It never fails to amaze me how fast a player’s time at Tennessee goes by. Once again two Vols are preparing to leave Rocky Top, and move on to whatever life has in store for them next. But before they go, let’s take a look back at their careers in pictures, stats, and quotes.

LEXI DEMPSEY

Before college Lexi Dempsey attended Palm Springs High School and played club at 951 Elite Volleyball. She helped lead her high school team to three league titles. Along the way she earned several regional honors and was twice named her team’s MVP. In her three years on the varsity squad she had 762 assists, 362 digs, 297 kills, and 132 aces.

While Tennessee was her top choice and UT was interested, the team didn’t have a scholarship spot for her. Instead, she spent her freshman season at Portland, where she split time with a junior setter. She finished with 403 assists (3.66 per set), 137 digs, 26 aces, and one double-double.

Portland head coach Joe Houck: “Lexi has a tremendous foundation technically, and is a gifted athlete. Her high level club experience with 951 Elite, and the test of playing every weekend with and against the best teams in the nation will suit her well… Her skill set as a setter and as a defensive player will bolster our roster and raise the level of intensity on a daily basis. She is exceptional as a student as well.”

After her first year of college she was ready for a change. She chose an NAIA school, Vanguard University. But then Tennessee unexpectedly lost two setters, and had an urgent need to fill the opening. Dempsey headed to Knoxville.

Dempsey: “Throughout high school and recruiting, UT was my first choice. I wanted to go somewhere far from home. Looking at everything UT has done athletically, especially with women, it seemed like an amazing place to be.”

UT head coach Rob Patrick: “Lexi is someone we recruited out of high school, so we’ve been able to evaluate her and observe her play. She has the ability to set at a high level, but she can also attack the ball. That’s something I’m excited about utilizing in our practices and maybe even our matches. She has a great personality. She comes in with experience also, at a collegiate Division I level. We’re excited about having someone with that type of experience join our program.”

She made an immediate impact. In her very first match in orange and white she had 25 assists (more than she had in any match at Portland). The next match she picked up the first of what would be 16 double-doubles in her sophomore year. And from there things just got better. Here are some of her statistical highlights:

• 2,940 career assists. That’s the sixth most in school history (with 17 more tonight she’d move up to fifth). It’s the second most in rally-scoring era matches.
• 8.96 career assists per set. That’s the seventh best in school history and the fourth best in rally-scoring era matches.
• 1,145 assists this season. That’s the 16th most at UT all-time, and the ninth most in rally-scoring era matches.
• 10.13 assists this season. That’s the 19th best at UT all-time, and the tenth most in rally-scoring era matches.
• 752 career digs. That’s the 25th most all-time by a Vol, and the tenth most in rally-scoring era matches.
• 35 career double-doubles at Tennessee. That’s the fifth most in rally-scoring era matches. She’s in good company on that list: the four people above her and the two people behind her all won All-American honors.
• She had a career high 53 assists vs LSU this year.

Patrick: “She is someone that has a very different personality than I do and that’s good. She can take information from me that I deliver in a certain manner, but she knows her teammates need it in a different way. She does a fantastic job of that and has a great relationship with her teammates… She’s so comfortable this season. I’ve never seen her set or play so comfortably. She is setting at a level that we haven’t seen happen here in several years. We’re very excited with what she’s doing and I think she feels that confidence from the coaching staff.”

Tennessee hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to setters. Due to injuries and transfers, only one setter in the rally-scoring era has played that position for four years. That makes her three seasons the second most by a Vol since 2001. And consistency at setter was something UT really needed in 2013. Dempsey came to Knoxville at a low point in the team’s history, and thanks to her skill, personality, and leadership was one of the main player architects of Tennessee’s turnaround. While she never got the recognition she probably deserved from those outside the program, Vol fans won’t forget what she did in her time here — and are grateful she made the choices she made that brought her to Knoxville exactly when we needed her talents most.

MEGAN HATCHER

While things are definitely improving, Tennessee isn’t exactly a hotbed of volleyball talent for various reasons. It’s got to be easier to just go to states like California, Texas, and Ohio and cast your net in a wider pool when recruiting, rather than searching far and wide locally. In the past 20 years, the Vols have had only 15 players who came from the state of Tennessee. (For comparison, Texas A&M has 14 players from their home state on the roster this year!) Only five of those instate players made it four seasons. Megan Hatcher is one of the special few local talents.

High school coach Dennis Ray: “I’ve been doing this 25 years and she is the best passer and defender I’ve had. She just anticipates so well. She sees the floor better than anybody I’ve coached — that’s what sets her apart from other defenders.”

Hatcher played for K2 Volleyball Club and attended Webb School here in Knoxville, where she earned multiple regional awards including Sophomore of the Year and All-State honors her senior year. She helped lead her school to second and third place finishes in the state tournament. Her senior year she had 445 digs and 17 aces.

After high school, Hatcher considered schools in Nashville and Atlanta, but there was no doubt where she really wanted to go.

Hatcher: “I think UT was always like my dream school because it’s 10 minutes from my house… It was kind of a no-brainer for me.”

Patrick: “Megan brings a tremendous amount of competitiveness and fight. If you ever watch her play, she’s a person who plays with a lot of passion and has a very good skill set to play a defensive specialist or libero for us. She is someone who is already physically strong and will get stronger in our weight program and we are excited about the athleticism she will bring.”

Hatcher: “Being a Lady Vol was always my dream as a kid. I came to all the games as a little girl. It was always my dream to wear orange and be a part of the Lady Vol family.”

With All-American libero Ellen Mullins on the roster, Hatcher didn’t get a lot of court time her first season. But in her sophomore year she played in every match. Her consistency and ability to accurately place the ball made her a go-to server — which allowed her to also display her defensive skills while in the back row. She finally got her chance in the libero jersey during her junior year. An injury sidelined her for part of the season, but when she returned to the court she notched 25 digs in her first match back, and would pick up 20+ digs twice more over the next month. Now in her final year, she’s again a regular fixture on the court, playing in all but eight sets this season so far. As she prepares to end her career, here’s a look back at some of her statistical highlights:

• Her career high 25 digs vs Mississippi State last season currently stands as the 64th most digs in a match all-time at UT.
• She has had 21 or more digs in a match three times during her career, a feat matched by only 17 other players in school history.
• Her 3.09 digs per set in 2014 was the 16th best of the rally-scoring era.
• She has 571 career digs.
• She only saw action in six matches her freshman year. But she has played in 85 of the 96 matches since, and in 87% of the team’s sets.

Patrick: “Megan has this natural leadership ability… She is someone that connects with all of the players on our team. She is just a great teammate and someone that all of our players are very comfortable with… because of who she is as a person.”

Hatcher is the only player on the team who was here during the tumultuous 2012 season, and has therefore experienced some major highs and lows — from being ranked #14 in the country and going to the NCAA Tournament her freshman year, to two straight seasons with only a single conference win. It’s feels right that the person who stuck around when things got rough gets to take part in the successes that the rebuilding process she was a big part of has brought about. Her emotional leadership, her vocal presence on the court, her loyalty to her teammates, and her athletic skills are traits that will hopefully inspire a new generation of local girls to believe that one day they could wear the orange and white as well as she did.