| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Kentucky 3, Dayton 2
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Tennessee 3, Duke 1
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Wildcats Survive Dayton, Advance to Second Round
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The age-old cliché during NCAA Tournament time of “survive and advance,” rang true for the 16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team in a sensational 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14) victory over Dayton in the opening round of play in College Station, Texas on Thursday evening. The Wildcats survived two match-points before scoring the game’s final four points to escape the fifth frame with a 16-14 win. UK will play the winner of Texas A&M and Lipscomb on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“The worst part about that match is that somebody had to lose,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “That was a really good volleyball match, and obviously I’m extremely proud of our players for competing. We had our backs against the wall and really got out-competed there for a while, but they found a way to grind it out and get the win.”
UK advances to the second round of tournament play for the third time during Skinner’s tenure and the first time since 2009. UK improves to 27-5 on the season and remains a perfect 7-0 in matches’ that need five-sets to determine a winner. Dayton concludes its season with a 25-7 overall record.
Dayton opened the decisive fifth set by grabbing an early 3-0 lead. The Flyers would maintain that edge for the duration of the set including going up 14-12 to earn match-point. Dayton committed just its second error of the stanza for UK to save the first match-point. Junior Stephanie Klefot then turned in the Wildcats’ third service ace of the frame to knot the score at 14.
With Klefot remaining at the service line, junior setter Christine Hartmann and senior middle blocker Gretchen Giesler combined for the Wildcats’ ninth block of the match to give UK match-point at 15-14. Kentucky wasted little time in answering the call as Giesler swatted home the match’s winning point into the center of the defense for the 16-14 win.
The Wildcats’ received tremendous efforts from junior Ashley Frazier who posted the first 20-kill match of the season for the Wildcats. Freshman Lauren O’Conner produced simply the best match of her young career with a career-best 18 kills while adding six digs to the winning cause.
Klefot posted a match-high 28 digs and sophomore Whitney Billings totaled a career-high 20 digs to lead the defensive unit. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg and freshman Jackie Napper both scooped up 14 digs and Hartmann added eight. Billings, senior Becky Pavan and Hartmann led UK at the net with four blocks apiece.
Giesler chipped in with four kills and a pair of blocks, while classmate Ann Armes contributed five kills and matched Giesler with two rejections.
Needing a victory to force a decisive fifth set, the Wildcats jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the fourth behind the tremendous play of O’Conner. The freshman totaled five kills and an ace to begin the fourth and guide the Wildcats to a five-point lead and force the Flyers into a timeout.
Following the break, UK did not let up scoring the next three points all of which coming in the form of kills to open up a 16-8 advantage. The Wildcats’ kept their feet on the pedal and a kill from Hartmann gave UK a 25-15 fourth set win and force a deciding fifth frame.
Kentucky earned a 2-1 lead to begin the first set after back-to-back kills from Billings and Pavan. The Wildcats utilized a 4-0 run in the middle of the stanza to stretch the advantage to five at 12-7. Hartmann and Pavan combined for a block during the run to highlight the stretch and force Dayton into an early timeout.
Following the timeout the Wildcats forced the Flyers into a hitting error and Frazier connected on a deep cross-court shot to reclaim a five-point edge at 17-12. Kentucky earned its largest lead at eight points following consecutive kills from Frazier and Armes at 20-12. O’Conner drove home the 15th kill of the set to lift the Blue and White to a 25-20 first set victory.
The second set proved to be a much more back-and-forth battle with neither team able to stretch a lead to more than two points at a time. The squads swapped points back and forth until the Flyers were able to earn a two-point edge at 13-11 following consecutive blocks and UK chose to use a timeout. Dayton continued to maintain an edge and closed the set on a 7-0 run to claim a 25-16 second set victory and tie the match at one set apiece.
Dayton opened the third set by going ahead by five at 10-5 and forced the Blue and White into an early timeout. The Flyers stretched the lead to as many as eight at 20-12, but UK charted an 8-1 rally to pull to within one at 21-20. During the run, Pavan and Hartmann combined for a pair of blocks to highlight the stretch. Dayton was able to fend off the rally though as the Flyers scored five of the stanza’s final seven points to win 25-22 and go up 2-1 in the match.
Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum will play host to the NCAA Regionals Dec. 9-10. UK is one of four sites selected for Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups with one team advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, from the Lexington Region. Opening night matches are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. ET. Saturday’s final is set for a 4:30 p.m. ET first serve.
Tennessee Volleyball Downs Duke, Advances to the NCAA Second Round
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The 14th-seeded Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team opened the NCAA Tournament with a strong all-around effort, downing Duke in four sets, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, on Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
With 1,552 orange-clad faithful cheering them on, the Lady Vols were able to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and ninth time in school history. UT will take on Ohio State, which defeated MTSU earlier in the day, at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Thursday's crowd marked the seventh-highest home attendance in program history and was the largest crowd for an NCAA match ever in Knoxville. Tennessee is now 9-2 in NCAA Tournament matches held at Rocky Top.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Lady Vol head volleyball coach Rob Patrick said. “When half of your team that is out there has never been in an NCAA Tournament, finishing up their first season and being able to come out and play a very steady first match in an NCAA Tournament was very good. They’ve been doing what they’ve been doing all year long, (which) is playing beyond their years.”
