The University of Tennessee volleyball team welcomes Georgia to Thompson-Boling Arena this Wednesday and Thursday. The Lady Vols (0-2, 0-2 SEC) look to capture their first win of the season, while Georgia (1-1, 1-1 SEC) will be gunning to create a winning streak. 

“I think our kids got a little bit conservative at times and we are gonna have to be a little bit more aggressive,” head coach Eve Rackham said. “Whether that is using the block or trying to beat a defender, but we are gonna have to score from the pins.”

Tennessee played No. 3 Kentucky to kick off the season. The Lady Vols won just one set at Memorial Coliseum over those two games. Kentucky swept Tennessee in the first match without much resistance (15-25, 16-25, 15-25). Ava Bell and Raquel Perinar recorded eight and six kills, respectively. As a team, Tennessee struggled offensively and finished the game with a .182 hitting percentage. 

The Lady Vols bounced back in game two. In the opening set, Tennessee was down by seven, but thanks to Danielle Mahaffey’s seven kills, they were able to mount a comeback to win the opening set, 26-24. Tennessee battled over the next two sets but lost both to scores of, 23-25, and 22-25. Kentucky proved too much in the final set, hitting .407, on its way to a 25-13, set, and match win. 

“We need to have more production from the pins,” Rackham said. “We have got to score from the outside hitter position. We have got to score from the right-side hitter position. They are going to get the bulk of the sets. We have been in a 6-2 system, which, in theory, is supposed to give you more offense, so we have got to be able to find that. There is no doubt that Kentucky is one of the best, if not the best, defensive team in the conference. Some of the swings that we took were good swings, but they just did not go down against Kentucky. We are gonna have to produce more from those positions.”

Georgia travels to Rocky Top after splitting their opening series against South Carolina. 

Rachel Ritchie finished with a team-high 10 kills for the Bulldogs. Teammate Amber Stivrins tallied 12 digs in her debut. However, it wasn’t enough as South Carolina rallied for several runs in each set to sweep Georgia (21-25, 19-25, 23-25). 

Georgia started the second game by dropping the first set but quickly answered as they defeated the Gamecocks in the next three sets to finish the weekend with a split. Stivrins finished game two with 26 kills and a .564 hitting percentage, while also recording eight digs. Freshman Phoebe Awoleye did a little bit of everything in her team’s win as she finished with seven kills, five aces, and four blocks. 

“[Stivrins] had a really good night and carried them offensively,” Rackham said. “They probably feel like they have found something there. For us, the matchup will be important on who is blocking for us on the other side of the net. Georgia, unfortunately, has started in a couple of different rotations, so it is hard to tell exactly where they are going to start. Our right-side block is going to have to be disciplined and touch a lot of balls to slow her down. We have adjusted our defense a bit, based on the tendencies that we have seen. She is a great player and I expect her to get her kills and it may come down to us trying to contain everybody else, cause she may have a good night regardless. We’ll just have to make the adjustments as needed.”

Last season, Tennessee lost both matches against Georgia, with each of them ending 3-1. In the first match, former Lady Vol, Sedona Hansen, entered the top five in career assists in Lady Vol history. Later in the game, she became the 16th Tennessee player in program history to record 1,000 digs. 

The second game was a much better outing for Tennessee. The Lady Vols finished with a .284 hitting percentage, 11 blocks and just 17 errors. They also played tighter sets through the entire game with their largest margin of defeat being five instead of 11, like in the first game. 

Coach Rackham is 1-2 against Georgia in her three years as the Lady Vols head coach. She defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 in her first season at the helm. 

In that game, Tennessee dropped the first two sets of the match. In the third set, Tennessee found their groove and hit .406 with five kills from Lily Felts and Tessa Grubbs. Grubbs finished the match with a then career-high, 27 kills. 

The matches against Georgia this week both start at 7 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday and Thursday this week.