Nov. 13, 2008

FREE LIVE Video: Volleyball vs. Florida - 11/14 - 7:00 p.m.

Match Notes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team (19-8, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) will close out the home portion of its schedule this weekend when it welcomes No. 12 Florida and South Carolina to Rocky Top. The Orange and White will take on the Gators at 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 7 before hosting the Gamecocks at 1:30 p.m. on Sun., Nov. 9 in Thompson-Boling Arena. Sunday's contest will be tape delayed and broadcast on FOX Sports Regional Networks at 3:30 p.m. that same day. Pete Pranica will provide play-by-play while Phil Push will serve as the color analyst. In addition, UT's three seniors, Milan Clarke, Mindy Flynn and Laurén LaFlamme will be honored prior to the beginning of the match against USC and the first 300 fans will receive a free set of Lady Vol volleyball trading cards.

The Big Orange picked up a pair of key road wins this past weekend to extend its league-best winning streak to nine matches. The streak marks the second longest during UT Head Coach Rob Patrick's tenure and the fifth-best run in program history. The Lady Vols, who have swept six consecutive contests, downed both Arkansas and Ole Miss in three frames each.

Leading the way offensively for the Orange and White was senior Milan Clarke who pounded out a team-high 25 kills over the weekend with match-high totals of 15 and 10 against the Razorbacks and Rebels, respectively. Defensively, junior libero Chloe Goldman tallied a total of 40 digs to pace the Lady Vols. The Monterey, Calif., native recorded a match-high 25 at Arkansas, marking the third highest three-set match total in UT history, before collecting 15 against Ole Miss just two days later. With her strong weekend, Goldman was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season after regaining the conference lead with 5.10 digs per set in league play.

Following this weekend's contests, Tennessee will finish off the regular season with a pair of road matches. The Lady Vols will first face Auburn at 1:30 p.m. CT on Sun., Nov. 23, before making the trip to Lexington, Ky., for a showdown with No. 22 Kentucky in its season finale at 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 28.

SCOUTING NO. 12 FLORIDA

Tennessee will put its season-best, nine-match winning streak on the line on Friday evening when it faces SEC-leading and No. 12 Florida (20-2, 14-1 SEC) at 7 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The hard-hitting Gator offense features a number of options, including five different players who have recorded over 100 kills this season. Leading the attack is freshman phenom Kelly Murphy who not only leads the team with 260 kills and 3.25 kills per set, but paces the squad with 459 assists and a .374 hitting percentage as well. To top things off, she also ranks second on the team with 134 digs (1.67/set) and fourth with 23 blocks (0.43/set). During conference play, Murphy is third in the league with a .389 attack average and sixth with 3.49 kills per set.

Fellow first-year player Kristy Jaeckel is the Gator's second-most effective weapon, having pounded out 248 kills this season, good for an average of 3.22 per set. Trailing that duo are another freshman in Colleen Ward with 166 kills, sophomores Lauren Bledsoe and Callie Rivers with 120 and 114 putaways, respectively. Yet another freshman, setter Cindy Bathelt, is also an integral part of the team's 6-2 offense, having recorded 444 assists when Murphy rotates to the right-side position. As a team, UF ranks as the most efficient offense in the SEC with a hitting percentage of .277 during league play.

Defensively, standout junior libero Elyse Cusack leads all Florida performers with 365 digs (4.56/set). She also tops the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 34 service aces. While senior Kelsey Bowers leads the Gators with 63 blocks, they get solid efforts from a number of other individuals, as seven other players have already crossed the 20-block threshold in 2008.

Florida holds a 38-9-1 advantage over Tennessee all-time after claiming a 3-0 victory in Gainesville earlier this season. Although the Gators have won the past five contests between the two squads, most of the Orange and White's success against UF has come in the last four seasons. Over the last eight matches against the Gators, UT has been able to come away with three of their nine victories in the all-time series.

SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA

On Sunday, the Big Orange will welcome South Carolina to Rocky Top for a 1:30 p.m. contest in Thompson-Boling Arena. The match will be tape delayed and broadcast on FOX Sports Regional Networks at 3:30 p.m. that same day. In addition, the first 300 fans to the contest will receive a free set of Lady Vol volleyball trading cards. The Gamecocks enter the weekend with a 19-6 overall record and 10-5 mark in SEC action. They will face No. 22 Kentucky on Friday evening in Lexington.

