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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Match Notes 2013: Tennessee Invitational
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Lots of filler this week since notes are a little lighter than usual due to there not being a lot of history with these teams.

  • Tennessee is 2-0 all-time vs Georgia Tech. The last meetings were in 1991 and 1993.
  • Tennessee is 2-0 vs Jacksonville State. The last meetings were in 2000 and 2005.
  • Tennessee is meeting Coastal Carolina for the first time.
  • The Lady Vols are trying to win Coach Rob Patrick’s 350th career match and avoid losing 4 matches in a row for the first time since November 2007.
  • The last time Tennessee had two home tournaments was 1987. They went 3-0 in the first and 0-3 in the second.
  • As mentioned in this 2010 article, there is a long history of home tournaments and especially home tournament names at Tennessee. Other than the Lady Vol Classic over maybe the past decade or two (depending on how you count), tournament names don’t seem to be very permanent. This week brings what UT is calling the Tennessee Invitational (though funnily enough, on the schedule for all three of our opponents it appears by three different names). The name “Tennessee Invitational” has a short history in the school record books: the team played a tournament by that name in 1990. They also played in a “Tennessee Invitational” in 1974, but it is unclear whether that was actually hosted by UT or not.
  • Both previous meetings with Georgia Tech went to five sets. This is the first meeting in Knoxville.
  • Georgia Tech head coach Tonya Johnson played at LSU in the late 1980’s, helping lead the Tigers to two conference championships and the SEC’s first Final Four berth. She later was an assistant coach at her alma mater and at Kentucky.
  • Jacksonville State head coach Joseph Goodson was the volunteer assistant coach at Tech in 2006.
  • Before going on to play #17 Minnesota, #2 Penn State, #8 Missouri, and #3 Washington, Tennessee’s first opponent on route to the program’s first Final Four appearance at the 2005 NCAA Tournament was Jacksonville State.
  • Whitney Heeres, Jacksonville State’s Nicole Merget, and Georgia Tech’s Rebecca Martin were all members of Michigan Elite Volleyball. Shealyn Kolosky and Coastal Carolina’s Sam Skryd both played for Sports Performance.
  • Georgia Tech’s two mascots have a history with Tennessee:
    • After losing to them in football in 1963, UT students broke into Neyland Stadium where Tech’s famous Ramblin’ Wreck — a gold 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe — was being stored after the game. The pranksters painted the car orange and wrote the words “Go Vols” on it. Check out this clipping from the student newspaper at the time for more details.
    • While Georgia Tech teams have been called Yellowjackets for over 100 years, they didn’t actually have a costumed mascot until recently. In 1972, a student made an outfit with a sweater, leotards, a ski mask, plastic knitting needles for antennas, and yellow vinyl hot pants with a stuffed vinyl stinger, and was allowed on the field during a few home games. The next year another student wore the suit. That was it for the mascot until 1979, when another student without official approval and with a $1,400 costume he had had created by a theme park designer made his first public appearance by running on to the field at a pep rally before the Tennessee football game. A few weeks later he snuck on to the field during an actual game where fans assumed he was part of the cheerleading squad. He was made the official Yellowjacket mascot the next year.

LINKS:

PROMOTIONS:

  • GEORGIA TECH: Knox County School Weekend – Free admission with donation of two school supply items; Fan Site Friday – Watch for special offer on Twitter/Facebook.; Free drawstring backpack to first 200 kids 12 and under.; Chalk Talk with Coach Patrick – 45 minutes prior to match in the Ray Mears Room; Battle of the Badges – Police vs Fire volleyball match at match break – police, fire and ambulance vehicles will be on display at top of parking lot G5/30.
  • JACKSONVILLE STATE, COASTAL CAROLINA: Knox County School Weekend – Free admission with donation of two school supply items; Kids Day – Free admission for all kids 12 and under. Be sure to visit Kids Korner; Free drawstring backpack to first 200 kids 12 and under attending Coastal Carolina match; Chalk Talk with Coach Patrick – 45 minutes prior to Coastal Carolina match in the Ray Mears Room.

MORE INFORMATION: