Transfer leads Vols to second

Led by junior college transfer Peter Sigilai, the Tennessee men's cross country team opened its season with a second-place finish at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Sigilai, who was running his first race after transferring from Rend Lake (Ill.) Community College, finished eighth with a time of 25 minutes, 22.80 seconds on the 8,000-meter course at Alabama's Harry Pritchett Running Park.

UT finished with 55 point, trailing only host Alabama. The 10th-ranked Crimson Tide won with 34 points.

Alabama's David Tyson was the individual winner in 24:25.90.

Tennessee's top five was separated by just 29 seconds. Junior Mike Brodsky was ninth (25:34.90), freshman Leoule Degfae was 12th (25:41.90), junior Steve Fassino was 13th (25:48.60) and sophomore Chris Bodary was 14th (25:51.70).

"Peter did an excellent job for us, leading the way in his first NCAA Division I cross country race,'' UT coach George Watts said. "I was equally impressed with freshman Lee Degfae running as our third man in his debut."

Women's Cross Country: Jackie Areson paced the Tennessee Lady Vols for a second straight meet, leading UT to third place at the Crimson Classic.

Areson finished fourth in the individual standings, covering the 5,000-meter course at Harry Pritchett Running Park in a personal-best 17:42.20.

Tennessee finished with 88 points. Host Alabama won with 43 and Auburn (75) was second.

McKenzie Howe of Kennesaw State was the individual winner in 17:13.40.

The Lady Vols had two other top 10 finishers: Brittany Sheffey in fifth (17:44.14) and Katie Van Horn in ninth (18:02.90).

Volleyball: Tennessee (6-4) squandered a lead and dropped its SEC opener at LSU (7-3) in five games, 31-29, 23-25, 22-25, 25-12, 15-11.

"For the most part, we did a good job of executing our game plan,'' Lady Vols coach Rob Patrick said. "But we were just too inconsistent and couldn't find our rhythm in the fourth and fifth (games)."

Kylie Marshall had 10 kills and 14 digs for UT.

Chloe Goldman had 28 digs and Farren Powe had 10 blocks.