The official site posted features on two Lady Vols this past week. One is about Alyssa Andreno and her passion for community service. The other is about Sedona Hansen and her accomplishments at Tennessee. (Note that in that article the comments about her stats should list them as applying to the rally-scoring era rather than all-time.)

The school newspaper has a piece about tonight’s SEC opener.

The SEC Block Party podcast has a feature about the program UT will face in their conference opener, Mississippi.

There are several promotions going on at Sunday’s home match vs Texas A&M. Coach Eve Rackham will give a chalk talk to fans beginning 35 minutes before the match in the Ray Mears Room. kids 12 and under get into the match free and can enjoy activities on the concourse. And the team will sign autographs after the match. Parking and security information is available online.

Mississippi Rebels (8-3)

Friday, September 27th @ 7:30pm ET
Oxford MS
Live Video: SEC Network+ // Live Stats
Last week: wins over Howard and American

Texas A&M Aggies (9-2)

Sunday, September 29th @ 3:00pm ET
Knoxville TN
TV: SEC Network // Online Video: SEC Network+ // Live Stats
Last week: wins over Oklahoma and Alabama; loss to #3 Texas

Tennessee opens SEC play in 2019 with matches at Mississippi and then here vs Texas A&M.

• UT is 45-10 all-time vs Mississippi. The Lady Vols are 6-4 in the last ten meetings, and have a three match winning streak (all decided in four sets).
• UT is 8-10 all-time vs Texas A&M. The Lady Vols are 2-8 in the last ten meetings, but have a two-match winning streak over the Aggies.
• Since 1978, Tennessee is 19-22 in their first conference match.
• The Rebels are on an eight-match win streak, the longest in the SEC right now.
• Mississippi assistant coach Russ Friedland was UT’s volunteer assistant coach in 2012.
• Texas A&M has played two ranked opponents this year: a 3-2 loss to #25 Louisville and a 3-0 loss to #3 Texas.

As we enter SEC play, here’s a look at where some of the Lady Vols stand in regards to records and milestones.

• Tessa Grubbs is 15th on the UT career kills list. At her current pace she could end the season in the top ten. She stands at #4 on the career kills per set chart. She’s 139 attacks away from becoming just the 15th Lady Vol to reach 3,000. Grubbs is 6th all-time in attacks per set. She’s 20th in career hitting.
• Sedona Hansen is the first player at UT to play four years as setter since Julie Knytych (2002-2005). She is currently 8th all-time in career assists at UT. She’s 133 away from becoming just the 5th Lady Vol to reach 3,000 assists. She’s 9th all-time in career assists per set. Hansen is 16th in career digs. She’s just 32 shy of becoming the 16th member of UT’s 1,000 career digs club. If she reaches both milestones she would be just the 4th Lady Vol with 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs. She’s 12th in career digs per set. Hansen is 3rd in rally-scoring era double-doubles at UT. She’s just one away from moving into 2nd place, and 11 away from earning the top spot.
• Alyssa Andreno is currently 20th in career hitting percentage and 13th so far this year for a single season. She’s just 19 blocks away from UT’s career top 20 list, and 32 away from becoming the 20th Lady Vol to reach 300. She stands at 16th in career blocks per set.
• Madison Coulter is 7 digs away from the UT career top 30 list. She’s 295 away from becoming the 16th member of UT’s 1,000 career digs club. She’s on pace this year to reach the top 15 in school single season digs. She’s currently #10 in career digs per set and single season digs per set.
• Addisyn Rowe is currently 5th all-time in career hitting percentage. She’s 12th in career blocks per set. So far this year she’s 13th in single season hitting percentage.
• Ava Bell is hitting a phenomenal .523 for the year so far, which would smash the single season record of .416 (set in 1983) if she can keep that average going.

Congratulations to Sedona Hansen and Tessa Grubbs on earning SEC recognition this week!

Hansen was named the SEC Player of the Week and Setter of the Week. This is her second time being honored by the conference. She was named Freshman of the Week on October 2016. Hansen is the third Lady Vol to get the “Player of the Week” designation since the league added it in 2015. From the announcement: “Tennessee’s Sedona Hansen, a senior from Wrightwood, Calif., was named MVP of the Tennessee Classic after posting 105 assists (11.57 per set) over three victories. Hansen helped her team post a .399 hitting percentage for the tournament. She tallied her fourth double-double of the season against Georgia Southern with 35 assists and 10 digs in the three-set victory.”

