For the first time in over two decades, a new coach will lead Tennessee on to the court to open the season. Eve Rackham and the Lady Vols will take on #22 Michigan State, Belmont, and Chattanooga here in Knoxville this weekend.

MATCH NOTES

In the past 40 years, the Lady Vols are 32-8 in season openers. Tennessee is on a five year season opener winning streak.

Coincidentally, the team is also 32-8 in home openers during that time frame. The Lady Vols are on a three year winning streak in home openers.

New Tennessee coaches have had stellar debuts for Rocky Top over the years. Since 1979, four other coaches have taken the reins, and all four won their first season opener. Three out of four won their home opener.

COACHES IN THEIR UT DEBUT
YEAR	COACH	SEASON OPENER	HOME OPENER
1979	Bob Bertucci	Covenant, 2-0	Chattanooga, 2-0
1987	Sandy Lynn	Memphis, 3-1	Mississippi State, 3-0
1991	Julie Hermann	Chattanooga, 3-0
1997	Rob Patrick	ETSU, 3-1	Pittsburgh, 2-3
2018	Eve Rackham	Michigan State

The team will face two fellow state schools this weekend. In officially recorded matches in program history, the Lady Vols are 136-29-4 vs other Tennessee teams. In the past 20 years, UT is 23-3. There have only been four seasons when the team didn’t face another Tennessee school, the most recent being last year.

Tennessee will open the season vs a ranked opponent for the fifth time in school history. They are 1-3 in those matches.

UT VS RANKED OPPONENT IN SEASON OPENER
1983		#9 Arizona State	W, 3-1
1993		#12 Colorado	L, 3-0
2007		#1 Nebraska	L, 3-0
2012		#12 Florida State	L, 3-0
2018		#22 Michigan State

Tennessee is 0-1 vs Michigan State all time. The only meeting was a 3-2 loss back in 2003.

Tennessee is 1-0 vs Belmont all time. The only meeting was a sweep win in 2007.

Tennessee is 15-3-1 vs Chattanooga all time. UT has won the last 15 recorded meetings in a row dating back to 1977.

In the rally scoring era (since 2001), Tennessee is 5-15 vs Big Ten teams, 10-2 vs Ohio Valley Conference teams, and 15-1 vs Southern Conference teams.

UT has one player on their roster from the state of Michigan — senior Erica Treiber. Four Spartans played at her club, Michigan Elite.

Tennessee head coach Eve Rackham and Chattanooga head coach Travis Filar were assistant coaches together for two years at North Carolina from 2009 to 2010. Earlier this year Filar said of Rackham, ” I think she has all the tools to be an outstanding head coach and I believe she will become just that. She’s a great assistant, a great friend and a great leader of young people. She has all the tools that will make her a great head coach… I truly believe she will put Tennessee volleyball back into a national spotlight as they have been there before. She will return them to a great level.”

LINKS OF INTEREST

Coach Rackham spoke with WNML’s SportsTalk last week. She discussed: finally getting to see her team play someone else, the most pleasant surprise in her move to Knoxville, what it’s like to move to the head coaching chair, recruiting, staff building, why she chose Tennessee over other opportunities, returning players, newcomers, and more. You can listen to the interview below.

UT Athletics has posted a story about Coach Rackham, where she talks about how she got into volleyball, who supported her and gave her opportunities along the way, and why Tennessee.

No, there are no UT players on the list, but there are two SEC opponents, so check out ESPN’s list of 12 players to watch this season.

The Lady Vols played an exhibition match vs Lipscomb last week.

The latest edition of the official Tennessee record book is online.

Be sure to check out the promotions for this weekend’s slate of games — including a link to a voucher for a free ticket to the Michigan State match.

MATCH SCHEDULE

	#22 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS 2017: 23-9, 14-6 Big 10
	Friday, August 24, 8:00pm ET Knoxville TN // SEC Network // Online Stream // Live Stats

	BELMONT BRUINS 2017: 14-15, 9-7 OVC
	Saturday, August 25, 1:00pm ET Knoxville TN // Online Stream // Live Stats

	CHATTANOOGA MOCS 2017: 13-18, 6-10 SoCon
	Saturday, August 25, 7:30pm ET Knoxville TN // Online Stream // Live Stats