Musketeers Defeat Tennessee Behind Balanced Offense

Saturday, September 10

Kalamazoo, Mich.

12 p.m.

Xavier University

5-5

Tennessee

7-2

Xavier

Tennessee

Musketeers Defeat Tennessee Behind Balanced Offense

09.10.16 | Volleyball

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Volleyball tops Volunteers in four sets on Saturday afternoon

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Xavier volleyball defeated Tennessee in four sets (25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21) on Saturday afternoon as they finished Holiday Inn West Tournament action with a 2-1 record. The two-day tournament was hosted by Western Michigan at University Arena.

The Musketeers moved to 5-5 on the year, while the Volunteers fell to 7-2. Xavier is now 3-3 all-time against Tennessee and 2-0 versus SEC schools this season (also beat Arkansas).

MATCH NOTES

• Xavier had six players with six or more kills in the match, paced by Kristen Massa's match-high 15. The junior also added a .429 hitting percentage.

• Xavier had a season-high seven aces in the match. McKena Estes and Samantha Foti led the Musketeers with two each.

• Abbey Bessler chipped in nine kills, while Sofia Peterson had seven. Alexis Newsome, Brooke Betts and Morgan Finn all had six.

• Defensively, Xavier had four more blocks (9-5) than the Volunteers. Alexis Newsome led the Musketeers with five, while Brooke Betts had three.

• Meredith Klare had a team-high 16 digs, while Samantha Foti chipped in 10. Abbey Bessler was two digs shy of a double-double with eight.

• Mackenzi Humm had 23 assists and McKena Estes had 22.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Kristen Massa led Xavier with 45 total kills, averaging 3.75 k/s over the weekend. The outside hitter also added a .376 hitting percentage and six blocks.

• Xavier had 14 more blocks (32-18) than its opponents this weekend. Brooke Betts had 12, while Alexis Newsome added 10.

• Xavier also had 10 more service aces (18-8) than its opponents. Samantha Foti led the Musketeers with four.

• Meredith Klare led Xavier in digs with 44, averaging 3.67 d/s. Samantha Foti added 35 (2.92 d/s).

SET ONE

• Xavier never trailed in the opening set and led by as many as four points twice. Tied at 23, Lauren Frilling posted a kill to put Xavier up by one before a block by Frilling and Alexis Newsome sealed the victory on the final point.

SET TWO

• Neither team led by more than three in the second set. Tied at 20, the Musketeers closed the frame on a 5-2 run capped by a Kristen Massa kill.

• Kristen Massa had seven kills in the frame with a .545 hitting percentage.

SET THREE

• Xavier scored the first five points of the set before the Volunteers responded by tying the match at eight. The Musketeers led 12-11 before Tennessee went on a 9-3 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Volunteers scored five of the final seven points for their first win of the afternoon.

SET FOUR

• The final set had 10 ties and four lead changes. Xavier broke open a 10-10 tie with three straight points to force a Tennessee timeout. The Musketeers led by at least two points for the remainder of the match to hold on for the win and hand the Volunteers their second loss of the year.

• Xavier had its highest hitting percentage of the match in the fourth set, hitting .382. Alexis Newsome and Morgan Finn combined for seven kills in 10 attempts with only one error.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action at the Stacey Clark Classic hosted by No. 20 Purdue on Sept. 16-17. The Musketeers open tournament play on Friday against No. 4 Kansas, a 2015 NCAA Final Four participant.