Knoxville, Tenn. – Tennessee volleyball wrapped up the Tennessee Classic with two straight-set sweeps on Saturday at Thompson Boling Arena at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (3-0) opened the day with a win over Marist (25-15, 25-13, 25-12), before defeating UT-Martin (25-15, 25-8, 25-9) in the final match of the weekend. The 2023 campaign marks just the sixth time in school history in which Tennessee has opened a season with three consecutive sweeps – it is the second time achieving the feat under head coach Eve Rackham Watt.
Graduate student Jenaisya Moore continued her impactful first weekend as a Lady Vol, leading the team with 23 kills between the two matches. Graduate student Morgahn Fingall also made her presence felt, tallying 15 total kills, giving the duo a combined 38 kills throughout the day.
Redshirt freshman Caroline Kerr continued to lead Tennessee as a setter with 60 assists over the two matches, while also having eight service aces.
Three true freshmen saw the floor for the first time on Saturday, with Mackenzie Plante recording nine kills over the tournament’s second day. Katie Barrier, Sydney Jaynes and Plante all made their UT debut against Marist.
Match One – Tennessee 3 Marist 0
Donning the Summitt Blue uniforms for the first time in 2023, the Lady Vols quickly dispatched Marist (0-3) in three sets.
Moore led UT with 11 kills and held a hitting percentage of .474. The team recorded 36 kills while hitting .418.
Trailing 8-6 early, Tennessee rattled off a 7-0 run to take a 13-8 lead and didn’t look back, winning the first set 25-15. The second frame started off highly contested before UT went on another run to pull away from the Red Foxes en route to a dominant 25-13 set victory.
The Lady Vols clinched the match victory with a 25-12 win in the third after racing out to a 9-1 lead, forcing Marist to burn two timeouts early.
Match Two – Tennessee 3 UT-Martin 0
The Big Orange wrapped up their first weekend of competition with a sweep of UT-Martin (1-2) in the final match of the Tennessee Classic.
Moore led UT in kills once again, recording 12 with a hitting percentage of .571. Junior Erykah Lovett and Fingall were right behind her, each recording eight.
The Lady Vols took the first set over the Skyhawks 25-15 thanks to a balanced output with sophomore Keondreya Granberry and redshirt sophomore Klaudia Pawlik joining Lovett and Moore with four kills.
In the second, Tennessee opened with a…
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