By Stephen Mason
Knoxville, Tenn. — When the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies came storming into Knoxville Sunday afternoon, it was always going to be a challenge for the No. 16 Lady Vols volleyball team. While Tennessee was coming off a demoralizing loss to an unranked Missouri on Friday night, the Aggies had all the momentum on their side as they had handed No. 2 Texas its first loss of the season. The winds never shifted in the Lady Vols’ favor, and they lost in a four-set heartbreaker.
The issues started before the first serve for Tennessee, as they were without their two-time All-American setter, junior Caroline Kerr. Instead, it was true freshman Izzy Mogridge who handled all the setting duties for the Lady Vols.
“I thought Izzy played really well, tough situation to go into as a true freshman and perform,” coach Eve Rackham Watt said. “The more she goes out there, the more she will learn.”
Elite serving from the Aggies made it hard for Tennessee’s back row to get good passes to Mogridge, which started a bad domino effect for the team’s offense.
“We didn’t pass the ball well tonight, which puts a lot of pressure on the setter and the attackers,” Rackham Watt said. “I thought Texas A&M served the ball well and put us in some tough situations, and we just weren’t responsible with the ball.”
Despite being put into a difficult situation, Mogridge put together a solid performance, recording 32 assists, four blocks, 10 digs, and one kill for the Lady Vols. Mogridge was not the only freshman making the start for Tennessee, as redshirt freshman Zoe Humphrey was also on the starting lineup. She finished the night with seven kills and four blocks of her own.
It was not all bad for the Lady Volunteers, as they started the afternoon by taking the first set 25-19. This was the only set the team hit over .300, and in the following sets, a dominant and veteran Aggie defense began to take over the game.
“They’ve got some tremendous blockers. (Ifenna) Cos-Okpalla is one of, if not the best, blockers in the nation,” Rackham Watt said. “That’s a really old team with a lot of veteran players.”
Cos-Okpalla gave Tennessee’s attackers issues all match long and finished the night with a team-high of 13 blocks. Texas A&M finished the game hitting .265, compared to Tennessee’s .138.
It was a very disappointing two-game homestand for the Lady Vols, with Friday’s disappointing loss to Missouri and today’s defeat. However, the road does not get any easier for the team as they will be playing two consecutive games on the road, starting with a match at Vanderbilt on Friday and at No. 3 Kentucky on Sunday. This is a Kentucky team that swept No. 2 Texas Sunday afternoon.
“It doesn’t get any easier going on the road next week,” Rackham Watt said. “This team has been good about their belief, and I don’t think that’s wavering. We got to get back to work and get our offense clicking again.”
It will be a crucial week of practices for the Lady Vols. With only two more weekends left of conference play, they will have to find the offensive consistency they had earlier in the year. The setter position does not have to be a worry for the team going forward. Mogridge showed this afternoon that she is capable of running this offense if the team has to continue playing without Kerr.
While today’s match-up was always going to be an uphill battle for Tennessee, and for the most part, the team played well, refinement in some areas of the game will be needed if the team wants to get to the next level.
Fixing the attacking errors, which the team had 27 of today, as well as raising the low hitting percentages, will be priorities for Rackham Watt’s squad as the regular season draws to a close and the postseason approaches.