Tennessee begins the home portion of their schedule this week hosting Tennessee Tech, UNC Greensboro, North Florida, and Eastern Kentucky.

• The Lady Vols are 29-8 in home openers since 1978. Under coach Rob Patrick the team is 14-4.
• Coach Patrick is 41-14 in home tournament matches.
• UT has played another state school every year since 1973 except 2006, 2011, and 2012.
• Tennessee is 135-29-4 (.815) vs other in-state schools. Coach Patrick is 24-4 (.857).
• UT has only lost four matches to in-state rivals in the last 25 years: Tennessee Tech in 1997, ETSU in 2013, and Austin Peay and Memphis last season.
• Tennessee is 29-4-1 vs Tennessee Tech. They are 9-1 in their last ten meetings, and got sweeps in the only two meetings in the 2000s.
• Tennessee is 1-0 in their only previous meeting with UNC Greensboro back in 1973.
• Tennessee is meeting North Florida for the first time in program history. They’ve already faced four first-time opponents this year, and will meet three more later in the season.
• Tennessee is 27-8-1 vs Eastern Kentucky. They are 9-1 in their last ten meetings, earning a sweep in their last match at the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
• Since 2001, UT is 8-2 vs the Ohio Valley Conference, 11-1 vs the Southern Conference, and 8-1 vs the Atlantic Sun Conference.
• Senior setter Lexi Dempsey is 63 assists away from becoming only the eighth Lady Vol to reach career assist #2,000.
• Two Knoxville natives on the opposing teams will be getting a chance to play in front of the hometown crowd. Tennessee Tech’s Kennedy Wade attended Grace Christian Academy and was a member of the Phoenix Rising volleyball club. UNCG’s Katie Wagner went to Hardin Valley Academy and played for K2 volleyball club.
• Two opposing coaches will face off against Tennessee from the sidelines after previously playing against UT on the court. Eastern Kentucky head coach Lori Duncan was a four time all-confernece player for the Colonels from 1980 to 1983. EKU faced the Lady Vols nine times in those seasons, and went 1-8. North Florida assistant coach Sam Dabbs played for Louisville from 2006 to 2007 and then for LSU from 2008 to 2009, and won four out of six matches.
• The recent name change of the women’s athletics teams at Tennessee has claimed another victim: the “Lady Vol Classic” is now the “Tennessee Volleyball Classic”. A few years ago I wrote a piece on tournament names at Tennessee, but here’s the TL;DR version with the latest updates. There were 19 tournaments played at UT with the name “Lady Vol Classic”, with a 20th cancelled in 2001 due to the terrorist attacks. Several tournaments in the 1990s are listed in the UT record book under sponsor names (“Mazda Classic” or “Hilton Classic” for example) but may have also been called “Lady Vol Classic” as well. Even when UT called a tournament something else, opponents often called it by the more well known name — the 1984 Florida media guide notes that the 1978 team came in second at the “prestigious Lady Vol Classic”. This will be the first tournament called the “Tennessee Volleyball Classic”. However there have been similar names: the “Tennessee Classic” took place in and 1983 and 1988, the “Tennessee Invitational” was held in 1990 and 2013, and the UT Classic was played in 1984 and 1986. Other tournaments without the Lady Vol moniker included the “Smokey Mountain Classic” in 1981, the “Volunteer State Invitational” in 1986, and the “Big Orange Classic” in 1983. Obviously none of this really matters as tournament names are probably chosen not with an eye on program consistency, but at the whims of the marketing department who come and go every few years. Still seeing the end of the name most associated with Tennessee volleyball tournaments is a passing worth noting.

TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES
Thursday, September 3rd 7:00pm ET // Knoxville TN			2015 Record: 0-3 (0-0 OVC) WEBSITE // VIDEO // STATS
UNC GREENSBORO SPARTANS
Friday, September 4th 7:00pm ET // Knoxville TN			2015 Record: 2-1 (0-0 SoCon) WEBSITE // VIDEO // STATS
NORTH FLORIDA OSPREYS
Saturday, September 5th 10:00am // Knoxville TN			2015 Record: 2-1 (0-0 A-Sun) WEBSITE // VIDEO // STATS
EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS
Saturday, September 5th 7:00pm ET // Knoxville TN			2015 Record: 0-3 (0-0 OVC) WEBSITE // VIDEO // STATS