Lady Vols hold serve

The 3-0 victory by the Tennessee Lady Vols' volleyball team over Ole Miss Sunday probably sounds like an easy win.

The home match itself was quite a challenge, however, at least in the last two sets.

After Tennessee (8-4, 2-1 SEC) handily won the first set, 25-12, the two teams looked like twins in the second, as no more than one point separated them until Tennessee took a 21-19 lead.

In front of an ESPNU audience and 1,168 spectators - the fourth largest volleyball crowd in Thompson-Boling Arena - the Lady Vols took a 24-21 lead and appeared ready to close out the set.

The Rebels (6-8, 0-4) then made a run of their own and had set point at 25-24. That is when Tennessee regrouped and was able to win, 27-25.

In the third set, the Lady Vols trailed 4-1 before coming back to win, 25-20, to close out the match.

UT coach Rob Patrick was pleased not only with the victory, but also how it resulted. In fact, he said that has been the tone for the season.

"One thing I was very happy about was that we have been in a lot of two-point games and we have won the majority of them," he said.

However, the team had to battle itself as well as Ole Miss.

"It was a little uneven," Patrick said. "When we were focused and playing hard, we did a nice job, but we had some lapses in focus."

Junior Nikki Fowler had 14 kills and 15 digs to lead the Lady Vols.

Leah Hinkey, Kayla Jeter, and Farren Powe had 7 kills each, while Emily Steinbeck had 19 assists and Kelsey Mahoney had 14.

Katie Morris led Ole Miss with 14 kills, while Emily Kvitle had 29 assists.

Fowler, who tweaked her knee and had to leave the game briefly during the third set, said she was not concerned when Ole Miss appeared ready to win the second set.

"I wasn't nervous," she said. "I was confident our team would win."

With a 3-0 victory over Arkansas on Friday night, Patrick's entire team now likely has confidence after some tough pre-SEC losses to formidable competition.

"We didn't duck anybody," he said of the early season schedule. "But we weren't ready. We had four new players and you need time to jell."

John Shearer is a freelance contributor.