Nov. 16, 2008

Box Score |  Photo Gallery  | Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team (20-9, 13-5 Southeastern Conference) finished off the home portion of its schedule in style, completing a thrilling comeback on Senior Day to defeat South Carolina (19-8, 10-7 SEC) in five sets, 25-27, 25-22, 26-28, 25-16, 15-10, Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. The win was the Lady Vols' 20th of the season, marking the sixth time during UT Head Coach Rob Patrick's 12-year tenure that they have accomplished the feat.

"I'm very proud of our players for sticking in there through some tough stretches," Patrick said. "I don't think that we played consistently at all this weekend and it really hurt us in the match against Florida. Hopefully, this is a big confidence booster and shows our team that it doesn't have to play its best volleyball to be successful against very well coached and athletic teams, like South Carolina."

Five different Lady Vols either tied or set new season highs in the contest, led by sophomore Nikki Fowler's 22-kill effort, which matched her previous high this year. Freshman Alyssa Hilby, meanwhile, set a career high with eight blocks in the contest, while fellow classmate Kelsey Mahoney and senior Mindy Flynn tied their personal bests with 34 assists and six digs, respectively. Flynn also tallied 11 kills and tied her season-best with seven blocks, which increased her career total to 307 putbacks, moving her past April Chapple's mark of 306 for 10th-place in the Tennessee career record book.

Junior libero Chloe Goldman, meanwhile, led all Lady Vol performers with 24 digs, while tying her season-high with five assists and career-best with three aces. Also standing out on the stat sheet were senior Milan Clarke and junior Farren Powe who blasted out 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior Kylie Marshall finished second on the squad with 16 digs, while also collecting four blocks, three kills and an assist.

"Chloe and Nikki were our two mainstays while our team was going through some inconsistent play today," Patrick said. "I felt that our consistent passing throughout the match was the key to our success and both of them were tremendous in that respect. They both came up big for us today, with Chloe coming through with some huge plays defensively and Nikki being a go-to player on offense."

Prior to the match, which was tape delayed and televised on FOX Sports Regional Sports Networks, Tennessee honored its three seniors, Clarke, Flynn and Laurén LaFlamme for their contributions to the team over the past five seasons.

"The thing that I am most excited about is the fact that all three of our seniors are playing the best volleyball of their careers right now," Patrick said. "Today, Milan and Mindy really came through in the clutch and played their best during the big points of the match. I felt that they might have started out a little slow because of the emotions of Senior Day, but they were there when we needed them in the fourth and fifth sets. Their experience was a key ingredient in our win this afternoon.

"I can't stress enough the impact that Laurén has on our program," Patrick said. "Fans might not always be able to see her contributions on the court, but her team-first attitude and willingness to give 100 percent both on and off the court have been a huge reason for the success we've had over the last five years."

Although South Carolina took a commanding lead by winning two of the first three sets, the Big Orange refused to give up, claiming its 20th victory of the season with dominating performances in the next two frames. After winning the fourth set in convincing fashion, 25-16, the Lady Vols picked up the win with a 15-10 triumph in the final frame.

Tennessee raced out to a quick 4-0 lead, taking advantage of a South Carolina ball-handling error before getting a kill from Flynn, an ace by Mahoney and an attack error by USC's Belita Salters. The sudden outburst prompted a timeout from Gamecock Head Coach Ben Somera to reorganize his charges. The short stoppage seemed to do the trick, as his squad rallied back to within one at 4-3, but a blast by Fowler down the left-side of the court ended the spree.

Just moments later, the Orange and White broke open a 6-5 frame with a trio of scores, including a sharp block by Flynn and Powe and a pair of USC attack errors, to go up 9-5. Although the Gamecocks answered right back with a putback of their own following another Somera timeout, Clarke smashed home a powerful kill to the center of the court to make it 10-6.

The two squads then traded the next five scores before South Carolina cut its deficit to just two at 12-10 on a UT hitting error. The Lady Vols dug down deep, however, finishing the match off with another three-point run. Hilby and Flynn opened the streak with a sharp block of an Ivana Kujundzic attack and Goldman followed with an ace that landed just in front of USC libero Sarah Cline. Powe then gave the Big Orange the victory with her 12th kill of the afternoon.

