Lily Helton
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- The Lady Vols volleyball team played in a gritty, back-and-forth, and competitive environment at the Food City Center on Wednesday night. During all five sets, each team member on both sides gave everything they had, both mentally and physically, to lead their school to victory. The crowd stood up, loud and alert, and both sidelines were cheering and stomping until the final point.
Throughout the match, the Lady Vols showed spurts of momentum. Hayden Kubik had a standout performance, leading the team with 24 kills. Paityn Chapman followed with 15 kills. Chapman’s kills came in clutch moments, pushing the Lady Vols out of a tie game late in the fourth set. Caroline Kerr and Mackenzie Plante played well on the defensive side of the ball for the Lady Vols. Kerr finished with 15 digs, and Plante finished with 26.
“It looked like everything was hard, and that’s kind of uncharacteristic of our team,” said head coach Eve Rackham Watt.
Ultimately, the Lady Vols could not string enough points together to overcome the Gators in the fifth set. The team struggled offensively, creating five hitting errors during the set.
With the fifth set only going to 15 points, Florida could more easily capitalize on those errors and take control of the set.
“We made some untimely, unforced errors,” said Rackham Watt. “We gotta learn how to win in the fifth.”
Even with the loss tonight, Rackham Watt still has faith in her team going forward. Caroline Kerr met her all-time assists record tonight with 57, and Chelsea Sutton led the team with five blocking assists. Gulce Guctekin finished the day with 17 digs and six assists.
“This is a good team, we have a high ceiling,” said Rackham Watt. “Florida is a good team, so they exposed some things.”
Looking ahead, the Lady Vols have a short week to make corrections – facing Auburn at home on Sunday, Oct. 19th.
“The margins are super small in this conference, everybody’s good,” said Rackham Watt. “You gotta be ready to go every night.”