Just a heads up that photos from the Lady Vol Classic are now online.

As usual keep in mind that my camera work is a little hit-or-miss, partly because of my camera, partly because of how far away I take the photos, and partly because of the lighting in TBA.

After a loss to #12 and an upset of #10, the Lady Vols advanced one spot up the AVCA Coaches Poll this week to #14. That matches their highest ranking of the last six years. Two of this week’s opponents also appear on the list: #24 Colorado State, and BYU receiving votes for an unofficial #33.

Congratulations to Kelsey Robinson who was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for her performances at the Lady Vol Classic. This is her 7th weekly conference honor (two Freshman PotW awards and five Offensive PotW awards).

• Tennessee is now 7-10 all-time vs Florida State, 1-1 vs Iowa State, and 5-3 vs Cincinnati.
• UT’s 3-0 loss to FSU was the first time they’ve been swept since October 2010, and the first time they’ve been swept at home since 2009.
• Tennessee has opened the season against a ranked opponent just four times. In 1983, they defeated #9 Arizona State in Knoxville. In 1993, they lost to #12 Colorado in Boulder. In 2007, the Lady Vols went on the road and lost to #1 Nebraska.
• Before this weekend UT had not lost a season opening home match since 1978.
• The team was handed just their second loss in the Lady Vol Classic in the last nine years.
• Tennessee’s 17 serving errors vs the Seminoles were their most in a three-set match in the rally scoring era.
• Since 2001, the Lady Vols are 34-32 in five-set matches.
• Kelsey Robinson’s career high 29 kills vs Iowa State is the 4th most at UT in the rally scoring era, the best in the 25-point era, and is the 9th highest total overall in school history.
• Since 2001, when a ranked UT squad is playing a team ranked even higher than themselves they are a respectable 9-11.
• The Lady Vols have defeated at least one ranked team in eight out of the last nine seasons (2006 was the outlier).
• The current class of players has defeated a top ten opponent four times during their careers.
• Bianca Arellano is the first freshman since 2002’s Kristen Andre to play in the team’s first two matches of the year and serve up aces in each — and Arellano went on to add another ace in her third match as well.

(Just a reminder for old timers to the site and a heads up for new readers: I only have detailed match stats going back to 2001, which is why that year keeps coming up. That year also happens to be the start of the rally scoring era in college volleyball, so in a happy coincidence it’s a natural point of reference for comparing stats as well.)

CAREER HIGHS MATCHED OR EXCEEDED

• Tiffany Baker: hitting percentage (was .524, now .529 vs UC)
• Leslie Cikra: block assists in a three-set match (matched with 4 vs FSU)
• Mary Pollmiller: kills in a five-set match (matched with 4 vs ISU)
• Kelsey Robinson: kills (was 28, now 29 vs ISU), assists in a three-set match (matched with 4 vs FSU), aces (matched with 5 vs ISU), points (was 32, now 34.5 vs ISU)

MILESTONES

• Tiffany Baker: 700 career attacks, 300 career points
• Nikki Brice: 30 career aces
• Leslie Cikra: 1,600 career attacks
• DeeDee Harrison: 700 career points
• Ellen Mullins: 200 career sets played
• Mary Pollmiller: 1,500 career assists, 50 career blocks
• Kelsey Robinson: 800 career kills, 2,100 career attacks, 70 career aces, 900 career points

The Lady Vols get a big win over a top ten team tonight taking down Iowa State in 5 (20-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 15-4). Ellen Mullins and Kelsey Robinson were named to the All-Tournament team. More later tonight.

Kelsey Robinson had a huge night breaking her career high in kills and matching her high in aces. Her 29 kills is just 6 off the school rally scoring record — three people are above her on that list but all earned their spots in five-set matches played to 30 points. She hit .303. And she also had 14 digs to complete the double double. Leslie Cikra had 16 kills, hit .389, and had 4 blocks. Tiffany Baker just missed a double double with 9 kills and 10 digs. DeeDee harrison had 7 kills and 3 blocks. Mercedes Vaughn put back a match high-tying 5 blocks, while Kayla Jeter added in 3 more. Mary Pollmiller did more than set, though with 55 assists she did a lot of that. She also had 4 kills, 3 blocks, and 10 digs, earning a double double. Ellen Mullins picked up 19 digs.

UT RECAP, VIDEO, & PHOTOS | BOX SCORE | ISU RECAP

Twelve hours after losing the first match of the season Tennessee was back on the court and got a 3-1 win over Cincinnati (25-12, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14). Kelsey Robinson picked up a double double with 14 kills and 12 digs. Leslie Cikra and Tiffany Baker both had 10 kills. Baker his .529 and had 7 digs and 4 blocks, while Cikra hit .364 and had 3 blocks. DeeDee Harrison had 9 kills and 7 blocks. Kayla Jeter hit .500 with 7 kills and added in 2 blocks. And Mercedes Vaughn had 4 kills and 3 blocks. Mary Pollmiller put up 26 assists while Bianca Arellano had 18, and 2 service aces as well. Ellen Mullins led with 14 digs. As a team, the Lady Vols hit .356.

