Tennessee volleyball notched a massive upset on the road in four sets to end nonconference play, led by a dominant showing from Kennedi Rogers.
No. 16 Tennessee fell behind 7-2 in the fourth set before it went on a 10-1 scoring run to take an 18-11 lead. No. 9 Penn State rallied, forcing five match points. But the Lady Vols finally took the set 25-20 with a kill from Maggie Dostic to win the match.
Rogers hit another gear with the match on the line, logging nine of her team-high 21 kills in the final set. Rogers added nine digs and three blocks.
Tennessee (9-1) made a statement with the 3-1 win over the Nittany Lions (8-2) at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania on Sept. 20. The Lady Vols notched its first top-10 win on the road since 2011,
according to the Big Ten Network broadcast.
Tennessee had a strong start, winning the first two sets (25-19, 25-23) before Penn State's defense slowed them down in the third set. PSU won the third 25-20, forcing the Lady Vols to play a fourth set for the first time this season.
Tennessee opens SEC play against No. 7 Texas (4-4) at Food City Center on Sept. 25 (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network). The Longhorns played a loaded nonconference schedule with seven ranked opponents, and they beat No. 13 TCU, No. 19 USC and No. 6 Wisconsin.
Fifth-year setter Carolina Kerr logged her second straight double-double with 42 assists, 13 digs, five blocks and four kills. Kerr had 29 assists and 10 kills the day before in Tennessee's 3-0 win against South Florida. Jalyn Stout logged 12 kills, six digs, four assists and three blocks, and Dostic added 11 kills.
The Lady Vols have had a strong start to the season, their only loss to No. 2 Pittsburgh in three sets on Sept. 9. Their first eight wins were sweeps, which included No. 21 Indiana.
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee volleyball upsets Penn State on the road for first top-10 win of season
