KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Lady Vols (7-6) took down Missouri (7-4) in straight sets to begin SEC play in Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday night.
The first set began as a slugfest, but Tennessee went on a 16-7 run to win the first set in dominant fashion 25-14. The majority of the second set went back and forth, but the Lady Vols were able to find some separation late as they pulled away and won it 25-21. The third set was similar to the second in that Tennessee ran away at the end again, winning the set 25-20 and taking the match in three sets.
Erykah Lovett was a critical component for the Lady Vols as she tallied a team high 15 kills in the match. In addition to the 15 kills, Lovett is now tied with Anna Blair of Ole Miss for highest hit percentage, with a minimum 20 hits.
“When Erykah’s good she’s great,” said Tennessee coach Eve Rackham Watt. “She’s put together a couple of good matches where she’s really hard to stop. I felt like she came into the match with a very clear plan of what she wanted to do and she got a lot of swings that she liked.”
The Lady Vols will head west to College Station this weekend for a pair of matches against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept. 25. The Aggies have seen their fair share of ranked competition and even took down No. 21 Western Kentucky in straight sets, a team that did the same thing to Tennessee.