Tennessee hits the road for the first time this season with a home and home series vs Morehead State.

UT is 5-4-2* all-time vs MSU. Their first meeting was a 1-1 tie in 1976. The last was 3-2 win in 2013.

The Lady Vols are 11-2 since 2001 vs the Ohio Valley Conference.

In the first match of the series, the Lady Vols will take on the Eagles in their hometown of Morehead KY. This will be the first time in the rally-scoring era that Tennessee has played a match in the state of Kentucky outside of Louisville and Lexington.

Morehead State has played two opponents similar to Tennessee this season. One was fellow SEC member Georgia. The other was a team also ranked in the 20s in the coaches poll, Pepperdine. They lost both matches 3-0.

In their last three seasons, the Eagles are 23-4 when playing on their home court.

For whatever reason, there are 3 seasons since 1973 that are missing match data according to the UT record book: 1974, 1976, and 1977. For 1976, Tennessee does have the two matches with Morehead State played that year in their records (though they might have the date wrong). But UT’s information for 1977 (seen on the right) is missing a lot. According to the record book, Tennessee played 21 known matches in ’77, going 7-11-3, including one match vs Morehead State. No information on dates or locations are available for any of the games…

Unless you’re a stats nerd who likes challenges! The following is a still incomplete but much fuller look at over 40 games from the 1977 season, including the revelation that UT played another match vs Morehead State that season and lost, making the record between the teams 5-5-2. (I tried hard to make sure this was as accurate as I could get, but it still may contain errors.)

1977 Overall Record: 18-19-5 Coach: Bud Fields THE RESULTS BIG ORANGE INVITATIONAL* 9/30 Eastern Kentucky W, 2-0 15-9, 15-6 or 15-6, 15-11 9/30 Duke L, 0-2 15-6, 15-9 or 15-6, 15-10 10/1 Eastern Kentucky L, 1-2 15-10, 10-15, 16-14 10/1 Duke L, 1-2 15-11, 12-15, 15-1 ————————————————————————————————— 10/4 UT Chattanooga L, 0-2 3-15, 15-12, 15-4 10/4 Carson-Newman W, 2-0 15-8, 15-8 10/8 at Northeastern Kentucky L, 0-3 15-7, 15-9, 15-12 10/8 at Kentucky L 10/11 Tennessee Tech W, 3-1 15-8, 10-15, 15-12, 16-14 ————————————————————————————————— CINCINNATI INVITATIONAL N/A Eastern Kentucky T, 1-1 N/A Indiana State T, 1-1 10/14 vs Indiana T, 1-1 18-16, 13-15 10/15 vs Southern Illinois L 10/15 at Cincinnati L, 0-2 ————————————————————————————————— LADY VOL INVITATIONAL Finish: 4th 10/21 Alabama L, 0-2 10/21 Northern Kentucky T, 1-1 15-10, 15-15 10/22 UT Martin L, 1-2 15-11, 9-15, 15-13 10/22 Wake Forest W, 2-0 15-1, 15-5 10/22 Virginia Tech W, 2-0 15-5, 15-4

10/22 Morehead State L, 0-2 15-10, 16-14

————————————————————————————————— SEC TOURNAMENT Finish: 2nd 10/28 Mississippi T, 1-1 15-9, 10-15 10/28 Auburn W, 2-0 15-7, 15-7 10/29 Kentucky W, 2-0 15-10, 15-6 10/29 LSU L, 0-2 15-11, 15-4 10/29 Mississippi W, 2-0 15-9, 15-10 10/29 LSU L, 0-2 15-3, 17-15 ————————————————————————————————— 11/1 at UT Chattanooga W, 2-0 15-7, 15-6 11/1 vs Tennessee Tech W, 2-1 8-15, 15-1, 15-11 ————————————————————————————————— ILLINOIS INVITATIONAL 11/4 vs Southern Illinois L, 0-2 15-10, 15-12 11/4 vs Chicago State W, 2-0 15-11, 15-9 11/5 vs DePaul L, 1-2 15-13, 15-17, 15-3 ————————————————————————————————— TCWSF STATE TOURNAMENT Site: Johnson City TN Finish: 1st 11/11 vs Memphis State W, 2-0 15-1, 15-8 11/11 vs Tennessee Tech W, 2-1 9-15, 15-2, 15-8 11/12 vs MTSU W, 2-0 15-0, 15-9 11/12 at ETSU W, 2-0 15-7, 15-3 ————————————————————————————————– AIAW REGION II CHAMPIONSHIPS Site: Harrisonburg VA Finish: 4th 11/18 vs Virginia Commonwealth W, 2-1 15-6, 11-15, 15-10 11/18 vs Northern Kentucky L, 0-2 15-12, 15-5 11/18 vs North Carolina State W, 2-0 15-7, 15-11

11/19 vs Morehead State L, 0-2 15-5, 15-10

11/19 vs North Carolina L, 1-2 15-1, 14-16, 15-9 ————————————————————————————————– N/A# ETSU L, 1-2 N/A# Eastern Kentucky W, 2-0 >> Records for the season are incomplete >> Matches may not have occurred on a day in the order listed * Covenant was at this tournament and is recorded playing everyone but UT # Not sure where this match came in the season

Tickets are available online for $5.

Tennessee is running several promotions for Sunday’s home match. Kids 12 and under get free admission. The first 100 kids will receive an ice cream sundae. And admission is free with your Pittsburgh football ticket.

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

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

MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead KY Friday, September 10th, 7:00pm ET	Stats | ESPN+
Knoxville TN Sunday, September 12th, 4:00pm ET	Stats | SEC Network+