Grubbs was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. She previously won the award twice last season. From the announcement: “Tennessee’s Tessa Grubbs, a senior outside hitter from Tega Cay, S.C., averaged 5.39 points and 5.00 kills per set and posted a .415 hitting percentage in a 3-0 week for the Lady Volunteers. Grubbs closed out the Tennessee Classic with a career-high .600 hitting percentage against North Dakota State with 16 kills and just one error in the match.”

The Lady Vols win their home tourney with a sweep of North Dakota State (25-10, 25-20, 25-10). More tonight Sunday!

Tessa Grubbs led UT with 16 kills. She hit .600 for the match. Morgahn Fingall had 8 kills and hit .615. Ava Bell, Alyssa Andreno, and Danielle Mahaffey put down 3 blocks each. Setter Sedona Hansen had 33 assists. Giana Pellizzon had the most digs on the court with 10. Madison Coulter served up 2 aces.

The team hit .427 vs .064 for the Bison. That’s the 11th best hitting percentage for Tennessee and the 8th widest margin between UT and an opponent in a winning effort since 2001.

The Lady Vols only had 7 hitting errors in the match — the 6th fewest in the rally scoring era.

Sedona Hansen was named the tournament MVP. Madison Coulter and Alyssa Andreno were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Tennessee gets the win in three over Georgia Southern this afternoon (25-15, 25-18, 25-13). More tonight after the evening match vs North Dakota State.

Danielle Mahaffey and Tessa Grubs were the top players in kills with 12 each. Ava Bell was just behind with 10, and Alyssa Andreno had 8. They had som ebig hitting percentages as well: Andreno .700, Bell .615, Mahaffey .435, and Grubbs .320. Andreno was the top blocker with 4 and also had the most service aces with 2. Sedona Hansen picked up another double-double leading the team with 35 assists and 10 digs.

The team hit .400 to .133 for the Eagles.

Tennessee defeated ETSU in a sweep this evening (25-23, 25-12, 25-13). More details tonight.

UPDATE: Tessa Grubbs led the match in kills with 17. Danielle Mahaffey had 10, Morgahn Fingall 8, and Ava Bell 7. With 5 kills on 8 attacks, setter Sedona Hansen hit .625. Bell hit .600. And Alyssa Andreno averaged .429. Fingall paced the team with 6 blocks. Andreno and Bell added 4 more each. Giana Pellizzon had a career high 17 digs. Madison Coulter dug up 12, and Hansen 9. Hansen put up 37 assists as well.

Tennessee hit a season high .376.

The Lady Vols held ETSU to 2 team blocks, 29 points, and 26 kills — those are the 10th, 17th, and 24th fewest respectively by an opponent in a match during the rally scoring era.

With a crowd of 1,974, Tennessee had the 7th largest home crowd in school history.

So far out of the 8 matches played in 2019, 5 of them rank in the top 50 highest attended home or away Lady Vol matches since 2001 (at Baylor, vs Illinois, at Illinois, vs ETSU, at Michigan State).

The Lady Vols head home after a stretch of six matches on the road over the past three weeks. They’ll face ETSU, Georgia Southern, and North Dakota State in the Tennessee Classic.

UT is 28-7 all-time vs ETSU. The first recorded match was in 1973. The teams have only faced each other five previous times in the rally-scoring era, with Tennessee just edging ETSU 3-2. The Buccaneers have a two match winning streak, including an impressive come from behind win last season.

UT is facing Georgia Southern and North Dakota State for the first time.

Since 2001, UT is 16-2 vs the Southern Conference, 5-2 vs the Sun Belt, and 2-1 vs the Summit League.

Tennessee has won 22 of their last 23 home matches against out-of-conference opponents. The lone loss was this season vs Illinois.

In home tournaments since 1978 (not counting conference, regional, or national), UT is 110-51-2. During that time the Lady Vols have hosted at least one tournament every year except 1980, 1982, 1991, and 2001 (planned but cancelled due to the terror attacks).

The team needs at least 2 wins this weekend to prevent themselves from being the first team since 1999 to start SEC play with a losing record.

The Lady Vols have faced a fellow Tennessee school all but four seasons in recorded school history (2006, 2011, 2012, 2017). They are 138-30-4 in those matches.

I’ve mentioned recorded history twice already in these notes. That’s because (as documented in a previous article The hidden history of UT volleyball), there isn’t a lot of info about the first fifteen years of program history. And I’m sure other Tennessee schools were probably frequent opponents back then. In fact, the very first UT volleyball team in 1958 travelled to ETSU for the very first matches in program history.

ETSU coach Benavia Jenkins played against the Lady Vols during her time as a player at Florida.

The Bucs have 7 players from the state of Tennessee — 3 of whom are freshman from Knoxville.