Sophomore Kelsey Robinson paced the Orange and White effort with her team-leading 22nd double-double of the season, posting a match-high 19 kills to go along with 11 digs, a pair of blocks and an ace. Freshman Tiffany Baker and Leslie Cikra also reached double-digits with kill totals of 13 and 12, respectively.
“I thought we were very patient in our offense, both when we were receiving and serving in transition because Duke played just a fantastic defensive game,” Patrick said. “It could’ve gotten hairy out there if we would have gotten a little short-sighted and a little antsy to try and get a kill earlier in the rally, and we didn’t do that.”
Defensively, sophomore Ellen Mullins topped the Big Orange with 18 scoops, followed closely by a career-high 14 digs from freshman Nikki Brice. At the net, junior DeeDee Harrison tallied a match-high seven blocks, in addition to recording seven kills.
Freshman setter Mary Pollmiller guided to the UT offense to a hitting percentage of .257, bettering Duke by over .100 points (.257-.151), as she dished out 47 of UT’s 52 assists, while adding four kills of her own.
To begin the match, Duke scored five of the first seven points to take the early advantage. That would be the last time the Big Orange would trail in the set, as UT rattled off runs of 5-0 and 6-0 to take a commanding 13-6 lead.
In the first rally, Baker blasted a pair of kills, freshman Shealyn Kolosky added one of her own, Brice added an ace from the service line and the Blue Devils had an attack error. Up 7-6, Kolosky, Robinson and Baker each recorded kills, Pollmiller and Kolosky combined for a block and Baker recorded her first ace of the season, giving the Lady Vols a seven point lead, 13-6.
Duke scored four of the ensuing five to cut its deficit to four, 14-10, but could get no closer. A kill from Harrison and an ace from Mullins pushed UT’s lead to six, 18-12, and a 4-0 run gave UT’s its largest lead at 23-14. The Lady Vols closed out the set by scoring six of the final seven points, as a Duke miscue and a solo block from Harrison gave the Orange and White set number one, 25-15.
The Lady Vols carried their momentum over from the first set early into the second frame, grabbing a quick 4-2 lead. Duke would rally back however, notching the next three point to take a 5-4 advantage. The set would be tied at points five through seven before a Kolosky kill and a Blue Devil attack error gave UT a two-point lead, 9-7.
Trailing 11-8, Duke ripped off seven straight to regain the lead at 15-11. An attack that sailed long ended the run, but the Blue Devils would score the next three to extend their lead to six, 18-12.
A Tennessee timeout was exactly what the Lady Vols needed, as the team responded in a big way, scoring seven of the next eight points to knot the match at 19 all. During that span, Cikra had three kills, Baker, Harrison and Robinson each tallied one and the Blue Devils sent an attack long.
Duke would score the next two, but the Big Orange would eventually even the set at 22 after back-to-back kills from Robinson. It was not enough though as the Blue Devils scored three of the final four tallies in the set to even the match up at 1-1, winning 25-23.
Following the break, Duke took the first point of set three, but kills from Harrison and Baker and a Blue Devil miscue ensued, giving UT a 3-1 advantage. That’s when Duke made its surge, tallying the next six points to grab a four-point lead at 7-3.
The Lady Vols had a run of their own however, as three blasts from Cikra, three Duke errors and an ace from Mullins allowed UT to reclaim the lead at 10-7. The Orange and White would never trail again in the set, as they lead by as many as five after a Robinson blast made the score 17-12.
The Blue Devils had one last run in them, rallying to score three in a row to make the score 17-15. The squads would trade the ensuing four points prior to Pollmiller and Robinson notching a kill each and a Duke attack error to extend the Lady Vol lead to 22-17.
Scoring six of the final eight points of the third game, back-to-back kills from Harrison and Robinson gave Tennessee the set, 25-19. In the frame, the Lady Vols hit .344, which was the best hitting percentage for either team in any set.
The fourth and what proved to be the final set saw UT jump out early and sustain its lead. Down by one, 4-3, the Lady Vols scored eight of the next nine to notch a strong 11-5 lead. In a 5-0 run ignited by a Cikra kill, Kolosky combined for a kill with Baker and another with Cikra, along with an attack error wide from Duke.
Still holding a three-point lead, 11-8, the Lady Vols pushed their advantage to 10, 18-8, after three slams from Robinson, three miscues on the part of Duke and a service ace from Jasmine Brown. Duke got to within seven on five occasions, but no closer.
Holding a 22-16 lead, UT ended the match in style with a Baker kill, a block from Kolosky and Cikra and a shot off the arm of Cikra that ended the set, 25-16, and the match. The Big Orange defense was stout in the final frame, limiting the Blue Devil offense to hitting to a mere .022.
A trip to the NCAA Regionals over Dec. 9-10 will be on the line Friday, as the Lady Vols take on Ohio State in their final home match of the season.