Before I make the main point of this post let me explain why I created this site as it may help you understand what may be coming.
I run two other websites in addition to this one. Like this one both started as a simple way to share a passion with other like minded people. But in the years they have been online they have become very popular. One, a site about history started nine years ago, has had me interviewed in newspapers, radio, and even on C-SPAN once. The other, an entertainment news site started five years ago, has gone from me pitching in every now and then to me running the place. In that time it has grown from a few guys doing it on their own to a staff with the support from the movie studios. Unfortunately with the popularity has come more responsibilities and stress. The sites just aren’t as much fun to run as they used to be and I was starting to get burned out. I considered dropping out of one of them. Instead I got the idea that maybe all I needed was another site that was just done for my enjoyment — no pressures from readers or sources — just like when I first started out. That’s when the idea of this blog was born.
It has been a lot of fun. Whenever I get tired of the hassles of the other sites I spend some time here running stats, formatting pictures, or just tweaking the HTML code. Weird way to relax, I know! And it’s been really cool hearing from the friends and family who enjoy getting to hear about and see their player when they’re far from home. About the only real problem has been when people confuse this site with the official site. As I’m technically a booster I’m not allowed to have direct contact with potential recruits. I contacted the UT Compliance Department and they confirmed that and suggested I just forward any correspondence to the athletics department. I’ve had to do that a few times. I added a new disclaimer to the top of the site and shut down the forums partly out of not wanting someone I wasn’t allowed to talk to using it. But other than that things have been great.
Until now. I was informed today that I am not allowed to take pictures or video and post them on the internet. I’m not sure what that means for the site yet. I was told if I was part of the press I could contact media relations and get credentialed. But I’m not sure the hassle of that would be worth it. As I said, this was supposed to be an enjoyable site for me. I don’t want to be media, I want to be just a fan in the bleachers.
I’m not putting down UT at all — if that’s their policy then that’s their policy. But it seems applying it to a tiny site about volleyball that averages 22 hits a day when there are so many more major blogs about football and basketball out there, not to mention YouTube and Flickr videos and photos, is a little odd. If any sport needed a little extra promotion it’s not football or basketball!
So in the next few days I’ll decide what will happen to this site. I enjoy doing the stats and all but I doubt that’s the main reason many people come here! I had planned on going to Georgia but that will be up in the air as well. In the next day or two I’ll also be removing all the photos and videos on the site — so get ’em while you can!
Thanks to all of those who visit. I’d really like to continue doing this site for you, and I’ll try to have a decision in a day or two. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to share any thoughts on all this. I’d love to hear form you.
The Lady Vols are 2-0 in SEC play after defeating Alabama today 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 24-26, 25-18).
I’ve posted a five minute video of some of the highlights from Tennessee’s win over MSU. Several sizes and formats are available so hopefully one will work for you!
The Alabama Crimson Tide comes to town this afternoon. Game time is 1:30pm. Tickets are $3 or you can donate two non-perishable food items and get in for free.
The Lady Vols win their SEC opener against MSU by a score of 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-14). Details (and maybe some video if it came out ok!) coming soon.
UPDATE: Tennessee has the story and the box score. Video turned out to be passable. Problem was I kept getting distracted watching the match! I’ll edit it down to a few good plays and get it up tonight.
• Tennessee is 6-5 is SEC openers under Coach Rob Patrick.
• Mississippi State’s win last season vs Tennessee was their first since 1996.
• Tennessee has not defeated Alabama since November 11, 2005. Since then the Lady Vols are 0-5.
• With two wins this weekend Coach Patrick will be one victory shy of tying Bob Bertucci as the winningest volleyball coach in Tennessee history.
• Mississippi State (5-6)
website | match notes (PDF)
Tennessee leads the all time series 33-7.
Tennessee won the first match last year 3-1, but lost the second match 3-2.
Game time is Friday, September 19th at 7:00pm ET
Follow the match with Gametracker• Alabama (7-2)
website
Tennessee leads the all time series 23-12.
Alabama won both matches last year 3-0.
Game time is Friday, September 21st at 1:30pm ET
Follow the match with GametrackerUPDATE: Tennessee (PDF) and Alabama (PDF) have put up their match notes.
UT’s notes mention that you can get free admission to matches this weekend by donating two non-perishable food items.
• Tennessee went 2-1 at the Lady Vol Classic this weekend, dropping their first match in the tournament since 2003 vs Michigan.
• Chloe Goldman had 36 digs in the match vs Dayton. That ties the fourth highest single match digs total in Lady Vol history. Goldman also holds the #2 and #3 spots on that list.
• Nikki Fowler had 22 kills vs Dayton — a number she has only topped once before in her career.
