For the third time in as many days, the Lady Vols volleyball team was back in action, this time against Wofford on their home court in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Despite a late push by the No. 16 Lady Vols offense, Wofford bested the Lady Vols in five sets, 3-2.
Eve Rackham Watt’s squad swept their two-game weekend series over Coastal Carolina, pushing ahead the teams’ five-game win streak after starting the season with two losses before dropping Monday’s match.
Wofford (6-4) jumped out of the gate to an early one set advantage behind a 13-2 run in the middle of the frame.
The Lady Vols (5-3) struggled to get much of anything moving on the offensive side of the ball during set one. While the team finished on an 8-4 run in favor of the Lady Vols, Wofford still jumped out to the early 1-0 lead.
With Wofford ahead, the Lady Vols had to work from behind for the first time since their 3-0 loss to Louisville in the second game of the season.
Set two saw more poise on the Lady Vols’ side. The team kept the set within reach, as it was knotted at 16 points a piece at one point. Eventually, Wofford jumped ahead on a 9-4 run during the final frames of set two, taking an overall commanding 2-0 lead.
Wofford has played its past three matches fairly close, despite dropping two out of three of those to Clemson and Appalachian State. Despite playing those matches closely, Wofford hadn’t played a game as complete as they did on Monday through the first two sets.
Down 2-0 for just the second time this season, the Lady Vols were in need of a quick turnaround in set three, which kickstarted with an 18-9 run in favor of the Lady Vols. The run featured help from all around the court, including Emily Beeker with three kills, and Caroline Kerr, Keondreya Granberry and Nina Cajic all tallying two.
Set three ended with a 25-13 Lady Vol victory, including three kills from Ajack Malual, a junior transfer who’s first action came against LIU the past week.
Set four continued Tennessee’s theme of control, downing Wofford 25-19 and extending the match to its fifth and final set. Malual’s success carried over from the past set, earning three more kills in set four. Granberry and Cajic still led the top of the scoresheet in kills, Cajic with five and Granberry with four during the set.
The match boiled down to set five, after an encouraging 2-0 Lady Vols run to tie the match up at two sets even. Tennessee and Wofford needed a winner-take-all set scored to 15 to settle a winner.
Both sides traded scores through the first 12 points, knotted up at six. Then, Wofford exchanged a blow that Tennessee could not combat. During a 9-6 run, the Terriers effectively closed out the game — and the Lady Vols win streak.
Tennessee’s win streak came to a close at five, and its record fell to 5-3 on the season. The team returns to Food City Center on Sept. 19 for a matchup against Western Michigan.
