Tennessee (7-3) had the hot hand offensively, with three Lady Vols finishing with double-digit kills. The Big Orange had a combined 55 kills on .370 hitting thanks to 52 assists along with seven aces. Defensively, UT had 52 digs and 12 blocks to hold the Broncos (4-7) to just .156 hitting on the day.
Graduate student outside hitter Nina Cajic led offensively once again, finishing with 16 kills on .256 hitting to go along with eight digs and two blocks. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Eryn Jones took control with the first double-double of her career, posting personal bests with 11 kills and 11 digs to go with four blocks in the match. Freshman outside hitter Paityn Chapman played a well-rounded match, posting 12 kills on .429 hitting, three blocks, three aces, two digs and one assist.
Redshirt sophomore setter Caroline Kerr guided play with 44 assists, three blocks, three digs and two kills. Junior middle blocker Keondreya Granberry added eight kills on .467 hitting, a match-high six blocks and one assist. Tennessee had six different players finish with multiple blocks in the contest.
The Lady Vols went back and forth with the Broncos during the first frame but generated 14 kills and three aces to outpace WMU. Chapman led the offense with five kills on .833 hitting to along with two aces and one block. Five Tennessee players tallied multiple kills to end the set.
The Big Orange came out with a dominant 14-5 run in the second frame, forcing a timeout from Western Michigan. The Lady Vols did not let up, taking over the offense with .474 hitting while holding the Broncos to -.269 hitting. Tennessee collected 11 kills and three blocks compared to WMU’s four kills with 11 attacking errors.
The Lady Vols could not find momentum in the third set, falling short to the Broncos 22-25. In the final frame, Tennessee gained control to end the match, defeating WMU 25-19. Western Michigan could not catch up to the Big Orange’s .577 hitting despite hitting .300 themselves. Jones put up three of the team’s four blocks and added three kills to secure her double-double.
Up next, the Lady Vols face their first conference matchup against Alabama this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Food City Center. The match will be streamed on SEC Network.
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