Güçtekin Eclipses 1,000 Career Digs As #24 Lady Vols Sweep Rider

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Senior libero Gülce Güçtekin reached a milestone of 1,000 career digs as Tennessee volleyball cruised to a sweep over Rider (25-13, 25-18, 25-11) at Food City Center.

The Lady Vols (8-1) have completed their sixth sweep of the season to take Rider (2-7) in three quick sets. Tennessee’s defense shone again during the contest, with 31 digs and 10 total blocks, holding the Broncs to 22 kills on -.012 hitting. Güçtekin led the team in digs, tallying eight for the match, to go along with two aces and one assist. Sophomore middle blocker Chelsea Sutton dominated the net with an impressive seven blocks, in addition to five kills and one dig.

The Big Orange had a day on the offensive end, finishing with 32 kills and 11 aces to throw off the Rider Defense. Senior outside hitter Hayden Kubik once again led the way with 10 kills, adding seven digs, three aces and two blocks. Junior outside hitter Mackenzie Plante stepped up as well, finishing with seven kills, three digs and one ace of her own. The Lady Vols are on a three-match sweep trend going into their final match of non-conference play. 

In the first stanza, the Lady Vols held Rider to  -.111, leading to the 25-13 set victory. Tennessee built its lead thanks to three kills apiece from Plante and Kubik. Kubik finished on .500 hitting, to add six of the Lady Vols’ 22 total attacks in the first. Plante sat right behind her with six attacks and only one error for a hitting percentage of .333. 

The trend followed in the second frame when the Lady Vols held the Broncs to a 0.067 hitting percentage. Kubik mastered the court with four kills and two digs, providing almost a third of Tennessee’s total attacks on the set. Redshirt-freshman middle blocker Zoë Humphrey scored .400 on hitting with three kills and a block as well. Together, the Humphrey and Kubik brought in over half of the kills over Rider. Güçtekin’s two digs during the set brought her career total to 1,000.

Rounding out at 10 kills, Kubik crushed three more against the Broncs in the third frame, bringing her game average to 0with a .500 hitting percentage in the third. Overall, the Lady Vols held Rider to a game average of -0.015 on hitting in the set, leading to a dominant 25-11 performance to cap off the match. Defensively, Güçtekin protected Tennessee’s lead with two pancake digs out of her overall six for the set to round out the night. 

Up next, Tennessee is back in action to face Kennesaw on Friday, Sept. 19 at Food City Center. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the match streaming on SEC Network+.