No. 16 Tennessee volleyball wrapped up non-conference play at No. 9 Penn State. The Lady Vols pulled off a huge road win in four sets, 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, to improve to 9-1 on the season. This was the first top-10 road win for the Lady Vols since the 2011 season.
The Lady Vols took set one after trading points early. Tennessee got on the board on a Maggie Dostic kill, pushed ahead on a Caroline Kerr service ace and, after falling behind 6-5, ripped off a 4-0 run to jump ahead 9-6. From there the Lady Vols never gave the lead back and leaned on strong defense the rest of the way.
Kerr ran the offense with 14 assists, Jalyn Stout and Kennedi Rogers recorded six and five kills, respectively, and Dostic added three. The final two points came on a Rogers kill at set point and a Mackenzie Plante service ace.
Penn State brought power and speed on its shots, and the second set went back and forth before the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. Their defense ramped up, Kennedy Martin and Ryla Jones delivered on offense, and Haley Burgdorf’s serving helped fuel the push with two service aces during the set.
Down five at 21-16 before the rally, the Lady Vols clawed their way back. The block was the key. Tennessee neutralized Whitney Lauenstein down the stretch, forcing three attack errors into the block: Kerr and Anni Tang, Kerr and Chelsea Sutton, then Stout and Sutton.
Rogers and Stout were huge as Tennessee tied it at 23, with Stout scoring the tying point and the set point on back-to-back rallies. The Lady Vols closed on a 4-0 run to win the set 25-23. The final point came on the block, Rogers and Sutton stuffing Martin’s attempt to seal it.
Penn State put up a fight in the third set and charged to a 10-6 lead. Tennessee fought, but Penn State’s defense clamped down. Jones anchored the block, but the Lady Vols still made a run. Down five at 12-17, Tennessee reeled off four straight to pull within one, capped by back-to-back Rogers kills that forced a Penn State timeout. Penn State answered out of the break and closed the set 25-20 on a Burgdorf kill, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 2-1.
Penn State carried the momentum into the fourth and jumped ahead 7-2. Then, after staying persistent with a 6-3 run, Tennessee flipped the set with three straight to grab its first lead at 11-10, and from there it belonged to Dostic. The Lady Vols turned an 11-11 tie into an 18-11 cushion, Dostic serving six in a row with two aces while Stout and Sutton defended well.
Tennessee pulled away for good. Rogers pounded kill after kill down the stretch. But Penn State pushed back to cut the lead to 24-20 before Dostic ended it with a kill off a Raegan Burns assist, 25-20, to clinch the match 3-1.
The Lady Vols will return home and begin Southeastern Conference play on Friday, Sept. 25 against Texas. Time of first-serve is at 7 p.m. EDT at Food City Center, with the match televised on SEC Network.
Stats from the match are below.
