With their four-game homestand now over, the Lady Vols hit the road and head to Starkville, Mississippi, and Athens, Georgia, this weekend to take on two different sets of Bulldogs.
The Lady Vols (7-13, 0-6 SEC) are coming off two tough losses to Kentucky and LSU. Although both matches were losses, head coach Rob Patrick feels confident in his team’s ability.
“I was actually very happy with the first two sets of Kentucky,” Patrick said. “We did some very good things. When we passed the ball, we ran an offense that they couldn’t even stop … We fell apart in the third set, but I was very pleased on how we played in the first two sets.
“Against LSU, we got unorganized. Unfortunately, these things happen. We played hard. We just got unorganized. If we can get more organized and take care of the first and second contacts, we’ll be okay.”
Tennessee will first focus their attention on stopping the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-16, 0-6 SEC), and while the hype in Starkville has been mainly directed at the football program, the Lady Vols can’t overlook their opponent and risk getting upended.
“We can watch some film, scout them and stick to the game plan,” sophomore hitter Jamie Lea said. “We have to get more consistent and not give up so many errors.”
Mississippi State has the best digger in the country with Payton Harris. Harris is leading not only the SEC, but the entire country with an average of 6.84 digs per set.
Coach Patrick wants to avoid Harris in the matchup.
“You have to find ways to hit away from her,” Patrick said. “That’s something we’re really going to have to do.”
After Mississippi State, the Lady Vols will take on the Georgia Bulldogs. These Bulldogs (9-8, 1-4 SEC) are coming in ranked second in the SEC in blocks per set with 2.59.
“We have to pass the ball,” Patrick said. “The way we run our offense, we can split their block up a lot and give ourselves one-on-one opportunities along the net. That’s something we’re going to work on for both matches.”
Even though this season has had many bumps and bruises, both sophomore defensive specialist Bridgette Villano and Lea said the team’s attitude is “positive”.
“We definitely saw sparks of what our team can be against Kentucky and LSU,” Lea said. “We just have to get that going.”
Patrick added, “We need to look at the long term. If we don’t look too far ahead, and take it one day at a time, we have the athletes and the right players here at Tennessee. If we get better every day, we’re going to do some special things in the near future.”
The Mississippi State match will take place on Friday at 8 p.m. EST. The Lady Vols battle against Georgia will be televised on the SEC Network on Sunday at noon.
