After dropping their first official match since Aug. 31 on Wednesday night against No. 2 Texas, Tennessee volleyball had its first chance at bouncing back against a struggling Ole Miss team.
The No.17 Lady Vols handed Ole Miss their fourth straight loss on Sunday afternoon, as they found themselves back in the win column with a 3-0 sweep, 25-18, 25-18 and 25-20.
Senior Hayden Kubik once again led the kills column. She finished her day with 13 kills over 34 total attacks, including an ace.
The first set featured some back-and-forth action from both sides. Ole Miss (9-8, 1-5 SEC) provided some early pushback before the Lady Vols’ (13-2, 4-1 SEC) offense was able to find its footing in the middle stages.
Despite a late run from the Rebels, the Lady Vols won the opening set, scoring 25-18, the final blow dealt from Sydney Jones, assisted by redshirt junior Caroline Kerr.
Kerr continues to serve as the glue for the Lady Vols in more ways than one. Her experience and leadership, meshed with the playmaking ability she displays every night, make her one of the most important players on the court.
Just like the preceding set, the Lady Vols walked away with another 25-18 set victory, pushing them up two sets to none over the Rebels.
Most notably from set two, the Lady Vols mounted an 8-1 run against Ole Miss, led by Kerr and Jones again. Kerr finished her day with 29 assists over three sets, also accounting for six digs and three kills, which, as a setter, is not always a guarantee.
Jones also played all three sets against the Rebels, earning six kills with 16 total attacks. She also tallied two assisted blocks along with three digs defensively.
After a quick two-set victory from the Lady Vols, they went back to work in set three, eyeing their third possible conference sweep after already handing Georgia and South Carolina sweeps earlier in the season.
The Rebels kept things close through the early stages of set three, with the game tied at 11 apiece halfway through the round. The Lady Vols responded with an 8-3 run to give them a comfortable six-point lead, 21-16 in the later frame.
The Rebels provided one of their more dominant runs of the night, winning the next three points, scoring 21-19, to bring the game back to a two-point Lady Vols advantage.
Tennessee bunkered down for the rest of the third set, allowing just one more point the rest of the game. An ace from Kubik, along with a Mackenzie Plante kill, was the final touch of the night, before an Ole Miss service error ended the night.
Besides Kubik continuing to lead the offense in kills, Chelsea Sutton added to her successful sophomore campaign, making her presence felt yet again on both sides of the ball.
Seven kills to just one error was her day offensively; she also tied for the team lead with three assisted blocks.
The win over the Rebels is the final stop of a three-game road trip that began in Baton Rouge with a major comeback win over LSU, before the Lady Vols dropped a midweek contest to a tough Texas team.
Now the team returns home to face off against Florida on Oct. 15, with the first serve set for 7 pm ET against the Gators.