North Dakota State setter Kalli Hegerle has 4 triple-doubles on the season. For comparison, I know of only 3 triple-doubles by a UT player in school history.

NDSU have both played 4 five-set matches this year. The Bisons are 3-1, the Lady Vols 2-2.

GAMEDAY NOTES

Saturday’s matches celebrate “Back to School Day”. If you donate two school supplies items you’ll receive a free ticket. Also, the first 250 kids receive “Back to School Survival Kits”.

Parking and security info is available online.

Last, and ughh… Tennessee will start serving alcohol at volleyball matches starting this weekend. Details on Twitter.

ETSU Buccaneers (7-2)

Friday, September 20th @ 6:30pm ET
Knoxville TN
Live Video: SEC Network+ // Live Stats
Last week: wins over Alcorn State, Georgia State; loss to UAB

Georgia Southern Eagles (4-4)

Saturday, September 21st @ 12:30pm ET
Knoxville TN
Online Video: SEC Network+ | Live Stats
Last week: wins over UNC Asheville, Southern Miss;
losses to Winthrop, North Florida

North Dakota State Bison (5-4)

Saturday, September 21st @ 7:00pm ET
Knoxville TN
Online Video: SEC Network+ | Live Stats
Last week: wins over Buffalo, Green Bay; loss to California

#5 Baylor took out the Lady Vols in three sets this afternoon (25-18, 25-17, 25-16). That’s the 17th fewest actual points scored by UT in a rally scoring era match. More details soon.

The Lady Vols picked up a five-set win over Houston this afternoon (23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 15-8). It’s the fourth five-set match the team has had in their six games this season (2-2). It’s the first win on Friday the 13th since 2002. More later when the official stats are released.

UPDATE: Tessa Grubs led the Lady Vol offense with 20 kills. Ava Bell and Danielle Mahaffey had 12 each, Rocky Perinar had 9, and Lily Felts and Alyssa Andreno 7 each. Andreno led the team in blocks with 7. Mahaffey had 5. Madison Coulter had another huge day with 29 digs. Felts had 13 digs and Gianna Pellizzon had 12. Sedona Hansen picked up career double-double #50, with 40 assists and 10 digs. Kailey Keeble picked up career double-double #1 with 18 assists and 10 digs.

Tennessee had a .237 to .094 hitting percentage advantage over Houston, despite the closeness of the match.

Tennessee makes their only trip to Texas in 2019 as the Lady Vols face Houston and (one of my other favorite teams, unfortunately!) #5 Baylor at the Baylor Invitational.

UT is 4-7 all-time vs Houston. The first meeting between the teams was in 1973 (a 2-0 loss). Their last meeting was in 2011 (a 3-2 loss). The Lady Vols are 23-5 vs American Athletic Conference opponents since 2001.

UT is 1-0 all-time vs Baylor. That meeting was in 2005 (a 3-0 win). The Lady Vols are 5-4 vs Big 12 Conference opponents since 2001.

Tennessee has played four non-conference opponents in the state of Texas in the rally scoring era. All four matches were sweeps for one team or the other. UT was ranked #17 in every match. They faced a ranked opponent in two of the four matches, going 1-1.

Both Houston and Baylor head coaches have National Championships on their resumés. BU’s Ryan McGuyre won 2 NAIA Championships and a NCCAA Championship with the Cal Baptist women’s team (and 6 more with the men’s team). UH’s David Rehr coached Blinn to a NJCAA Championship twice.

Houston is 5-1 in road matches this season. Their first loss was yesterday to #5 Baylor.

No match in the series vs the Cougars has even been decided in four sets. The Lady Vols are 2-5 vs Houston in two or three set matches and 2-2 in five set matches.

Tennessee hasn’t won a game on Friday the 13th since 2002! They are 9-7 all time on that day.

UT ON FRIDAY THE 13TH
October 1978	Florida Mississippi University for Women Flagler Miami-Dade South	W W L L
November 1981	South Carolina Eastern Kentucky	W W
September 1985	Hawaii Pacific	L
November 1987	Georgia	W
October 1989	North Carolina State	W
September 1991	Georgia Tech	W
November 1992	#18 Georgia	L
September 1996	Iowa	L
October 2000	Georgia	W
September 2002	Virginia	W
November 2009	Auburn	L
September 2013	Wichita State	L

Baylor jumped from 17th to 5th in the latest Coaches poll after wins over #4 Wisconsin and #11 Marquette. The Bears will be the third top ten opponent the Lady Vols will face so far this season.

Baylor junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley is the current Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week.

The Bears are 18-2 in sets this season.

