Two Tennessee recruits were in the news this week as high school volleyball also starts up around the country. Kylann Scheidt, a junior at Farragut High, was mentioned in the Farragut Press. While Leslie Cikra, a senior at Chagrin Falls High, was talked up in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The SEC website has posted a preview of the teams of the SEC East — the West will be profiled tomorrow.

Coach Patrick: “Although last season did not turn out quite like we had hoped, I could not be more excited about getting started this year. Because of our ball control and the experienced and athletic setters that we have coming in, we will be able to run a more up-tempo, varied offense than we have in the last two years. We will also be even more physical due to the athleticism of the new recruits and work ethic of the returning players in the weight room during the off-season. As always, we expect to challenge for an SEC championship and to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years. If we improve every day in both practice and in matches, we will put our program in a position to accomplish these goals.”

UPDATE: The SEC West preview is now online.

In their annual preseason poll the coaches of the SEC have predicted Florida will win its 18th conference title. The eleven SEC coaches ranked each team by division and then voted for an overall champion (coaches could not for their own team). Nine of the ten coaches polled picked the Gators to win the SEC East while LSU was unanimously tabbed to win the West. Seven coaches have Florida winning the conference, three give it to LSU, and one is predicting Kentucky.

SEC EAST:
1. Florida
2. Kentucky
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. South Carolina

SEC WEST:
1. LSU
2. Mississippi
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Auburn
6. Mississippi State

We’re finally here! Watching volleyball at the Olympics has been great, but nothing is better than the start of college volleyball season and actually going to see your favorite teams in person! The first serve of the season will be Wednesday when North Carolina Central heads to Winston Salem State. Things really take off though on Friday when almost 200 matches take place in Division I. One of those will be Tennessee taking on in-state rival Chattanooga at the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament in Milwaukee WI.

The pollsters have got a head start on the players with several preseason polls available. The premier poll, the CBS CSN/AVCA poll has defending national champion Penn State on top followed by Stanford, Texas, USC, and Cal. Two SEC teams made the cut with Florida at #8 and LSU at #21. The Molten/Volleyball Magazine poll lists Penn State, Stanford, USC, Texas, and Nebraska as the top 5 with Florida again coming in at #8. RichKern.com has Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, and UCLA on top with Florida at #9 and LSU at #21. The Pablo Rankings has it Penn State, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas, and USC. Going further, Pablo ranks the SEC teams in relation to the entire 325 teams of Division I as: #20 Florida. #49 LSU, #65 Ole Miss, #70 Kentucky, #96 Alabama, #112 South Carolina, #121 Mississippi State, #134 Georgia and Tennessee, and #183 Auburn.

ESPN takes an in depth look at four of the contenders for the 2008 national championship.

The SEC has released the TV schedule for conference volleyball on FSN’s regional sports networks — (a seemingly rather paltry) five matches will be televised this year. The South Carolina at Tennessee match will air on November 16 (tape-delayed by two hours). Maybe CBS CSN can pick up a few more. If you have Sun Sports (an RSN in Florida, also available through Direct TV and DISH) you’ll be able to catch at least three more SEC matches including Tennessee at Florida on October 12th. Cox Sports Television (a Gulf Coast RSN) will air some conference matches as well this season, but none of the Lady Vols’.

Tennessee doesn’t play their home opener until September 12th, when they face Gardner-Webb and Illinois. So there is still plenty of time to order season tickets! The website still says they are unavailable but just call the number on the page to order.

Congratulations to USA Volleyball on their best Olympics ever! The United States won gold in men’s indoor, men’s beach, and women’s beach volleyball, and won silver in women’s indoor volleyball. This is the first time in Olympic history a single county has medaled in all four volleyball events! Hopefully this showing will help build even more interest in the sport here in the United States.

Without even stepping on the court Nikki Fowler has already picked up her first award of the season! The SEC announced its first volleyball coaches preseason All-SEC team today. Fowler is the only player representing Tennessee and (despite the text in the press release) the only underclassman.

Kelsey Bowers, Florida (MB, 6-2, Sr.)
Elyse Cusack, Florida (L, 5-9, Jr.)
Maria Taylor, Georgia (OH, 6-2, Sr.)
Queen Nzenwa, Kentucky (OH, 6-2, Sr.)
Lauren DeGirolamo, LSU (MB, 6-1 ,Jr.)
Elena Martinez, LSU (L, 5-8, Sr.)
Kyna Washington, LSU (OH, 5-11, Sr.)
Rachel Kieckhaefer, Mississippi (S, 5-11, Sr.)
Nikki Fowler, Tennessee (OH, 6-2, So.)

Among the changes to UT’s new website are several (non-working) links to “Gametracker” and “All-Access”. As online fans of college sports probably know, these are stats and audio/video services from CBS College Sports Network (formally CSTV). Tennessee used to be a part of their network but dropped them a few years ago to do those things themselves. It seems they may have re-joined, which is good news for those who can’t make it to games in person!

UPDATE: Look pretty certain now, as some of the links are working. It’ll be great for video, but sucks for those of us (or maybe just me!) who liked to keep track of live stats at the game using cell phones — Gametracker user the Flash plugin which I don’t think hardly any phone supports.

Looks like I’m not the only one updating a website for the upcoming season! The official Lady Vols website has been redone today giving it a much cleaner, less cluttered look. Part of the revamp includes an updated article about Thompson-Boling Arena.