The fifth-set heroics would not have been possible, however, without UT's strong effort in the fourth set. After falling behind 2-1, the Orange and White deadlocked the match at two sets each with a dominating, 25-16, victory. The Lady Vols outhit South Carolina, .342 to .022, and recorded twice as many kills (16-8) as the Gamecocks. Fowler notched nearly half of those kills, hitting at a stellar .600 clip with seven putaways and just one error on 10 swings.

The key stretch of the frame started with Tennessee leading 9-7 following a kill by USC's Megan Laughlin, as back-to-back Gamecock attack errors sparked a run in which the Big Orange won nine of 10 points. Following a Somera timeout after the pair of hitting errors, Hilby and Marshall joined forces to send back attacks by Annie Thomas and Kujundzic over the course of the next three plays.

Although a Hilby attack landed long to end the five-point tear, the Lady Vols picked up right where they left off, with Clarke smashing out two kills in a row. A Laughlin attack then landed wide down the left-side to make it 17-8 before Fowler pounded out a cross-court kill to the back-right corner that moved UT's advantage to double-digits and effectively ended the set.

The opening frame of the match was a tightly contested affair, with South Carolina emerging victorious, 27-25. The set featured eight tie scores and four lead changes before the final outcome was determined. Powe was UT's leading attacker with five kills on seven swings in the frame, while Goldman started her afternoon strong with seven digs.

Trailing throughout the opening portions of the set, Tennessee found itself down 18-14 before it was able to mount any sort of sustained attack. At that point, Clarke tipped a kill over the block to open the scoring on a five-point Lady Vol run. Following an error by Hannah Lawing, Marshall, Clarke and Fowler proceeded to smash out consecutive kills to give the Orange and White its first lead of the day at 19-18. That advantage would be short lived, however, with the Gamecocks using a four-score spree to go back up 23-21. Although UT was able to tie it up at 23, 24 and 25-all, USC was able to claim the opening frame after Kujundzic sandwiched a pair of kills around a kill by Bridget Denson-Dorman to give USC the victory.

The second set was much more favorable for fans of the Orange and White, as the Lady Vols tied the match up with a 25-22 triumph as the two teams took to their respective locker rooms for the intermission.

After a quartet of Gamecock points put USC up 11-6, the Big Orange decided it was time to get in gear, answering with an 11-1 run of its own. A Kujundzic service error started the spree and was quickly followed by a block by Hilby and Fowler and kill by Fowler and Clarke before Somera burned his first timeout of the day.

Although the tactic led to a kill by Laughlin, swings by Belita Salters and Lawing resulted in errors on the next two plays. Mahoney then served an ace which was followed by Hilby and Flynn blocking a Salters attack before Flynn recorded a solo putback on a swing by Thomas. Following yet another Somera timeout, Flynn took a Mahoney set and smashed it home before joining forces with Hilby and Fowler on a triple-block that moved the score to 17-12.

Tennessee continued to extend its lead until it led by seven at 24-17 and needed just a single score to finish off the frame. That would prove to be easier said than done though, as South Carolina ripped off five consecutive points to move within two at 24-22. Fortunately for UT fans, however, Fowler picked up the final point with a cross-court smash to the back-right corner of the court.

The third frame was another tight one, as the Gamecocks fought off three Lady Vol attempts at set-point before claiming a 28-26 decision to go up two sets to one. For UT, Fowler led the offensive effort with five kills, while Mahoney and Marshall tallied 11 assists and six digs, respectively.

The Big Orange offense was on full display early, as it methodically staked its way out to a 21-15 advantage. At that point, however, South Carolina came roaring back with four straight scores to move within two at 21-19. Although the two teams traded the next five points, UT found itself with a chance to close out the set with a 24-21 lead.

The Gamecocks had other ideas though, racing back with three consecutive points to return the frame to a 24-24 deadlock. Although Clarke smashed out a kill to put the Orange and White back ahead, it was not enough as USC claimed four of the final five points to finish off the set.

Tennessee will have a week off before its next contest when it travels to the Yellowhammer State to square off with Auburn at 1:30 p.m. CT on Sun., Nov. 23. Following that contest, the Lady Vols will close out the regular season with a 7 p.m. showdown with border-rival and No. 22 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., on Fri., Nov. 28.