Lady Vols treat crowd to win

The Tennessee women's volleyball team attracted its biggest crowd of the season Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena and provided winning entertainment.

Led by a career-high .480 hitting percentage by sophomore Nikki Fowler, UT swept Ole Miss 25-21, 25-14, 25-15.

The match drew a crowd of 703, with more than 300 students in attendance.

"The energy in the gym tonight was fantastic and really helped carry our team through some great runs during each (game),'' UT coach Rob Patrick said. "It was great to see so many students. I know it meant a tremendous amount to our players to see that kind of support and made them proud to represent the University of Tennessee."

Fowler had a match-high 14 kills for Tennessee (12-8, 5-4 SEC) and just two errors in 25 total attacks. She also had four digs, three blocks and an ace.

"I hope we don't start to take Nikki Fowler for granted,'' Patrick said. "I'm not talking about her offensive numbers and hitting efficiency, but also the little things that don't show up in the stat sheet like her passing consistency and how well she sets up the block. She played tremendous again today despite the fact that our opponents continue to try and find new ways to stop her on every point."

Mindy Flynn had 10 kills and hit .476. Kelsey Mahoney had 21 assists and 10 digs. Chloe Goldman had 14 digs.

Soccer: Kylee Rossi scored in the 64th minute and that was enough for Tennessee to score a 1-0 victory at Ole Miss.

The Lady Vols posted their fifth shutout of the season and improved to 7-8, 4-3 in SEC play.

Rossi's goal came after Devon Swaim's free kick bounced off the crossbar. The rebound went to Rossi at the far post and she headed the ball past Ole Miss goalkeeper Alley Ronaldi.

The goal was Rossi's 11th of the season

UT goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson recorded her fourth solo shutout of the season and the 19th of her career.

Baseball: The stars came out at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Former University of Tennessee baseball players Luke Hochevar, Chris Burke and Chase Headley were among the legends in town for an Alumni Weekend get-together at the newly renovated stadium.

They got a chance to watch the White team rally for a 5-4 victory against the Orange in game two of the seven-game Orange-and-White World Series.

Bryan Morgado and Nick Hernandez were locked in a pitcher's duel for four innings on a chilly October night, each giving up one hit and no runs.

The White team came back from a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stephen McCray, who went 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI, drove in Blake Forsythe to make it a 2-2 game. Former Farragut High School star Matt Ramsey scored on a fielder's choice and Tyler Horne drove in two more with a single to left field.

The Orange made it a one-run deficit with two runs in the eighth, Cody Hawn scoring Josh Liles on a groundout and Kentrail Davis scoring on a wild pitch.

Junior catcher Matt Hamaker had the first big blow of the night, a 410-foot home run to center in the fifth off freshman Clayton Gant.

Newcomers Aaron Tullo, Adam Adkins, Will Locante, Gant and Josh Allman each saw action on the mound, as did junior Jeff Lockwood.

"They competed their tails off," UT assistant coach Fred Corral said of the overall pitching. "Every single one of those guys out there did a good job. Everyone had good secondary pitches, everyone had a great hammer."

The Orange and White meet for game three of the series at 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

Cross Country: Sarah Bowman and the Lady Vols both finished fifth at the Penn State Invitational.

Bowman covered the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 24 seconds.

"Sarah is just getting into a rhythm now and she is getting stronger and stronger,'' Lady Vols coach J.J. Clark said. "She put forth another good effort today and continues to be very consistent. As a coach that's what you are looking for."

Tennessee finished with 162 points. Seventh-ranked West Virginia won with 40.

Men's Tennis: Two Tennessee doubles teams reached the semifinals and a pair of Vols' singles players made the round of 32 at the ITA Southeast Indoor Regionals in Lexington, Ky.

The 13th ranked duo of Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith advanced with a 9-8 win over Auburn's Tim Puetz and Alexey Tsyrenov.

Sophomores Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago advanced with an 8-2 win over Alabama's Ricky Doverspike and Andrew Felsenthal. In three matches, the UT duo has outscored its opponents, 24-4.

Conkic and Smith advanced in singles play.

Swimming: Freshman Jenny Connolly and sophomore Aleksa Akersfeld each won two events as the Lady Vols defeated Arkansas 197-103 and Vanderbilt 248-48 in a double dual meet at Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

Conolly won the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.51) and 100 butterfly (55.33) while Akersfeld took the 1,000 freestyle (9:54.91) and 500 freestyle (4:51.72).

Tennessee won 11 of 16 events.