The 2021 season officially kicks off this week! For the Lady Vols, that means a start at home in the Tennessee Classic where they’ll host Texas Tech, ETSU, and North Carolina State.

Tennessee is 33-10 since 1978 in season opening matches, and 34-9 in home openers.

This is my 15th season covering UT volleyball. (And in case you haven’t visited the site since last season, my last.) The Lady Vols are 10-4 in season openers during that time.

This is the first season since head coach Eve Rackham Watt took the reins that UT is not starting the season vs a ranked opponent. In 2018, Tennessee defeated #22 Michigan State 3-1 (making Rackham Watt the first coach in any sport in school history to defeat a ranked opponent in their very first outing). In 2019, the Lady Vols were three points away from sweeping #6 Illinois, then had several match points in the fifth set before ultimately falling 2-3. In 2020, UT lost to #3 (and eventual national champion) Kentucky 0-3.

The Lady Vols are 2-3 all time vs Texas Tech. The very first meeting between the teams was a UT win at the Tennessee Classic in Knoxville in 1983. The last match between the two teams was a 1-3 loss 30 years ago in 1991.

Tennessee is 29-7 in recorded school history vs ETSU, starting in 1973 when they played each other five times. Since 2001, the record between the schools is 4-2. Looking back before recorded school history, the first Tennessee volleyball matches ever played were at a tournament at ETSU in 1958.

UT is 7-5 all time vs North Carolina State. The teams met for the first time in 1979, with a 0-2 Tennessee loss during the regular season then a 1-2 loss during the AIAW Regional Championships. The teams have only played once in the rally-scoring era, a 0-3 Tennessee loss in 2015.

In the rally-scoring era, Tennessee is 5-5 vs the Big 12 Conference, 17-2 vs the Southern Conference, and 16-7 vs the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Coach Rackham Watt spoke to local radio station WNML about the tournament earlier today. You can listen to the conversation here.

All three teams visiting Knoxville this weekend have appeared in a Tennessee tournament previously:

• Tech went 1-3 at the 1983 Tennessee Classic,
  defeating Duke, and losing to UT, LSU, and Temple.

• NCSU went 0-3 at the 1984 Lady Vol Classic,
  losing to UT, Cincinnati, and George Washington.

• ETSU went 0-3 at the 1986 Volunteer State Invitational,
  losing to UT, MTSU, and Tennessee Tech.

• Tech went 1-2 at the 1987 Lady Vol Invitational,
  defeating UT, and losing to Florida and Pittsburgh.

• ETSU went 0-3 at the 2003 Lady Vol Classic,
  losing to UT, Michigan, and Cal State Fullerton.

• ETSU went 2-2 at the 2013 Lady Vol Classic,
  defeating UT and Austin Peay, and losing to Wichita State and VCU

• ETSU went 2-1 at the 2019 Tennessee Classic,
  losing to UT, and defeating Georgia Southern and North Dakota State.

By the way, what’s will all the tournament names?! No matter what the name, Tennessee is 114-2-46 all-time in home tournaments. Since 2001, the team is 55-11. And since 2015, the Lady Vols have an unblemished 22-0 record.

It’s no surprise that three Bucs from nearby ETSU will have something of a homecoming this week — Sydney Cherney played at Farragut High School, Jenna Forster at William Blount, and Olivia Cunningham at Catholic. However, a Red Raider’s homecoming will be a bit more of a commute. In her senior year, Hardin Valley Academy’s Alex Kirby will get a chance to play in front of her hometown crowd one more time.

UT’s Emily Merrick and ETSU’s Caroline Dykes won the 2018 Texas 6A Championship when they were teammates at Flower Mound High School.

2020 STATISTICS

	win-loss record	aces per set	assists per set	blocks per set	digs per set	kills per set	hitting percent	opp hit percent
	12-8	0.85	11.68	2.41	14.84	13.21	.236	.203
	7-13	1.17	11.62	1.91	14.53	12.58	.220	.249
	7-9	1.47	11.47	1.88	15.07	12.05	.186	.230
	8-9	1.30	11.56	1.69	14.48	12.54	.199	.212

Tickets are available online for $5.

Be sure to look over Thompson Boling Arena’s clear bag policy.

Parking and other gameday information can be found online as well.

Knoxville TN
TENNESSEE CLASSIC
TEXAS TECH Friday, August 27th, 7:00pm ET	Stats | Video
ETSU Saturday, August 28th, 12:30pm ET	Stats | Video
NORTH CAROLINA STATE Saturday, August 28th, 6:30pm ET	Stats | Video