USC has won three-straight matches since dropping a pair of five-set tilts three weeks ago. The Gamecocks boast a balanced offensive attack with five players having reached the century mark in kills. Junior Ivana Kujundzic and senior Belita Salters, however, are the undisputed leaders of the offense, with totals of 332 and 280 kills, respectively. Kujundzic ranks fifth in league play with 3.55 kills per set and fourth with 20 aces (0.36/set), while Salters places eighth with 3.24 kills per set and is second in the conference with an impressive .393 hitting percentage. Only UT junior Farren Powe ranks higher with her .436 attack average.

A transfer from Connecticut, junior setter Bridget Denson-Dorman is tops the SEC with an average of 11.09 assists per set during league action. On the defensive side of the court, USC is led by the efforts of junior Sarah Cline, Kujundzic and sophomore Hannah Lawing who have 315, 264 and 215 digs, respectively. The Gamecock blocking effort is paced by Salters who has 72 putbacks, including 14 of the solo variety, this season.

Tennessee currently holds a 26-25 advantage all-time over the Gamecocks after dropping a 3-0 decision to USC in Columbia earlier this year. UT has won eight of the last 11 matches between the two squads, dating back to the 2003 campaign, with all three of its losses during that stretch coming on the road

LIKE BUTTER, THEY'RE ON A ROLL

The Lady Vols are currently in the midst of a nine-match winning streak which ranks as the fourth-longest in school history and second-best run during Rob Patrick's 12-year tenure. The Big Orange record for consecutive victories is 22 set by the 1980 squad. UT also won 20 in 1973, 14 in 2004 and 11 in both 1986 and 1982.

In addition, UT has claimed six straight sweeps, tying the school record as the 1973 and 2004 teams also accomplished the feat. The Orange and White has also won 19 straight sets which ranks as the second-most by a Patrick coached team. The record of consecutive set victories is 21, set in 2004. Finally, UT has won eight straight SEC matches which is one short of tying the record of nine set in 2005.

PICKING UP THE PACE

During their current nine-match winning streak, the Lady Vols have definitely picked up the pace offensively, hitting at a 333 clip as a team. In the 18 matches prior to their current streak, they posted just a .211 attack average.

The key has been the fact that UT has been able to significantly cut down on its hitting errors, going from 5.25 errors/set in the first 18 matches to just 3.54/set over the past nine.

Junior Farren Powe alone has raised her hitting percentage 63 points, moving from .263 to .326. During the winning streak, the Mobile, Ala., native has tallied a stellar .491 percentage with 62 kills and just nine errors in 108 swings. She also leads the Lady Vols with 28 blocks during that stretch.

THE CLEVELAND CONNECTION

The Lady Vol volleyball program continued its Cleveland connection by signing Chagrin Falls, Ohio, native Leslie Cikra to a national letter-of-intent for the 2009 season on Thursday. The 6-3 outside hitter/middle blocker is ranked as the nation's No. 11-ranked recruit by PrepVolleyball.com and is the second player to come to Rocky Top out of the Buckeye State in the past two seasons, joining Kayla Jeter from Solon, Ohio.

Part of UT's success in recruiting out of the Cleveland area is the fact that both head coach Rob Patrick and assistant Katie Noble hail from the region. Patrick is originally from Garfield Heights, while Noble is a former Mentor standout.

LADY VOLS BACK IN THE POLLS

For the first time since the 2006 season, the University of Tennessee has found its way back into the Bison/AVCA Coaches Poll as it received six votes to unofficially rank them 34th in the country. The Lady Vols were last ranked on Oct. 16, 2006, when they were voted as the 25th-best team in the nation.

HAAVE RETURNS TO ROCKY TOP

Former Lady Vol two-sport star Tanya Haave will be back in Knoxville this weekend as she returns to Rocky Top as the head coach of the University of San Francisco women's basketball team. Her squad will take on the two-time defending national championship Tennessee team on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Vols will raise the 2008 NCAA National Championship banner prior to the game.

An All-American on the basketball court in 1983, "La Machine" was also named the CBS Co-MVP of the 1984 NCAA Final Four with Southern Cal's Cheryl Miller. She still stands in the top-10 in the UT career record book for total points (1771), field goals made (746), field goals attempted (1456) and free-throw percentage (.816).

The 6-2 lefty was also a force on the volleyball court, playing for UT during the 1981 and 1984 seasons. She still ranks seventh all-time with a career hitting percentage of .300 and holds the single-season highs for kills (756) and attacks (1631) and stands third with 92 aces in 1980. She was named All-State, All-Region and All-SEC 1980 and earned Academic All-SEC in 1984.