• Tennessee had what might be a record low number of attack errors vs Gardner-Webb with only 4. Check out my previous post to see how rare that has been in recent years.
• Career bests matched or exceeded this weekend:
Milan Clarke: attacks
Nikki Fowler: hitting percentage and digs
Chloe Goldman: aces
Farren Powe: aces and digs• Double-doubles this weekend:
Nikki Fowler: 18 kills, 19 digs vs Illinois (1st this season, 13th career)
Kelsey Mahoney: 26 assists, 10 digs vs Illinois (1st this season, 1st career)
Michaela Hanakova: 31 assists, 13 digs vs Dayton (1st this season, 1st career)
Nikki Fowler: 22 kills, 13 digs vs Dayton (2nd this season, 14th career)
Congratulations to libero Chloe Goldman who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
• Averaged 5.46 digs per set and led all players in the tournament with a total of 71 digs in three contests.
• Helped lead UT to a pair of victories at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic.
• Her 36 digs against Dayton marked the fourth highest single-match total in UT history.Also congrats to Nikki Fowler who was named the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week.
• Lone Tennessee representative on Comcast Lady Vol Classic All-Tournament Team
• Tournament-high 49 kills on 131 total attacks in three matches.
• Recorded her first two double-doubles of the season.
• Topped the Lady Vols with 54.0 total points, for an average of 4.15 per set.
Tennessee had a pretty successful home tournament. Dayton may have ended up winning it all but the Lady Vols came within ten points of the title in the third tie-breaker (head to head, number of sets, points scored against). I’ll have a more in-depth recap in a day or two. Until then you can check this stuff out:
My photos form the tournament are online now. The good news — the lighting is much better in TBA! The pics are still a little grainy due to the fast action setting I use but with the good lighting I can probably tweak that to look better.
Stats on the roster page have been updated. I’ve added “points” and “points per game” to the stat boxes. I’m also in the process of going through and changing the “career high” stats to a top three list.
You can read the tournament stories and box scores here (GWU), here (UI), and here (UD).
Also the official page has post game interviews from all three matches with Rob Patrick available. Head over to their site and look for the links on the right side of the page.
Tennessee defeats Dayton 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13). The Lady Vols, Illinois, and Dayton tie for the tournament title (all beat each other 3-2 and all beat G-W 3-0!) but Dayton wins it on a tie-breaker. Nikki Fowler was named to the all-tourney team.
Much more later, but the most interesting stat to note so far: SIX yellow cards! Four on Dayton and two on Tennessee.
The Lady Vols go down to the wire with the Illinois, the #17 team in the country, and come up just short, losing 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11).
UPDATE: Tennessee has the story and the box score.
Coach Patrick: “This was just a terrific collegiate volleyball match. Although we played very hard, it just came down to a few big points at the end and Illinois just played a little better than us on those points… The key to our success in this match was the passing of Chloe, Nikki and Kylie. Even though it doesn’t show up on the box score, their serve receive allowed us to stay in our offense and be effective offensively in spite of the fact that Illinois served extremely tough.”
Quick notes:
• Nikki Fowler gets a career best 19 digs. Along with her 18 kills, she notches her first double-double of the season.
• Kelsey Mahoney gets the first double-double of her career with 26 assists and 10 digs.
• Milan Clarke matches her career high attacks mark.
The Lady Vols won the first match of their home tournament 3-0 (25-6, 25-11, 25-14).
UPDATE: Tennessee has the box score online.
Interesting notes from the stats:
• Tennessee had what might be a record low number of attack errors with only 4. The next lowest since 2002 was 8 in a loss vs South Carolina (17-8-56 .161). Since 2002, season lows in a winning match were:
. . . .2007 – 11 vs Appalachian State (36-11-76 .329)
. . . .2006 – 9 vs Centenary (49-9-105 .381)
. . . .2005 – 10 vs Central Michigan (48-10-102 .373)
. . . .2004 – 9 vs Kentucky (51-9-98 .429)
. . . .2003 – 11 vs ETSU (52-11-105 .390)
. . . .2003 – 11 vs Miami OH (46-11-106 .330)
. . . .2002 – 12 vs Iona (57-12-111 .405)• Only one person for Gardner-Webb had a positive hitting percentage — .111. Two players had .000, and the other seven players all had negative percentages.
• Tennessee had 5 players hitting over .400 — Kayla Jeter with .429, Nikki Fowler with .438, Mindy Flynn with .500, Milan Clarke with .600, and leading the team freshman Alyssa Hilby with .636.
• Michaela Hanakova has scored at least one ace in all but one of the seven matches this season. Kylie Marshall has aced in five of the seven matches played so far.
