The UTM volleyball team lost three non-conference matches to nationally ranked foes Purdue, Tennessee and Wake Forest this past weekend in the Domino’s Lady Vols Classic in Knoxville.

“We competed against some of the very best teams in the country,” said Chris Rushing, UTM’s head volleyball coach. “It is always a pleasure to play such high-caliber teams. There were many periods throughout each match where we played point-for-point with all three teams, but couldn’t do it at the consistency that each of them had.”

The Skyhawks suffered a 3-0 setback to No. 24 Purdue Friday night. The Boilermakers swept UTM 30-17, 30-18 and 30-19. Senior Leigh Reiniche led the Skyhawks with 11 kills, while redshirt freshman Jamie Hollins turned in a .400 hitting percentage against Purdue.

Against the host Lady Vols, the Skyhawks fell 3-0. Tennessee won the first game 30-19 and claimed the second game 30-21. The Lady Vols sealed the win with a 30-19 victory in the third game.

Redshirt freshman Dimphy Sasse led the Skyhawks with a .286 hitting percentage in the match.

The Skyhawks wrapped up their tournament stay with a 3-0 loss to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons won 30-9, 30-19 and 30-19.

“It was a great experience for our relatively young team and win or lose, all of us were glad we played in that tournament,” Rushing said.

“By playing such good teams, we really learned some things about ourselves, such as what we need to work on to get better.

“We also were compli-mented by the other coaching staffs on how hard we played and that we had the never-give-up attitude,” Rushing said. “As long as we control that kind of effort and attitude, we will see many great things out of this team.”

The Skyhawks are 2-4 on the season and will travel to Lipscomb on Sept. 21.

They then open their OVC slate at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, when they host Eastern Kentucky.