Lady Vols use some anger to fuel comeback

OMAHA, Neb. — But after being humbled Friday by top-ranked defending national champion Nebraska, the Lady Vols bounced back and rallied past Utah 10-30, 30-25, 23-30, 30-23, 18-16 in Saturday’s consolation match of the four-team event at Qwest Center Omaha.

The Lady Vols (1-1) held on in a tense fifth game. With the score knotted at 16 after Tennessee failed on two match points, it came to an end on two hitting errors by the Utes.

It also followed losses in two of the first three games that the Lady Vols considered embarrassing. So they got mad, got even and pulled out the victory.

“We just had to win it,” said UT’s Milan Clarke, who led the way with 16 kills. “I think we were mad. We used that anger to bring them down.”

Utah pounced on the Lady Vols in Game 1, scoring the first five points. The lead was stretched to 10-2 and the Utes later used an 11-1 run to make it 26-7 as Tennessee’s frustrations mounted in a game that might be hard to match the rest of the season.

UT coach Rob Patrick watched in dismay as his team hit minus .172, getting only five kills in 29 chances.

“I was happy they responded to really getting their teeth kicked in in that first game,” Patrick said.

The Lady Vols turned the tide in Game 2, notching the first six points and a total of 17 kills while hitting at a solid .368 percentage. They trailed 23-22 before scoring five straight points on a run started by Clarke’s kill. Clarke’s kill provided the final points, giving her six kills and two stuff blocks in the game.

The Utes jumped ahead 8-2 in Game 3 and never trailed. It was 13-10 when Utah went on a 7-1 run that was aided by two aces and three Tennessee hitting errors in a row. The Lady Vols hit minus .029 for the game.

Tennessee forced the decisive fifth game behind the hitting of Clarke, who had five in Game 4. All came after the Lady Vols were ahead 16-14. She had two in a row to build a four-point lead and then capped the game with kills on the final three points.

In the race to 15 to determine the game-five winner, overtime was needed and it came down to the Lady Vols trailing 12-8 and then 13-11. They had match point twice and the Utes had it once before Tennessee secured the victory to go home with a 1-1 record.

“We were confident in the fifth game even when we got down,” setter Jena Berg said.

“That was a really good win for this young team,” Patrick said. “These are the matches we lost last year.”

Notebook: Berg, who had 29 assists against Nebraska, had 38 against the Utes. She had only four in Game 1. ... Also in double figures in kills were Farren Powe with 13 and Nikki Fowler with 10. ... Utah’s Whitnet Berg had 21 kills and teammate Kathryn Haynie had 20. ... The hitting percentages showed Utah at .153 and Tennessee at .109. ... Tennessee’s Chloe Goldman had a career-high 23 digs. Berg had 18.