University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
7-0
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North Florida
4-2
Vols Beat UNF at Volleyball Classic
September 05, 2015 | Volleyball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers extended their winning streak to seven matches to start the season with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 19-25, 25-19) victory over North Florida on Saturday morning at Thompson Boling-Arena.
The Vols are now 7-0, off to their best start since opening 2004 with a 9-0 record. North Florida is 4-2.
"Our middles did a very good job of working hard defensively on the block, which had a huge effect on North Florida offense, especially in the fourth set," Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick said. "I'm really proud of the team and how they came back from being a little unorganized in the third set to play consistent volleyball in the later stages of the match."
Tennessee concludes the weekend tournament tonight when it hosts UNCG at 7 p.m.
Sophomore Kanisha Jimenez led the way with 16 kills, and junior Bri Holmes added 15 kills while hitting a team-leading .414. Senior Lexi Dempsey had her third double-double of the season with 45 assists and 10 digs.
The match was close from the outset. North Florida took a 13-11 lead, but Tennessee reeled off four consecutive points to go up 15-13 and lead for good. The Vols closed out the set on a 7-2 run to win 25-19. Erica Treiber and Jimenez had four kills each.
The Vols pulled away with a 9-0 run midway through the second set. Dempsey served an ace to cap the run, putting Tennessee ahead 20-8. Jimenez recorded her seventh kill of the set to give Tennessee the game 25-13 and a two set lead into the halftime break.
North Florida came back in the third set, hitting .333 for the set while holding Tennessee to .105. They also out-dug the Vols 18-13 en route to winning the set 25-19.
Tennessee regrouped in the final set. The Vols had a 5-0 run -- highlighted with a pair of aces from Kelsey Bawcombe -- to lead 8-5 and never trailed from there. Raina Hembry put away a shot at the net to capture the fourth set 25-19 and end the match.
The Vols out-dug North Florida 58 to 52. Junior libero Bridgette Villano led with 15 digs. Tennessee also tallied 13.0 team blocks. Hembry finished with seven total and Treiber had six.
