University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
14-0
Campbell
4-8
Vols Beat Campbell, Roll Win Streak to 14
September 19, 2015 | Volleyball
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Tennessee Volunteers continued their undefeated start to the season with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-15) victory over Campbell on Saturday morning at the NC State DoubleTree Classic.
Tennessee (14-0) concludes its final non-conference tournament of the season tonight against host NC State at 7 p.m.
Junior Raina Hembry and sophomore Kanisha Jimenez both led the way offensively with nine kills each. Though she played just the first two sets, Jimenez nearly recorded a double-double with eight digs to go along with her nine kills. Hembry hit .727 for the match and added three blocks.
Senior setter Lexi Dempsey also neared a double-double with 30 assists, eight digs and two blocks.
"I thought we started a little sluggish in the first set, but I was proud of how team righted itself and took care of the ball midway through the first set and onward," Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick said. "Campbell did a great job of serving tough. I thought we were finally able to handle the serve to get into our offensive rhythm.
"Give Lexi credit for setting a great offensive game plan."
Campbell led through much of the early goings of the first set, but the Vols started climbing back. A service error by the Camels kicked off a 4-0 run for Tennessee. Jimenez put Tennessee ahead 15-14 on an ace and the Vols extended their lead to 17-14 on an attack error by Campbell. That was the last lead change Tennessee needed; the Vols hit .320 and closed the set 25-19.
Tennessee kept steady in the second, hitting exactly .250 while Campbell's hitting dropped to -.036 with eight errors in the set. The Vols took a 4-3 lead on a passing error by Campbell and kept the lead through the rest of the set. Tennessee wrapped up the set on a 9-3 run, winning 25-15.
By the break, Jimenez had nine kills and eight digs, leading the team in both categories.
The Vols trailed early in the third set but called a timeout and jumped on a 7-0 run behind Kelsey Bawcombe's serve. Raina Hembry beat the block at the net for a kill to cap the run and put Tennessee ahead for good at 10-7.
Nora Reed scored Tennessee's final two points to wrap up a 25-15 victory.
"For the second-straight match, we were able to get people like Nora and Kelsey into the game, and they performed well," Patrick said.