The official Tennessee website has no information about volleyball tickets yet, but here is what I know. Last season single match tickets could be bought at the gate for $5 for adults and $3 for children, with UT students let in free with their student ID. I would assume those prices haven’t changed unless they decide to charge more for the air conditioning now that we’re at Thompson-Boling! The ticket booth and entrance to the matches will be at the top of ramp at the northwest corner of the arena. Parking is in the G5/G30 lot above the parking garage adjacent to the arena. Here are some maps to help you find the arena and parking areas (the basic map is probably the best, especially if you know your way around campus): basic JPG map | detailed PDF map
For those attending the Tennessee football game on Saturday, you can get free admission to the volleyball game on Sunday if you bring your ticket stub.
If you ordered season tickets and have not yet received them you might want to call the ticket office. I called yesterday and, after convincing the very helpful customer service rep that they did sell season tickets to volleyball, discovered they had not mailed mine out. She said they’d print them up and have them for me on Friday at the will-call window.
UPDATE: I actually just heard a radio ad for the volleyball games! It said tickets were just $3. I don’t know if that is just for this tourney or all matches.
Tennessee has their home opener this Friday in their new home, Thompson-Boling Arena. According to the official website, “tickets are available for purchase at the northwest corner of the arena on the upper level. Parking will be available for free in the G5/G30 lot above the parking garage adjacent to the arena”. Due to the Tennessee/UAB football game the tournament will take place on Friday and Sunday — there will be no matches on Saturday.
Tennessee is 25-5 all time in home opening matches. Under Coach Rob Patrick the team is 10-1 in home openers. The team has not lost its home opener since 2001.
Tennessee is 24-5 in the Lady Vol Classic under Coach Patrick. Tennessee has claimed the last four titles and is undefeated in their home tournament since 2004.
Friday’s match will only be the third time the Lady Vols have played in Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2003, Tennessee lost to #3 Florida in front of a crowd of 1,571 people during Homecoming and Hoopapalooza. In 2005, Tennessee defeated Georgia in front of 3,311 people during Big Orange Madness. Both matches still stand as the top two home attendance records.
• Gardner-Webb (2-5)
website | match notes (PDF)
This is the first time the teams have met.
Game time is Friday, September 12th at 10:00am ET
Follow the match with Gametracker• #17 Illinois (6-1)
website | match notes (PDF)
The all-time series is tied 2-2.
Illinois won the last match in 1987 by a score of 3-0.
Game time is Friday, September 12th at 7:00pm ET
Follow the match with Gametracker• Dayton (6-2)
website | match notes (PDF)
Dayton leads the all-time series is tied 0-2.
Dayton won the last match in 1997 by a score of 3-1.
Game time is Friday, September 14th at 1:00pm ET
Follow the match with GametrackerUPDATE: Added match notes for G-W and Dayton above. Also, Tennessee’s match notes (PDF) are now available.
Tennessee has finished their road tournament schedule, winning all three in the first before losing all three in the second. The team comes back to Knoxville this week to open their home schedule with their own tournament before starting SEC play.
• Tennessee is 3-3 in its first six matches — their worst start since 1999.
• The 0-3 record at the Pioneer Classic is the first time Tennessee has been winless in a four team tournament since 1999.
• The Virginia game was the first time since 2006 that Tennessee has had three freshmen playing in the same match.
• After only six matches senior Milan Clarke is off to the best season of her career. Compare these stats from her past seasons with those of just the six games she’s played so far this year:
Milan Clarke FR | SO | JR | SR
MATCHES PLAYED 27 26 29 6
SEASON TOTAL KILLS 78 127 189 72
MATCHES WITH DOUBLE DIGIT KILLS 1 5 7 5
KILLS PER GAME 1.37 1.98 2.03 3.00
HITTING PERCENTAGE .182 .160 .136 .253• No double-doubles at this tournament. A few close calls though:
Kylie Marshall has 10 kills and 9 digs vs Iowa.
Farren Powe had 11 kills and 7 blocks vs Virginia.
Kelsey Mahoney had 23 assists and 8 digs vs Virginia.
Kayla Jeter had 7 digs and 6 blocks vs Virginia.
Michaela Hanakova had 26 assists and 7 digs vs Virginia and 18 assists and 6 digs vs Denver.• Career bests matched or exceeded this weekend:
Carol Cheade: digs
Milan Clarke: kills
Leah Hinkey: hitting percentage
Lauren LaFlamme: attacks and aces
The Lady Vols lost to Denver 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18), giving them a 0-3 record at the Pioneer Classic and a 3-3 record overall. With two freshmen (Kayla Jeter and Alyssa Hilby) in the starting line-up for the first time and Kylie Marshall taking the libero jersey for the first time since 2006, this match may have been about getting some players on-court experience. Tennessee has the story and the box score. I’ll have more in my recap in the next day or two.