Tennessee Falls in Three to LSU

Sunday, October 12

Knoxville, Tenn.

1:30 PM

University of Tennessee

7-13, 0-6SEC

LSU

8-7, 3-3SEC

LSU

Tennessee

October 12, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

Oct. 12, 2014

Box Score | Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Strong efforts at the net from Jamie Lea and Raina Hembry weren't enough for Tennessee on Sunday afternoon as it dropped a 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 16-25) decision to LSU in SEC play. Lea finished the match with a team-high eight kills while Hembry had a match-best six blocks, but the Tigers were able to earn their third straight win behind a steady offensive approach.

"For some reason we struggled to stay organized in this match," said UT head coach Rob Patrick. "We were unorganized in serve-receive, unorganized in our defense, and unorganized in our game plan. We're going to have some up and down play with all the freshmen and sophomores we have on this team, but we had quite a few people not perform the level they usually do. We tried to go after balls as best we could, but we just didn't have things in sync and LSU took advantage of it."

Two-thirds of Hembry's six block assists came in the opening frame as she combined with both Lea and Kanisha Jimenez on a pair of occasions to turn aside four LSU (8-7, 3-3 SEC) attack attempts. The sophomore also made an immediate impact offensively, delivering four of her six kills for the match in game one. The closest set of the afternoon, the Lady Vols (7-13, 0-6 SEC) and Tigers battled through four tie scores and two lead changes in the initial frame, with neither side able to find any separation until late.

Tennessee took its first outright lead of the match when Hembry and Jimenez's block capped a 4-0 spurt that put UT ahead 13-12. Lea had a kill in the spurt while also partnering with Hembry for another stuff. But with the score tied 15-15 only a few plays later, it was LSU that put together the decisive rally. Five straight points for the Tigers made the count 20-15, and while a Hembry kill following a timeout got the Lady Vols back to within four, the cushion was enough for the visitors to ride out a 25-19 victory.

After some early back and forth, the Tigers took a 5-4 lead after a kill from Briana Holman and never looked back on their way to another 25-19 win in set two. Lea came away with three more kills in the set while Hembry, Shealyn Kolosky, and Ashely Mariani each added a pair, but LSU's .314 hitting percentage was too much to overcome.

Kolosky ended the match with four total kills on six swings.

In the third set, the Tigers raced out to an 8-2 advantage behind three consecutive service aces from Mimi Eugene. Tennessee nearly battled out of the early hole and pulled itself to within three at 14-11, but that is as close as the Orange and White would come as LSU claimed the set, and the match, with a 25-16 win.

Setters Lexi Dempsey and Taylor Johnson each tallied 11 assists in the contest. Dempsey is now just 10 assists shy of moving into eighth place on UT's all-time assists list.

Libero Bridgette Villano had nine digs.

With a four-match homestand now behind them, Tennessee hits the road next week for a couple away contests. The Lady Vols face Mississippi State on Friday night in Starkville before concluding the weekend at Georgia on Sunday. Friday night's match is slated for an 8 p.m. ET first serve.