Buss, Hansen Lift Vols Past Georgia 3-2

Wednesday, October 11

Athens, GA

7:00 PM

University of Tennessee

9-7, 2-5

Georgia

12-8, 2-5

Tennessee

Georgia

October 11, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF) | Match Highlights

ATHENS, Ga. – Stephanie Buss got five of her team-high 16 kills in the final set and Sedona Hansen recorded her sixth double-double for the Vols in a tough 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 17-25, 27-25, 15-5) win over the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum Wednesday night.

Buss recorded a career-high 16 kills on 31 attacks for a .387 hitting percentage, while Hansen finished with 31 assists and 11 digs. Tessa Grubbs added 13 kills in the win.

Tennessee (9-7, 2-5 SEC) got off to a slow start in the opening set and could not rebound, dropping the set 25-15.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair until a kill by Buss started a 6-1 run to give Tennessee a 17-12 lead and prompted a Georgia timeout. The Bulldogs (12-8, 2-5 SEC) put together a rally of their own to get back in the set with back-to-back kills, after which Tennessee took a timeout with the score 19-17.

Georgia went on to score the next two points out of the timeout to tie the match up at 19 but a service error by Amanda Dachs and an attack error by Majesti Bass forced the Bulldogs' final timeout with the Vols leading 21-19. From that point on, the two teams traded points but Tennessee came out on top 25-22.

It was all Georgia in the third set, as the Bulldogs took the lead early and never gave it up on their way to a 25-17 win to lead the set 2-1.

The Bulldogs came out hot in the fourth set, but UT would stay close in the match and get the match tied up at 17 behind a 3-0 run courtesy of Georgia's unforced errors. Tennessee took an 18-17 lead off the kill by Kendra Turner, but T'ara Ceasar answered with a kill to tie the set again.

From that point, there were four ties and four lead changes. The Vols took a 21-19 lead off a kill by Buss, but the Bulldogs would not go away. Georgia tied the score two more times, but it was not enough as a kill by Tessa Grubbs put the set away and give the Lady Vols the 27-25 win.

The Lady Vols started the fifth set on a 10-2 run and never looked back on their way to a convincing 15-5 set win over Georgia. The Vols dominated the set and had a .444 hitting percentage.

Buss accounted for five of Tennessee's 10 kills in the final set.

Rachel Ritchie and Ceasar led the Bulldogs with 19 kills each and Georgia finished with a .236 hitting percentage, while Tennessee finished with 62 kills, a .272 hitting percentage and 10 blocks in the win.

Match Notables:

Sedona Hansen made it 16 straight matches with 10 or more assists and set a new season high with 37 assists.
Buss set a new career high with 16 kills.
This was the third straight match to go five sets. Tennessee has gone the distance four times this season with a mark of 2-2.