to take a 9-4 lead. UT was not deterred, however, slowly inching its way back into striking distance. Trailing by four at 15-11, the Big Orange got back-to-back kills by Flynn and Clarke, an attack error by Landi and a solo block by Clarke to return the frame to a deadlock at 15-all.

The score remained tied until a dump to the back-right corner of the court by Mahoney gave UT a 21-20 lead and prompted Yelin to use his second and final timeout to reorganize his troops. Unfortunately for fans of the Orange and White, the tactic worked as his team came out of the short break on fire, scoring four straight times to effectively end the set. Although the Lady Vols were able to stay alive with kills by Flynn and Marshall, their hopes were dashed when Rui Liu split the UT block with a kill to give Louisville the 25-23 win.

Tennessee was not going to let the third set repeat itself in the fourth and final frame, as it quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead and never looked back. Before the Cardinals even knew what hit them, four different Lady Vols collected kills in the first 12 plays, including two by Fowler. The Cardinals refused to give up though, clawing their way back to within one at 13-12 following a four-point run.

Just moments later, however, the Orange and White utilized a four-score spree of its own to move back ahead by five. During the spurt, Fowler had a kill and a solo block on back-to-back plays before Flynn added a putaway after an attack error by Liu.

The Cardinals had one more late-match rally in them, battling back to a single score at 21-20 following a trio of scores, capped off by a block by Landi and Lecia Brown. A Clarke blast ended the comeback attempt and a pair of Hilby kills accounted for two of UT's final three scores to end the set and the match.

Tennessee will next hit the court when it opens a crucial weekend of Southeastern Conference action with a 7 p.m. contest against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on Fri., Oct. 10. From there, the Big Orange will travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a 1:30 p.m. showdown with No. 9 Florida on Sun., Oct. 12.

"These two matches this weekend are an opportunity for us to put ourselves in a position to stay at the top of the SEC," Patrick said. "Although they have two different styles of play, both Florida and South Carolina are well coached and are playing extremely good volleyball right now. As usual, Florida is a big, physical team, while South Carolina is more of a skill team that really knows how to play the game of volleyball at a very high level."