By Stephen Mason
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It was all tricks and no treats for No. 16 Lady Vol Volleyball as they lost to unranked Missouri on Halloween night (21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25). In the four-set defeat, Tennessee struggled offensively and tried to use its depth, but to no avail.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” coach Eve Rackham Watt said. “We’ve been a team that has spread the offense around and different people have led us throughout the season, but tonight we couldn’t get anyone going.”
In total, 14 different players checked into the match for Tennessee, but the depth, which has been one of the team’s biggest strengths, couldn’t turn the tide in the Lady Vols’ favor. Hayden Kubik led the team with 15 kills on the night, and Starr Williams recorded 11 of her own.
While the team was able to take big swings at times, the team’s lack of efficiency on offense impaired any momentum they had. The Tiger defense held the Lady Vols to a very low .173 hitting percentage, and Tennessee got in its own way, with 26 attack errors on the night.
In search of finding more offense, Rackham Watt switched her team from a 5-1 rotation, with junior Caroline Kerr handling the setting duties, to a 6-2 rotation where freshman Izzy Mogride saw some action.
“We were trying to get more offense into the game, and it really didn’t have anything to do with the setters,” Rackham Watt said. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively, so we tried to put another attacker in the front row, but it’s not necessarily a good thing when you are running through a bunch of subs.”
Before Southeastern Conference play began, the Lady Vols had used a 6-2 rotation frequently. However, the team has only used it occasionally in SEC play, and mostly when they are struggling offensively. While the team is proud of its depth, when it is operating at its best, it is relying on a few attackers.
The one bright spot of the night came in the second set, when the Lady Vols managed to come from behind and win the set 25-23. This was the only set that the team hit over .200. Besides the fourth set, there was not much separating Tennessee and Missouri, and the attacking errors by Tennessee proved to be very costly.
Despite such a poor offensive showing, Rackham Watt will expect her team to get over the loss by midnight and show up to practice tomorrow, ready to get back to work.
“I am going to chalk it up to a bad night; it hasn’t been chronic for us,” Rackham Watt said. “We’ve been able to have different people score for us, and pretty low error. Tonight we were super high error and couldn’t get anyone going offensively”.The Lady Vols will have to bounce back quickly from this Halloween offensive nightmare, as their next challenge awaits them on Sunday in the Food City Center. A red-hot No. 9 Texas A&M team, which handed No. 2 Texas its first loss of the season in College Station tonight, will be coming to Knoxville. The game will be played at 3 p.m.ET and broadcast on ESPN2.