Miss. State ends UT's domination in volleyball

Despite the first double-double of the season from senior Yuliya Stoyanova, Tennessee went down again in women’s volleyball.

The Lady Vols dropped a five-game marathon to Mississippi State 30-28, 26-30, 17-30, 32-30, 12-15 Friday night in Starkville, Miss.

Stoyanova, who came back from anterior cruciate knee ligament surgery, recorded season highs of 20 digs and 17 kills, all of which came in the fourth and fifth games. No matter, Tennessee (8-11, 3-8 SEC) could not prevail, despite surviving five match points in the final game.

“As a team, we have to learn to take matches more seriously sooner,’’ UT coach Rob Patrick said. “We have a tendency to only start fighting when we are too far behind to come back. We have to stop playing like a young team.

“I’m very disappointed in this match because I thought we had taken some great strides in the last week.”

The big step on this night was taken by Mississippi State (9-11, 4-7), which ended a 15-match losing streak against Tennessee. The streak included a four-game loss in Knoxville on Sept. 16.

Before Friday, Mississippi State’s last victory over UT was Nov. 22, 1996.

Trailing 26-13 in the second game, the Lady Vols put together their first major rally, closing within 29-26 before dropping the game.

In the decisive fifth game, Tennessee trailed 14-7 before staging its final comeback, which featured three kills by Stoyanova.

The Lady Vols will complete their weekend road trip with a match at Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Women’s Tennis: Tennessee won five of its seven matches on the first day of the Southeast Regional Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Ghizela Schutte won in singles, beating Wake Forest’s Christian Tara 2-6, 7-6, 6-1, and teamed with freshman Rosalia Alda to win a doubles match, improving their record to 4-0.

Men’s Tennis: Tennessee freshmen Boris Conkic and Jeremy Tweedt won second-round single matches at the Southeast Regional Championships in Lexington, Ky.

Conkic, who became eligible last week, beat Miami’s Carl Sunberg 6-3, 6-2. Tweedt beat Peter Sauska of Chattanooga, 6-4, 6-4.