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Thursday, August 28, 2014

2014 Match Notes: Appalachian Invitational

It’s been a long offseason but it all ends tomorrow as the Lady Vols take to the court to begin the 2014 campaign! Tennessee begins the season in Boone NC at the Appalachian Invitational where they will face Tennessee Tech, Cleveland State, and Appalachian State.

  • Since 1978, the Lady Vols are 28-8 in season opening matches. In the opening week of the season the team is 77-32. Under Coach Rob Patrick the team is 13-4 in season opening matches and 43-8 in the opening week of the season.
  • August matches are a relatively new thing for Tennessee. Prior to the turn of the century the team had only played seven matches before September. Since 2001, they’ve played them every year but one. UT is 34-6 in August.
  • Yes, it’s great that the season starts tomorrow, but if you can’t make it to North Carolina this weekend you’ll have to wait awhile to actually see the team in action. The first home match is 20 days after the season starts. Since 1978, thats the third longest wait home fans have had to endure.
  • While Tennessee fans have been somewhat spoiled having the team open in Knoxville four of the past six years, before that opening on the road was the norm. From 1992 to 2008, UT opened every year out of town except one. Coach Patrick didn’t have a season debut before the home crowd until his 10th year. With this trip to Boone, he’s taken his teams out of town to start the season thirteen times during his eighteen years at the helm, compiling an 9-3 record.
  • Tennessee is 28-4-1 all-time vs Tennessee Tech. The Lady Vols have won 24 of the last 25 matches, but have only played once in the past decade — a UT sweep in 2009. Last season the Golden Eagles went 5-21, finishing 12th in the Ohio Vally Conference at 1-15.
  • Tennessee is 1-1 all-time vs Cleveland State — a 2-0 loss in 1974 and a 3-2 win in 1998. Last season the Vikings went 16-13, finishing 6th in the Horizon League at 5-9.
  • Tennessee is 8-1 all-time vs Appalachian State. The Lady Vols lost the first meeting in 1974, and have won every time since. Last season the Mountaineers went 19-13, finishing 5th in the Southern Conference at 9-7. The team joined the Sun Belt Conference this year.
  • Since 2001, UT is 7-1 vs the OVC, 3-1 vs the Sun Belt, and is playing their first match vs a Horizon League team.
  • The Lady Vols have played in 44 matches all-time against this weekend’s field, but only one match ever went to five sets: a 1998 win vs Cleveland State.
  • UT is scheduled to face three fellow Tennessee teams this season, the first this weekend. The Lady Vols have played another state school every season since 1973 except 2006, 2011, and 2012.
  • The Lady Vols are 134-27-4 (.824) vs other Tennessee schools. Coach Rob Patrick is 23-2 (.920).
  • UT has only lost two matches to in-state rivals since 1991: Tennessee Tech in 1997 and ETSU last year.
  • Tennessee Tech will tie ETSU this weekend as the state school UT has played the most with 34 matches each.
  • Mountaineer junior Emily Corrigan was a teammate of Lady Vol freshman Claudia Coco at Chattahoochee High School in Georgia.
  • Tech has two Knoxville natives on the roster: Courtney Smith from Karns High School and Kennedy Wade from Grace Christian Academy. Appalachian State’s Leah Hawkins played club volleyball in Knoxville.
  • Two of the opposing head coaches this weekend were assistant coaches at current SEC schools previously. Cleveland State’s Chuck Voss served at Missouri for three seasons, while Appalachian State coach Matt Ginipro was on staff at Mississippi.

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