LADY VOLS ON TV

The University of Tennessee volleyball team will make its second television appearance of the season on Sunday when South Carolina makes the trip to Rocky Top for a 1:30 p.m. contest. The match will be tape delayed and broadcast on FOX Sports Regional Networks at 3:30 p.m. that same day. Pete Pranica will provide play-by-play while Phil Push will serve as the color analyst.

UT's first appearance on television came on Sun., Oct. 12, when its contest against then-No. 9 Florida was featured on Sun Sports Television.

FOWLER NAMED TO COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT FIRST TEAM

Sophomore outside hitter Nikki Fowler has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America. The Dallas, Texas, native will move on to the national ballot where she attempt to become the program's second All-American in three years.

A business major, Fowler currently holds a cumulative GPA of 3.86. She is the fourth Lady Vol in as many seasons to earned academic all-district honors, following Jena Berg who earned second-team laurels last year. In 2006, Kelsey Fautsch claimed a spot on the first team en route to third-team All-America honors, while Kristen Andre was named to the second team in 2005.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The Lady Vols have been a fixture at the top of the SEC statistical rankings this season and currently rank among the top five teams in nearly every major statistical category in league play. The Lady Vols top the conference in digs (16.25/set), kills (14.12/set) and assists (13.33/set), rank second in hitting percentage (.270) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.164) and block (2.35/set).

Individually, UT is well represented on the SEC charts, led by junior Farren Powe's league-best .436 hitting percentage in conference action. Senior Mindy Flynn ranks just behind her in sixth with an attack average of .339.

Junior Chloe Goldman, meanwhile, tops the league in digs with 5.10/set, while sophomore Nikki Fowler ranks second with an average of 3.81 kills/set.

Freshman Kelsey Mahoney can be found on the assists chart where she ranks ninth with 6.65 assists/set. Fellow classmate Alyssa Hilby rounds out UT's presence on the leaderboards with an average of 1.10 blocks/set, which ranks her fourth in the league.

LADY VOLS EARNING THEIR FAIR SHARE OF WEEKLY AWARDS

Four different members of the UT roster have earned a total of seven SEC weekly honors this season. Junior Chloe Goldman is the most recent Lady Vol to accomplish the feat, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the third time this season on Nov. 10.

Her award comes on the heels of junior Farren Powe being tabbed the league's offensive player of the week and Lady Vol Athlete of the Week on Nov. 3 after helping UT to sweeps over Georgia and LSU.

Sophomore Nikki Fowler was the first to be honored by the league, claiming SEC Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 2 after posting an MVP performance at the Marquette Kickoff Classic. She earned the same award on Oct. 20 and was named the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week on Sept. 15 as well.

Goldman's other two SEC Defensive Player of the Week awards came back-to-back as she took home the honors on Sept. 15 and 22. Freshman Kelsey Mahoney, meanwhile, rounds out the Lady Vol award-winning quartet, having been named SEC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 20 after leading UT to victories over ETSU, Ole Miss and Arkansas.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP FOR FOWLER

Nearly finished with her second season at Rocky Top, outside hitter Nikki Fowler has been able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, leading UT in kills (340), kills/set (3.58), total attacks (903) and attacks/set (9.51).

The 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year, Fowler has led the Lady Vols in kills in 18 of their 27 matches this season, accumulating double-digit totals in 19 contests as well.

A native of Dallas, Texas, she also tops the team in double-doubles for the second straight campaign with six in 2008, accomplishing the feat against Illinois, Dayton, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama..

LIVE VIDEO AVAILABLE FRIDAY

UT volleyball fans not able to attend Friday night's showdown with No. 12 Florida will be able to watch from the comfort of their own home as live video of the 7 p.m. contest will be available at www.UTLadyVols.com. Roger Hoover will provide play-by-play of the action and Courtney Lyle will serve as the color analyst. As always, fans can also follow along with live stats via GameTracker.

FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT

The much heralded UT rookie class is already beginning to make an impact on the court this season with three different freshman having already earned starting nods through the team's first 27 contests.

Setter Kelsey Mahoney has started the last 15 matches and 17 total this season at the setter position, while outside hitter Kayla Jeter has started two matches and middle blocker Alyssa Hilby leads all rookies with 21 starts.

Mahoney paces the team with 551 assists and 5.74 assists per set this season in addition to having collected a team-high 22 aces and a total of 156 digs. In 21 matches, Hilby has accumulated 74 kills and a squad-best 85 blocks, while Jeter has 26 kills, three aces, 27 digs and 14 blocks in 14 matches.