Tennessee begins SEC play this weekend, on the road vs Arkansas and Missouri. (Apologies — I’m running way behind this week, so these notes will be abbreviated.)

• The Lady Vols have a mixed record in conference openers. Since 1978, the team is 18-18. Under coach Rob Patrick UT is 9-8.
• UT is 17-16 all-time vs Arkansas. Since 2001, the series is 14-9. Tennessee has an 8-2 advantage in the last ten matches, but both losses have come in the past two seasons. In Fayetteville, the Lady Vols have won seven of the last ten meetings, including every match since 2007.
• UT has met Missouri only five times in program history and stands at 2-3. Tennessee has lost both matches played in Columbia.
• This will be just the second match played vs Missouri where neither team is ranked. Tennessee won the first such match in 2012 by a score of 3-2.
• After an impressive 16-5 run, the Lady Vols haven’t won a televised match in their last six attempts. Tennessee has played 50 matches on TV since 2001, and holds a 24-26 record.
• Both teams being played this weekend are relative newcomers to the SEC. Since it’s founding, the Southeastern Conference has been extremely stable — especially when compared to others. In 1932, 13 schools created the league. For the first 35 years of it’s existence the only changes were the exit of three teams. For about the next 30 years the conference held firm with ten of it’s charter members. In the early 1990s, Arkansas and South Carolina became the first teams ever invited to join. And about 20 years later, Missouri and Texas A&M were extended invitations.

More information:

• Arkansas: Friday 9/26 at 8:00pm ET
  website | match info from UARK | live stats | SEC Network+
• Missouri: Friday 9/28 at 12:00pm ET
  website | match info from MU | live stats | live audio | TV: SEC Network
• Tennessee: website | match info from UT (PDF)
• See what these teams are saying on Twitter…

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	LAST TEN MATCHES VERSUS
	2008 3-2 AWAY	2009 3-0 HOME	2009 3-2 AWAY	2010 3-2 AWAY	2010 3-0 HOME	2011 3-0 AWAY	2011 3-0 HOME	2012 1-3 HOME	2012 3-0 AWAY	2013 1-3 HOME
	2005 0-3 AWAY		2005 3-1 NEUTRAL		2012 2-3 AWAY		2012 3-2 HOME		2013 0-3 HOME

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	TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
	ACES PER SET	ASSISTS PER SET	BLOCKS PER SET	DIGS PER SET	KILLS PER SET	HIT PERCENT	OPP HIT PERCENT
	12th SEC 302nd NCAA 0.90	11th SEC 228th NCAA 10.96	11th SEC 93rd NCAA 2.28	5th SEC 132nd NCAA 14.88	11th SEC 245th NCAA 11.58	10th SEC 204th NCAA .186	8th SEC .189
	13th SEC 323rd NCAA 0.75	12th SEC 267th NCAA 10.45	3rd SEC xxx NCAA 2.72	10th SEC 240th NCAA 13.51	12th SEC 247th NCAA 11.53	11th SEC 222nd NCAA .177	6th SEC .179
	8th SEC 236th NCAA 1.09	7th SEC 126th NCAA 12.04	8th SEC 70th NCAA 2.40	8th SEC 198th NCAA 14.09	7th SEC 136th NCAA 12.86	6th SEC 76th NCAA .240	12th SEC .201

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	INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
ACES PER SET	Kanisha Jimenez 19th SEC 0.24	Chanell Clark-Bibbs .023	Emily Thater 14th SEC xxx NCAA 0.28
ASSISTS PER SET	Lexi Dempsey 9th SEC 133rd NCAA 9.47	Bailee Hankenson 10th SEC 7.88	Loxley Keala 12th SEC 5.68
BLOCKS PER SET	Iesha Bryant 9th SEC 123rd NCAA 1.11	Ana Sofia Jusino 5th SEC 29th NCAA 1.38	Whitney Little 13th SEC 1.05
DIGS PER SET	Bridgette Villano 10th SEC 3.57	Monica Bollinger 7th SEC 3.90	Sarah Meister 9th SEC 3.67
KILLS PER SET	Jamie Lea 16th SEC 2.92	Meredith Hays 1st SEC 20th NCAA 4.33	Carly Kan 5th SEC 100th NCAA 3.54
POINTS PER SET	Jamie Lea 19th SEC 350th NCAA 3.32	Meredith Hays 3rd SEC 29th NCAA 4.89	Carly Kan 6th SEC 129th NCAA 3.90
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Shealyn Kolosky .303	Chanell Clark-Bibbs 17th SEC .290	Whitney Little 2nd SEC 16th NCAA .437