By Stephen Mason
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 16 Tennessee volleyball team swept Auburn on Sunday afternoon, providing a bright spot for Vol Nation during a turbulent sports weekend that included a football loss in Tuscaloosa and swirling rumors of a possible departure to the MLB for baseball coach Tony Vitello.
The Lady Vols, who were 1-2 in their last three SEC matches after losses to No. 2 Texas and Florida, rebounded to defeat a stubborn Auburn opponent. While Tennessee managed the three-set sweep, the sets were tightly contested, with scores of 25-23, 25-23, and 26-24. The win was significant because it marked a return to closing out sets strongly, an area where Tennessee struggled in the Texas and Florida losses.
For Head Coach Eve Rackham Watt, the close match provided a valuable teaching moment for her squad.
“When we’re in a timeout and it’s tied 23-23, I’m just telling them this is how we learn to be elite and this is how we learn how to win,” Rackham Watt said. “This is exactly what we need for us to have the elite season that we want to have.”
A change in mentality from the previous two losses helped Tennessee defeat the Tigers.
“I just feel like this is a team that plays better when they are cohesive and relaxed,” Rackham Watt said. “When they get stressed, this team struggles, so we have to redirect that to help them play to their strengths and play relaxed.”
The match was far from perfect for the Lady Vols, who struggled at times on the attack and block. However, the shift in attitude helped the team play more consistently through all three sets. Though she didn’t lead the team in total kills, Chelsea Sutton was the most efficient member of Tennessee’s offense, recording 15 kills with a .667 hitting percentage.
Sutton noticed the team’s improved demeanor in the close moments, compared to the matches against Texas and Florida.
“We’re not all freaking out like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening,’” Sutton said. “We are like, ‘No, this is fun and this is just a game. It’s volleyball, and we are here to play.’”
For Sutton, having fun is the opposite of losing a competitive edge.
“We had to be so much more aggressive at the end of sets, and I think we showed that today,” Sutton said. “There were points when we were down at the ends of sets, and we needed to push ahead to win them.”
The win marks the end of a homestand for Tennessee. They now return to the road in the competitive SEC, with matches at Alabama and Mississippi State before returning home to host Missouri on Oct. 31. Rackham Watt’s team hopes to take the lessons learned from Sunday’s win — playing fearlessly and having fun — to keep their momentum going on the road.