Friday night, No. 10 Tennessee volleyball will host Mississippi State for the first of two matches to close out the home slate. The Lady Vols (16-5, 7-4 SEC) will look to snap a two-match skid after last weekend’s tough road trip to Texas A&M and Missouri. 

How to watch Tennessee vs. Mississippi State

• Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
• Place: Food City Center
• TV/Streaming: SEC Network Plus

Tennessee is 9-1 at home this season, with seven of those nine wins coming in sweeps. Mississippi State has been swept in three of its five losses, all of which have come away from Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs (17-5, 7-4 SEC) bring a four-match winning streak to Knoxville, against Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, all common opponents. Tennessee has defeated three of those four, with Alabama coming up on Sunday.

This will be the 72nd all-time meeting between Tennessee and Mississippi State. The teams met in Starkville last season, with Tennessee taking a four-set victory. The Lady Vols will bring one of the nation’s best offenses back to the Food City Center floor and try to find holes in a tough Bulldogs defense.

Tennessee’s offense has been as dangerous as anyone’s in the country this fall. The Lady Vols lead the nation at 14.45 kills per set and rank 10th in hitting percentage at .282.

That isn’t new for this program. In eight seasons under Eve Rackham Watt, Tennessee has finished in the top 20 nationally in kills per set or hitting percentage five times. Last year’s group cracked the top 15 in both, ranking 10th in hitting percentage (.292) and 11th in kills per set (14.27).

Kennedi Rogers has been the engine in her first season on Rocky Top. The sophomore outside hitter has 288 kills, and her 4.30 kills per set lead the team and rank sixth in the SEC. She also has help in the middle of the attack. Chelsea Sutton and Jalyn Stout both rank in the conference’s top 10 in hitting percentage, with Sutton sixth at .376 and Stout 10th at .333.

That is all set up and ran by one of the best setters in college volleyball, Caroline Kerr. She became the fourth Lady Vol in program history to reach 4,000 assists. This season, Kerr has racked up 787 assists, while ranking ninth in Division I at 10.78 assists per set.

That attack will be put to the test by a Mississippi State team that keeps the ball off the floor. The Bulldogs lead the SEC at 15.36 digs per set, and McKenna Yates has 339 digs, second-most in the league.

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