By Brody Rupert
No. 11 Tennessee delivered an ugly road performance in the Swamp, facing its rival and impressive national contender, No. 7 Florida – a sweep for the Gators and another tough loss for the Volunteers.
This drops Tennessee to a two-game losing streak against premier SEC teams.
First Set: Close early, then a multitude of mistakes for Tennessee
The Vols got off to an early lead, taking a 7-4 advantage, but momentum was a struggle. Five unanswered points led to a Tennessee timeout in an attempt to regroup.
Coming off the break, Chelsea Sutton got a big kill to stop the Florida momentum.
Points were bouncing back and forth – for every Lady Vol kill, an error followed soon after. For every Gators spike, Kennedi Rogers would send a ball straight into the dead space.
After a couple of costly mistakes that gave Florida points, Tennessee head coach Eve Rackham Watt was forced to call another timeout to stall the momentum and fight back into the set.
Off the break, Anni Tang hit an impressive kill to cut Florida’s lead to two points.
At 30 points, the Gators led 16-14.
Then the swing occurred. The score began to widen; the home team had more energy, better communication, and all the momentum.
It was 20-14 within moments, but Tennessee would try to fight back. Back-to-back kills by Rogers and Sutton put the Vols back in the set, and Florida would call a timeout.
The timeout shifted momentum back toward the middle, and Florida led 22-20 late in the set.
This lead carried them to the end of the set, and the Gators won 25-22.
Serve errors killed the Vols’ momentum in the first set: four of them helped put them in the hole they were trying to escape.
Four kills from Rogers and three from Sutton, Tang, and Maggie Dostic drove the Vols’ offense, set up mainly by a 12-assist set from three-time All-American Caroline Kerr.
Second Set: Mistakes and miscommunication for the Orange and White
The second set started point for point until Tennessee finally pulled away, taking a quick 6-4 lead.
But that didn’t last, as three straight points put the Vols down for the first time in the set.
Neither team had an edge; both sides played a sloppy set, with countless serve errors, mishits, and poor communication.
The Vols made more mistakes, and the tie game slowly slipped away. The Gators led 14-11 through 25 points.
After falling behind by six points, a long challenge stoppage helped the Vols shift momentum, getting three straight and cutting the lead to 19-16.
The Vols couldn’t maintain that momentum, and they slowly let the set slip away. Tennessee dropped the second set, 25-18.
Third Set: Best shot for Tennessee
The third set started similarly to the second, point for point. Both sets started with Tennessee being able to hold their own through the first 20 points
Rogers led the charge with 12 kills throughout the game, but the Vols couldn’t find a lead.
After an error by Raegan Burns, the away team started to fall into a hole. Florida looked much more complete and recovered while the Vols made costly mistakes.
Still, they were not out of the game. A few points later, the score was tied 17-17. A kill by Rogers would give the Vols their first lead of the set.
The Gators took a two-point lead, and Tennessee called a timeout to try to salvage the game.
A serve error put the Gators two points away from closing it out, but back-to-back points gave Florida a 23-22 lead, and they called a timeout up one.
Tang notched a kill to tie the set at 22, but two straight points from the Gators put the Vols away.
Florida wins in a sweep.
Not All Negative: Anni Tang breakout game
Tang, the 6’7” freshman from Sydney, Australia, had her biggest opportunity against Florida and capitalized on it big time.
She posted career highs across the board: seven kills, up from her best of four, and six blocks, one more than her best of five.
She made clutch plays down the stretch, helping keep the team in the game on the final points of the last set.
UP NEXT: The Vols face off against the Auburn Tigers on Oct. 4, hoping to bounce back from back-to-back losses.