“Joining the women’s basketball program in Thompson-Boling Arena for the 2008 campaign is the UT volleyball team, which makes the transition after spending 10 seasons in Stokely Athletics Center. The Lady Vols hope to continue the home-court dominance they displayed in Stokely, where they amassed an impressive 98-34 record during their decade-long stay in the facility. The volleyball configuration at Thompson-Boling Arena will provide seating for up to 7,500 Rocky Top faithful.”

That attendance number is up from the 5,000 seat configuration at Stokely.

We’re just 14 days away from the start of the 2008 season! Look for the news updates to start flowing faster as we approach August 29th. In the meantime I’m working hard under the hood to get the site ready. I’ve archived the 2007 data, updated the 2008 schedule and roster, and added a search engine. On a sadder note I’ve removed the 2007 seniors from the random photos that appear on the right sidebar! Still left to do: finish some archiving, update the spreadsheet I use to keep track of stats, and decide what to do about the forum — for now I’ve just removed the link to it.

And here’s an update I know you’ve all been dying to hear about! I have not replaced my camera! I know, I know, I talked all last season about how bad it was in the conditions at Stokely. But we’re not at Stokely this year! And it’s a really great camera when it gets enough light. So I’ve decided to hold off until I see how it performs at Thompson-Boling.

Neither a tornado on the way there nor an earthquake while there was able to stop my vacation — though a five hour late train almost did! But now I’m back and getting excited for volleyball season!

The UT Ticket Office website says to “check back frequently” for information on 2008 volleyball season tickets. However, I just called and they are already on sale. The number to call is 800-332-VOLS or 865-656-1200. I believe the price was $40.

While on vacation I was drinking a Pepsi (no Coke was available!) and I was just idly reading the can. It was promoting a Harley Davidson Rally and concert to be held in Milwaukee. With a little trepidation I checked the dates. Sure enough, it was August 27th-31st — the same weekend as Tennessee’s season opening tournament.

When I went to Gainesville this past spring for the SEC beach volleyball tournament I waited until pretty late to book a room assuming there wouldn’t be a huge demand because of a volleyball game. Unfortunately that was the same day as the Florida football spring game and I ended up stuck in a cheap hotel with people literally right outside my door until 4am talking, smoking, and I believe doing some other things I don’t want to think about!

So as soon as I got home from San Diego I got online to get hotel information for Milwaukee on August 29th. And my procrastination has cost me again! The nearest hotel (that isn’t $300 a night) is 60 miles away in northern Illinois! Just a heads up for anyone planning to go.

Just wanted to let you know I’m heading to San Diego for the next two weeks. So there won’t be any more updates until August. Look for things to pick up in a big way around that time, though, as we’ll be less than 30 days away from the season opener!

PrepVolleyball.com (paid subscription required) has named Tennessee’s recruiting class the 13th best in the country. Some quotes about the players from the article:

• Amanda Friday: “platform skills, defensive range, varied and tough server, intense, engaging personality and effective communicator. Friday possesses them all”
• Michaela Hanakova: “experienced and a winner”
• DeeDee Harrison: “unlimited potential. Her length and speed will make her a tough match-up”
• Alyssa Hilby: “a very physical middle with great blocking instincts and a personality for the job”
• Kayla Jeter: “Her booming spikes and athletic digs should make her a hit with fans in Knoxville”
• Kelsey Mahoney: “competitive, a great leader with technical skill and a knack for blocking”

Coach Patrick states on the official Tennessee site: “I am very excited that this group of players is being recognized for the high level of talent that it possesses. Not only will they be able to make an impact on the court immediately, but they also put our program in good hands for the years to come. I am extremely excited about the future of Tennessee volleyball and much of that enthusiasm is due to this tremendous class of student-athletes. I truly feel, however, that by the time this class graduates, it will be viewed as one of the top 10 in the country. We fully expect each member of this group to play significant roles in our success over the next few years.”

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler — the SEC Freshman of the Year made the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll!

It took longer than I’d hoped but I’m back updating the site! Can you believe how close we are to the new season? Just take a look in the upper right hand corner of this page to see how many days until the first serve of 2008 takes place! Over the next week I’ll be getting the roster and schedule pages ready. I’ll also be deciding what to do with the forum. Spambots have taken over the place. So I’ll either have to make it registered users only or shut it down. It isn’t heavily trafficked but it is nice for people to ask the occasional question or to make comments. Last year I mentioned adding a live chat room to the site so fans could talk to each other while they follow the live stats of games they can’t attend. I’m leaning towards still doing this, but with the forum issues I’m going to wait and give it a little more thought. (Feel free to send me your thoughts as well!)

There are two really great pieces of news coming off Rocky Top this week.

First of all, eight Lady Vol Volleyball players made the school’s Spring 2008 Honor Roll! Congratulations to Carol Cheade, Milan Clarke, Nikki Fowler, Chloe Goldman, Leah Hinkey, Lauren Laflamme, Kylie Marshall, and Yuliya Stoyanova!

Secondly, Tennessee signed another new player to the team for the upcoming season, bringing the 2008 class to five members. Alyssa Hilby is a 6′ 3” middle blocker from Tacoma WA. Her honors at Life Christian Academy include: holds school career records for kills, blocks and digs, two-time first team All-League, first team All-Area, first team All-State, appearances in the state tournament every season of her HS career, honor roll all four years. She also played for Kent Juniors Volleyball Club. See the official Tennessee site for more details and comments from the coach.

I hope everyone is enjoying the off season! But I can’t wait until the end of August!

Hello! Just a quick update to let you know the site is not dead! Obviously during the offseason I won’t update this site as much. And my other sites are needing my attention more lately. But some more updates are coming! Not daily updates until we get closer to the upcoming season, but I’ll try to at least keep a weekly update going until then!