Two former SEC players transferred to Baylor this season. AJ Koele from Mississippi State. And former Lady Vol Callie Williams.

Since 2001, Tennessee has won exactly one-third of their matches vs ranked opponents.

Houston Cougars (5-5)

Friday, September 13th @ 4:00pm ET
Waco TX
Live Stats
Last week: wins over UTSA, Maryland, UTRGV, Lamar; loss to #5 Baylor

#5 Baylor Bears (6-0)

Friday, September 14th @ 2:00pm ET
Waco TX
Online Video: Big 12 Now/ESPN+ | Live Stats
Last week: wins over Syracuse, #4 Wisconsin, #11 Marquette, Houston

PrepVolleyball has announced their Senior Aces, a list of the top 250 volleyball recruits in the Class of 2020 and a couple of future Lady Vols have been honored.

Coming in at #43 is Jasmine Brooks, a 6’1″ outside hitter from Harvest AL. Some of their comments about her: “An elite athlete touching 10-8, Brooks can play the total game.”; “Brooks has the ability to go up and over the block with ease and possesses an arsenal of shots to complement her heavy arm swing.”; “What really makes Brooks special is her relentless work ethic.”; “Her leadership and competitive drive should make her an impact player for the Lady Vols.”

Making the unranked #101-#250 portion of the list is Allie Holland, a 6’3″ middle from Hilliard OH.

Tennessee currently has seven players who were named Senior Aces during their final year of high school: Ava Bell, Sedona Hansen, Kailey Keeble, Danielle Mahaffey, Lily Felts, Raquel Perinar, and Morgahn Fingall.

The Lady Vols dropped out of this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll after going 2-1 for the weekend. They’re still receiving votes and would be an unofficial #29. The team had been ranked in the last eight previous polls. They’ve been ranked or receiving votes for 13 straight polls.

The Lady Vols won a five-setter over Big Ten foe Michigan State this afternoon. I’m hanging out with 100,000 friends at Neyland Stadium today so I’ll have a recap up tomorrow Monday.

UPDATE: Sorry for that delay! The Lady Vols had another huge comeback this last match, trailing in the fourth set 22-14. They came back to force a fifth set and then the win! Tessa Grubbs had 22 kills, 4 blocks, and 2 aces. Morgahn Fingall had 11 kills. Addisyn Rowe led the team with 6 blocks. Ava Bell had 5 — and served 3 aces as well. Sedoana Hansen put up 39 assists; Kailey Keeble added 15. Madison Coulter had 15 digs.

Tennessee has visited the state of Michigan 3 times now during the rally scoring era — and come away with a 2-1 record each time.

The Lady Vols defeated Miami (OH) in three sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-15), picking up their first victory of the season. Tessa Grubbs was the only player on either side of the court with double digit kills, with 13. She also had a career high 4 aces. Ava Bell had 6 kills on 7 attacks for a stellar .857 hitting percentage — the 6th best average in the rally scoring era for a player taking at least 5 attempts. Danielle Mahaffey was just behind her with 5 kills and no errors on 7 attacks for .714. Morgahn Fingall hit .400. Alyssa Andreno had a match leading 4 blocks. She also served up the first ace of her career — then added two more during the match! Madison Coulter dug up 11 balls. Sedona Hansen and Kailey Keeble put up 15 assists each.

The team had 12 aces, the third most of the rally scoring era.

Tennessee held the Redhawks to a single team block. That’s the 2nd fewest by an opponent since 2001.

UT hit .370 for the match with just 9 hitting errors.

UT STORY // MU STORY

Cincinnati swept #21 Tennessee this morning (25-18, 25-19, 25-23). Tessa Grubbs led the Lady Vols with 11 kills. Danielle Mahaffey hit .400 and Morgahn Fingall .313. Mahaffey was the only player with multiple blocks, with 2. Sedona Hansen led in assists with 20, digs with 6, and had the team’s only ace.

This was just the second match of the Eve Rackham era where UT was swept.

Tennessee’s player with the most digs (Hansen) had 6. In only one match in the rally scoring era did the team’s top digger have fewer than that (in 2002). UT had the fourth fewest total digs in a match in that time as well.

Fifteen of the seventeen Lady Vols on the roster got playing time in the three-set match. Only two other matches since 2001 had more players on the court, neither a three-set match.

UT’s 3 team blocks were the 13th fewest in a rally scoring era match.

Tennessee hit a respectable .224 in the loss. Cincinnati hit an impressive .407 — the 7th highest by a UT opponent since 2001, and the top performance by an out of conference team.

UT STORY // UC STORY