With a mere four-hour break coming off a sweep of Samford, the Lady Vols volleyball team wrapped up its long weekend with another sweep, this time over Winthrop on Friday night.
Tennessee continued its roll, taking down the Eagles in dominant fashion, 25-19, 25-21, 25-13.
The Lady Vols have now won three consecutive matches with another dominant performance to conclude the doubleheader. They capitalized on a big day from Hayden Kubik and Zoe Humphrey.
“After that first set against Wofford, they’ve been really clean,” head coach Eve Rackham Watt said. “I think the hope is that it gets better every week as we’ve changed lineups and personnel, and cohesion will take some time.”
Kubik once again led Tennessee to the match win, collecting a total of eight kills on 24 attacks and two digs for the evening.
While Kubik stepped up in a big way in the afternoon win over Samford, it was Humphrey’s time to shine in the evening. The redshirt freshman middle blocker dominated the Eagles at the net and set the tone early for Tennessee.
Humphrey made her presence known at the net, collecting 10 kills on 13 attacks on the evening. Alongside Kubik, she helped the Lady Vols stifle the Eagles, while also notching an ace from behind the line.
From behind the line, Mackenzie Plante and Chelsea Sutton delivered several big points for the Lady Vols, notching two aces between the pair.
The strong physicality of Tennessee continues to be a big factor in the team’s success, and was evident through all three games over the last two days. The Lady Vols dominated the net and outmatched Wofford and Samford in speed, size and strength.
“I thought Sydney Jones and Paityn Chapman did a really nice job using their physicality. Hayden Kubik and Mackenzie Plante, they just kept us in the game,” Rackham Watt said. “We were pretty balanced offensively, but I think certainly our size and physicality was a problem for the teams we played today.”
The Lady Vols’ highly touted depth shone all day and particularly against the Eagles, with five Lady Vols recording six or more kills on 11 or more attacks in the nightcap on Friday.
It played a crucial role in the effort on both ends all day, with a total of four players notching 5 or more digs on the defensive side of the ball.
Tennessee strung together a six-point run en route to taking the first set from Winthrop and never looked back. The Eagles kept the second set competitive, but the Lady Vols closed it out quickly.
Defensively, the Lady Vols continued their strong efforts all around. Izzy Mogridge led Tennessee in assists during the nightcap, with Caroline Kerr coming in behind her with 15.
“I challenged Caroline and Izzy in that match that they needed to be more relentless on defense,” Rackham Watt said. “I thought their response in the latter half of the second and the third set was really good.”
Tennessee will get the weekend off before welcoming Georgia Tech on Sept. 9.
