KNOXVILLE – Despite 10 kills by senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team lost its season opener Friday evening against Virginia Tech in the Lady Vol Classic, 28-26, 25-19, 25-10.
Freshman Jennifer Kuroski and senior Jessica Scott added seven and six kills for UTC, and senior setter Bailee Chastain had 23 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Paula Passmore recorded 14 digs.
Felicia Willoughby and Jennifer Wiker made 10 and nine kills for Virginia Tech, and Erin Leaser had 32 setting assists and six block assists.
UTC faces 19th-ranked Tennessee at noon and Xavier at 5 p.m. today.
n At Orange City, Iowa, Lee University improved to 4-0 for the season by defeating Black Hills State 25-17, 25-22, 25-14 and downing Doane 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 in Northwestern College’s Red Raider Classic.
Stephanie Todd had 13 kills and 10 digs, Kelsey Leffew made 23 assists and Sarah Smith also had 10 digs against Black Hills. Kayla Carlisle had four blocks in each match. Arlene Ferreira had 14 kills, 10 assists and three blocks for Lee, ranked fourth in the NAIA, against No. 20 Doane, when Christa Hutchison added 10 kills, Todd had 10 digs again and Leffew and Gretchen Higdon contributed 22 and 15 assists.
“Doane is a good team,” Lady Flames assistant coach Kevin Hudson said. “We had three girls (Ferreira, Val Caboclo and Hutchison) hit over .400 in the win over Doane.”
n At Milligan, Tenn., Bryan College beat Southern Virginia 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 but lost 25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19 to Trevecca Nazarene in Milligan’s tournament.
Alison Young had 14 kills and a .419 hitting percentage for the Lady Lions (2-1) against SVU, when Lauren Pratt had nine kills on .367 hitting and Sarah Thacker had 17 assists. Young added 16 kills in defeat, when Courtney Cotter had 26 digs, freshman Carolyn Evans had seven kills and three solo blocks and freshman Ashley Hogsett had six kills and five block assists.