Volleybal Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to UT

Tuesday, October 15

Knoxville, TN

6:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Tennessee

Photo by: MT

10/15/2002 11:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: MT Media Relations

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee volleyball (11-9) took the Tennessee Lady Vols (13-6) to the limit but fell 3-2 (21-30, 30-23, 30-21, 20-30, 15-8) Tuesday in Stokely Athletic Center. Sophomore KeKe Deckard led the Lady Raiders with 17 kills and 20 digs. It was the 13th time this season she scored a double-double in a match. Dara McLean, Karisse Baker and Jennifer Hignite also recorded double figure kills in the match. McLean registered 14 kills and Baker and Hignite each scored 11. "I believe we gave this match away with our passing," said Middle Tennessee head coach Lisa Kissee. "Our passing totally broke down in games four and five." Tennessee tied the game 2-2 in game four, but not before the Lady Raiders roared back to make it interesting. The Lady Vols were up 26-8, and watched Middle Tennessee go on a 12-2 run before Tennessee closed out the game 30-20. A nip and tuck game saw the Lady Raiders go on an eight to one run to take game three. Deckard, who had seven kills in the game, tipped the ball over for the kill and the game 30-21. Middle Tennessee opened game two with a 14-5 run, and had UT on the ropes 27-14. The Lady Vols roared back reeling off nine points to the Lady Vols two before the Lady Raiders put the game away. MT juiced up its game with a .298 hitting percentage and had three service aces in the 30-23 win. In game one, the Lady Raiders kept the game close early, but couldn't get fight off the attack errors. Middle Tennessee had a zero attack percentage with 11 kills and 11 errors, dropping the game 30-21. The Lady Raiders will continue their road swing this weekend when Middle Tennessee travels to Denver and New Mexico State for a pair of Sun Belt Conference matches. Friday the Lady Raiders will play Denver at 8 p.m. and New Mexico State on Sunday at noon.