Tennessee was down two sets, battled back to win the next two, but finally fell to Virginia in five (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25, 15-6). The Lady Vols are now 3-2 overall this season. Next up is Denver later tonight.

With Denver’s website failing to deliver the live stats, we had to wait to find out Tennessee lost to Iowa at the Pioneer Classic 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22). Leah Hinkey had the top hitting percentage on the team with .667 (4-0-6). Unfortunately she left the match in the first set with some kind of injury. I’m sure all Lady Vol fans send her their best wishes. Kylie Marshall almost scored her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 9 digs. She also added 3 aces, 2 blocks, and an assist. Nikki Fowler had 10 kills, Farren Powe had 9, and Milan Clarke had 8. Chloe Goldman added 15 digs and had a kill herself! Be sure to check out the official website for the full story.

Tennessee recruit Leslie Cikra was named to PrepVolleyball.com’s Senior Aces, listing the top 250 volleyball recruits in the Class of 2009. Cikra, a 6′ 4” MB/RS from Chagrin Falls OH, came in near the top of the list at #11 — if I’m not mistaken, the highest any Tennessee committed player has ever ranked on the list. PrepVolleyball.com says “Her size, movement skills, offensive versatility, and competitive energy make her, potentially, one of the elite recruits in this class”.

The Lady Vols head to Denver this weekend for the Pioneer Classic, where they’ll face Iowa, Virginia, and Denver. Tennessee, currently 3-0, has only started the season 6-0 once during Coach Rob Patrick’s tenure — back in 2004 when they won the first nine matches of the season before getting a loss.

Live scores and stats should be available here:
2008 Pioneer Classic Central

• Iowa (1-2)
website | match notes (PDF)
The all-time series is tied 1-1.
Tennessee won the last match in 1997 by a score of 3-1.
Game time is Friday, September 5th at 7:00pm ET

• Virginia (3-0)
website | match notes (PDF)
Tennessee leads the all-time series 3-2.
Tennessee won the last match in 2006 by a score of 3-1.
Game time is Saturday, September 6th at 12:30pm ET

• Denver (2-1)
website
Tennessee leads the all-time series 1-0.
Tennessee won the last match in 2000 by a score of 3-0.
Game time is Saturday, September 6th at 9:30pm ET

UPDATE: Tennessee has added their match notes (PDF).

Tennessee started the season off with a bang, going 3-0 at the Marquette Kick-Off Classic. The stats on the roster page have now been updated through these matches. My notes and other stats follow:

• After the spring matches I was worried that they weren’t playing well as a team. That concern is all but gone now. The team, veterans and newbies, gelled very well together.
• There’s a lot of communication between the players now — so much more than last year.
• Serving is much more aggressive than last year. Several players are now jump serving, and even when they aren’t there is more behind the serves.
• Fowler has gained a lot of power since last season. And she’s attacking with force from all over the court. She also made some really good defensive plays, including one spectacular dive to keep a ball in play — not something she did a lot of last year.
• Goldman has really improved her control. She’s not only digging but is doing a great job of passing the ball where it can be set more easily.
• Hanakova and Mahoney took turns setting depending on the rotation and both looked really good. Both also looked good serving. Hanakova had three aces on the weekend while Mahoney had four. Mahoney’s float serve didn’t seem too impressive at first but the opponent’s had trouble handling it — lack of spin maybe making the ball unpredictable? Whatever it was it was working!
• It’s great to have Powe, Clarke, and Flynn back in every match. Along with Hinkey, Marshall, and Fowler our hitting and blocking options are much more open now.
• The five set match vs Houston we might have lost last season. I really think the experience gained in all those close matches last year is going to help us turn close matches into wins this year.
• Too early to know anything for certain yet but I feel really good about this season!

Double-doubles this weekend:
• Fowler, Hanakova, and Clarke all came close. But Kylie Marshall scored the only double-double of the weekend with 13 kills and 10 digs vs Marquette.

