Sunday, the No. 22 Tennessee volleyball team faced the No. 21 Indiana Hoosiers at the Broadway Block Party in Nashville, Tenn. The Lady Vols came away with their fifth consecutive sweep (25-23, 25-23, 25-16) to improve to 5-0 on the season. What stood out in this match was Tennessee’s unwillingness to be defeated.
In every set, Indiana held a lead of at least four, but Tennessee overcame those situations to remain unblemished. Lady Vols head coach Eve Rackham Watt’s squad looks to be one that can answer adversity well, and that is what you want to see with the competition getting stiffer.
Kennedi Rogers has garnered a ton of attention since arriving in Knoxville, and rightfully so. The sophomore outside hitter has brought an attack that coaches are actively game planning for. During the match Sunday, Indiana’s head coach Steve Aird gave his team instructions on what to watch for and how to prepare for her hard attacks. That didn’t go as planned as Rogers finished with 19 kills. She also added three blocks, two digs, and an ace.
Rogers had plenty of help, though. Chelsea Sutton was efficient all afternoon and finished with seven kills on a .462 clip with just one error. Sutton was also huge on the defensive end with five blocks. Maggie Dostic put up six kills, three aces and eight digs, and Caroline Kerr ran the offense for 32 assists to go with 10 digs.
Jolene Oddo also went to work at the net with five blocks, and Jalyn Stout’s stuff of a Jager attack in the second set gave Tennessee one of its most dominant plays. Sydney Jaynes, late in the third set, served the Lady Vols through the final five points to close out the match.
The Lady Vols have shown themselves to be a force to deal with in the last set. In each match, they’ve put it all together to finish strong, and that is something opposing teams should take note of. Tennessee will face the No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers in the Showdown at the Net at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida, on Wednesday.
This will be Tennessee’s toughest opponent yet and should give the Lady Vols another measuring stick of where they are at this point in the season. It is still early, but seeing these types of teams will only help set them up for conference play. So far, they are passing the test.
