After playing 10 demanding matches on the road over the past three weeks, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers will finally step into familiar territory when they walk into Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday for their home opener against in-state opponent Austin Peay.
The Lady Vols are coming off a, 2-1, record in the Coastal Carolina Tournament, where they beat Kennesaw State and Loyola University Maryland before dropping their third match against host Coastal Carolina, 3-1. The second set of the Lady Vols’ final match was eye-opening as they went from a .088 hitting percentage in the first set to an impressive 0.333 hitting percentage in the second set.
“We were very focused,” freshman Claudia Coco said. “We really focused on the little things in that set, and that’s basically overall what we have to.”
Jamie Lea made the All-Tournament team with 43 kills and 35 digs. Kendra Turner and Lexi Dempsey also stepped up to help their team, with Turner having 37 kills and Dempsey digging the ball 26 times in the tournament.
“It was a really great team tournament,” head coach Rob Patrick said. “Jamie Lea was playing six rotations and doing a fantastic job … Kendra Turner is starting to come into her own. She’s only a freshman, and I thought she came in a performed at a really high level … Our setter Lexi Dempsey did a great job of running our offense and keeping our team organized.”
Now, the Lady Vols are eyeing their next tournament, the DISH Lady Vol Classic, which consists of Austin Peay, Mercer, Memphis and Montana State.
“We need to take it one match at a time,” Patrick said. “We gotta play consistently low-error volleyball. I think physically we can match up with most of the teams. Really, the only way we can get in trouble is if we make too many unforced errors.”
The biggest challenge to the Lady Vols in the upcoming tournament could lie with Memphis, who is, 6-4, coming into the tournament.
The in-state foe is coming off a four-game sweep of the Bulldog Invitational. Dempsey believes the Tigers will “definitely” be the biggest challenge for the Lady Vols. Coco, however, believes Mercer may provide a difficult time for the Lady Vols.
Both Dempsey and Coco believe teamwork and defense will help them win the upcoming tournament.
“Taking care of our side of the net and the little things,” Dempsey said.
“(We need to) really focus on coming together as a team,” Coco said, “supporting each other, and picking up where other people are struggling.”
With this being the first home match, both players and coaches are looking forward to playing in front of the Volunteer faithful.
“We have the best fans in the country here at the University of Tennessee,” Patrick said. “We have a great winning percentage and history here at home, and a lot of that has to do with our fans.”
The Lady Vols open up tournament play at 7 p.m. Thursday against Austin Peay, followed by Memphis at 7 p.m. Friday and Mercer and Montana State at 12:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday, respectively.
