Volleyball On SI

Tennessee Volleyball Sets Second Attendance Record of the Season with Sweep Over Illinois

Just four days after Tennessee volleyball set an attendance record inside Food City Center in Knoxville, the crowd made history once again Tuesday night with 8,212 fans

Nicole Reitz

Tennessee swept Illinois at home in front of a record-breaking crowd.
Tennessee swept Illinois at home in front of a record-breaking crowd. / Tennessee Athletics

Just four days after Tennessee volleyball set an attendance record inside Food City Center in Knoxville, the crowd made history once again Tuesday night with 8,212 fans packing the arena. 

In front of the loudest crowd, the No. 22 Lady Vols certainly put on one incredible show. They swept Illinois in three sets as part of the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge. The attendance surpassed the previous record of 7,924 set in the season opener against Colgate. That matchup marked the third-straight season that a new attendance record was achieved in the Lady Vols’ season opener. 

The Lady Vols were on an offensive tear against Illinois, finishing the match with 48 kills on a .422 hitting percentage. Kennedi Rogers led with 14 kills, while Maggie Dostic and Jalyn Stout both recorded double-figure kills. Stout recorded her first double-double with Tennessee, and the 72nd in her career, adding 11 digs. Additionally, Caroline Kerr recorded 38 assists. 

“We’ve been really, really good offensively, and we’ve been really clean,” head coach Eve Rackham Watt said in the post-game press conference. “It hasn’t been one person we’ve had to rely on.” 

Tennessee held Illinois  to just 28 kills and a .102 hitting percentage. Rogers had seven digs, followed by Kerr and Raegan Burns with six.  Kerr led Tennessee at the net with three blocks, while Jolene Oddo added two. 

Though Tennessee remains completely perfect with four sweeps this season, Illinois did turn the pressure up during the first two sets. While leading 13-9 in the first, the Fighting Illini scored three straight points to cut the deficit to one point. After calling a timeout, the Lady Vols fired back with three-straigt points and remained in the lead to the end with a 25-19 score in the first set. 

Illinois then took an early lead in the second set, but Tennessee managed to score six unanswered points to close out the set. Chelsea Sutton delivered the kill to secure the 2-0 lead. 

The third set on the other hand, was never close. The Lady Vols put together 20 kills with Dostic leading with five. Defense was vital in this set as 19 digs were recorded to shutout Illini. 

Next up, Tennessee heads to Nashville for the Broadway Block Party and will face No. 21 Indiana at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN2. 

The Lady Vols remain in the same No.22 spot in the AVCA poll. 

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Nicole Reitz
NICOLE REITZ

Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018. Her work has been published in various publications like Softball On SI, Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th.

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