Career bests matched or exceeded this weekend:
• Milan Clarke: block solos, block assists, and total blocks
• Chloe Goldman: kills and aces
• Kylie Marshall: kills
• Farren Powe: digs
• newcomers Michaela Hanakova, Kayla Jeter, and Kelsey Mahoney all obviously set career highs in their first matches for Tennessee

Last, and probably least, is my personal most embarrassing moment of the trip! Read on if you want…

[ click to continue article… ]

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler who was named this season’s first SEC Offensive Player of the Week, for her performance this weekend in Milwaukee.

• Named MVP of the Marquette Kickoff Tournament after leading UT to three wins and the title
• Led the Lady Vols with 41 kills over three matches
• Tied for second on the team with 11 blocks and third with 19 digs
• Averaged 3.42 k/g, 1.58 d/g, 0.92 b/g and 4.12 p/g
• Added three aces over the weekend, including two in win over Houston.

Here’s one more article that looks ahead to the now in progress volleyball season, this one from the Tennessee Journalist.

WBIR has an interesting story on how the Tennessee football team basically funds almost all the other Tennessee athletic teams — and the pressure that puts on the football team to succeed. One interesting statistic:

“To further illustrate the football team’s economic power, consider one relatively minor income source. UT made $60,000 just from selling copies of its football media guide to fans last season. The combined ticket sales from the women’s soccer and volleyball teams brought in less than half that.”

The official UT site has a video preview of the 2008 season online. Coach Patrick, Nikki Fowler, and Mindy Flynn are interviewed and discuss the new recruits, what they did this summer to get ready, what they need to do this season to improve, and much more.

Tennessee started the season undefeated in their first three matches this weekend! You can read the official stories and box scores from each game here, here, and here. And some of my photos are online as well.

I’ll update the stats and have a lot more notes by tomorrow!

Coach Rob Patrick and senior Mindy Flynn talked with the Knoxville New Sentinel right before the tournament this weekend about the upcoming season. Topics touched on include the new class and what they bring to the table, how the returning players have improved, and the move to Thompson-Boling.

Tennessee finished off Marquette 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21). The team won the Marquette Kick-off Classic with a record of 3-0. Nikki Fowler was named tourney MVP. Milan Clarke, Kylie Marshall, and Chloe Goldman were named to the tournament team. I’ll have much more Sunday night Monday when I’m back in Knoxville!

Tennessee won a close one here in Milwaukee against Houston 3-2 (25-12, 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, 15-10). Tonight the Lady Vols try to start the season at 3-0 when they take on Marquette.

The Lady Vols defeated Chattanooga 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-18). I’ll update with more later.

The Lady Vols open the 2008 season this Friday by traveling over 600 miles to Wisconsin to play East Tennessee rival Chattanooga! The next day they’ll take on Houston and Marquette. Tennessee is 8-3 in season openers under Coach Rob Patrick.

I’ll be leaving for Milwaukee today so site updates may be erratic. But I’ll at least try to post the scores shortly after the matches. And hopefully I’ll get some good pics of the new squad for those that can’t make it!

• Chattanooga
(2007: 19-14, 13-5 Southern Conference) website
Tennessee leads the all-time series 13-3-1.
Tennessee won the last match in 1997 by a score of 3-0.
Game time is Friday, August 29th at 5:30pm ET
Follow the match with Gametracker

• Houston
(2007: 13-15, 8-8 Conference USA) website | team notes (PDF)
Houston leads the all-time series 6-2.
Houston won the last match in 2000 by a score of 3-2.
Game time is Saturday, August 30th at 11:30am ET
Follow the match with Gametracker

• Marquette
(2007: 10-16, 5-9 Big East) website | team notes (PDF)
Tennessee leads the all-time series 2-0.
Tennessee won the last match in 2007 by a score of 3-1.
Game time is Saturday, August 30th at 8pm ET
Follow the match with Gametracker