UT RECAP AND PHOTOS | BOX SCORE | UC RECAP

Tennessee falls to the Seminoles in a sloppy sweep (27-25, 25-15, 25-21). More soon…

A messy game for the Lady Vols tonight against a beatable FSU, that can hopefully be attributed to some first match nerves. The stat that will jump off the box score the most is the 17 serving errors. That’s the most UT has had in a three-set match in the rally scoring era, and is the second most in a match of any length in that time. Also not helping the cause were the 25 hitting errors, the most in a three-set match since 2007. The loss marks the first time Tennessee has been swept since October 2010, and the first time they’ve been swept at home since 2009.

Tiffany Baker hit .300 with 11 kills. Kelsey Robinson has 12 for a .242 and also contributed 8 digs and a block. DeeDee Harrison had 8 kills and 4 blocks. Leslie Cikra had 7 kills and 4 blocks. In her first match after losing the redshirt, Mercedes Vaughn put back 3 blocks. Mary Pollmiller had 26 assists and 7 digs while newcomer Bianca Arellano put up 9 assists. Ellen Mullins dug up a match leading 9 digs.

UT RECAP & VIDEO | BOX SCORE | FSU RECAP | LOCAL NEWSPAPER STORY

It’s finally here — opening day of the 2012 season! The road to game thirty-five in Louisville starts today with game one in Knoxville. For all the hard work the team put in during the offseason, tonight is when the payoff begins.

I’ll update this post as any new info becomes available today.

• UPDATE: GoVolsXtra has a piece with Kayla Jeter on her recovery and the prospects for the upcoming season.
• UPDATE: ESPN asks their annual five burning questions for the season. #4 is “What’s up with the SEC?”
• Coach Rob Patrick spoke to WNML radio this morning. He talked about the impact of the Olympics on attendance, the pressure of high expectations this year, the chances of a deep tournament run, the level of play in the college ranks, and the competition this weekend. You should be able to listen to the audio later today and through the weekend on the show’s website, probably in the 7:15 segment.
• The NCAA website has a list of the top ten returning players this year, and includes Lady Vol Kelsey Robinson.
• Check out Coach Patrick and Robinson previewing the weekend in a video series titled This Week in Tennessee Volleyball
• I forgot to post the poll info in the previous notes. Tennessee is #15 in the AVCA Coach’s Poll, #16 in Volleyball Magazine’s poll, and #12 in the RichKern.com poll. In the first two poll’s they are ranked second in the SEC behind Kentucky.
• Patrick is continuing his pre-game tradition of talking to and answering questions from fans. Head to the Ray Mears room in Thompson Boling Arena (ask an usher) 45 minutes before home matches this season to join in. (I don’t think this includes tomorrow’s 10am match though.)
• Special pricing for tonight’s match — tickets are just $1. And the first 750 fans get a free SEC Championship t-shirt.
• There’s a lot of construction at UT this season but I assume parking will be the same as in the past few years: the top level of the garage adjacent to the arena. It’s marked as the G5 lot and the G30 lot and is easily accessible off Lake Loudon Blvd (on this map, the entrance to the top level of what they call the “administrative parking garage” is right in the middle of the map). If you can’t see the upper arena doors from where you’re parked or if you have to climb the arena ramp you’re in the wrong spot! (Here’s a map with the parking areas marked — look for “G5/30 upper”).

The season begins in just two days! The Lady Vols open the 2012 season and their home schedule vs Florida State on Friday. The next day they’ll face Cincinnati and Iowa State.

• Since 1978, the Lady Vols are 27-7 in season opening matches. In the opening week of the season the team is 73-30. Under Coach Rob Patrick the team is 12-3 in season opening matches and 39-6 in the opening week of the season.
• Since 1978, Tennessee is 28-6 in home opening matches. Under Coach Patrick they are 13-2. The team has not lost its home opener since 2001.
• When the Lady Vols open a season at home they are hard to beat — they haven’t lost since 1978.
• August matches are a relatively new thing for Tennessee. Prior to the turn of the century the team had only played seven matches before September. Since 2001, they’ve played them every year but one. UT is 29-4 in August matches. At home the team is an undefeated 14-0.
• The game this Friday, August 24th, matches the earliest the Lady Vols have ever taken the court in a season. In 2007, the team was swept by #1 Nebraska on that date.
• Florida State has been the season opening match for Tennessee once before, in 1980. UT won 3-1. The Lady Vols played Iowa State on the second day of the season once before, losing 3-0 in 1989.
• Tennessee is 34-6 in the Lady Vol Classic under Coach Patrick. The squad has only lost one match in their home tournament since 2004.
• Knoxville may not have the biggest individual match of the weekend (that probably is the UCLA/Nebraska match in Lincoln), but we do have the toughest tournament with three top 15 schools in attendance — #10 Iowa State, #12 Florida State, and #15 Tennessee. No other tournament this weekend has more than two. With Cincinnati receiving votes, every team in the tourney made an appearance on the preseason poll.
• After this weekend Tennessee will not face another out of conference opponent at home in the regular season.
• The Lady Vols are 7-9 all-time vs Florida State. The teams have split their last 10 meetings 5-5. The last match in 2010 also featured two ranked teams with the #17 Lady Vols sweeping the #13 Seminoles.
• Florida State head coach Chris Poole was a regular on SEC sidelines for almost a decade and a half as the first volleyball coach at Arkansas. He led the Razorbacks to ten Western Division titles, made the SEC Tournament finals eight times, winning it once, and was twice named conference Coach of the Year.
• The Seminoles made their furthest run in the NCAA Tournament last season, making it to the Final Four. In Knoxville, they’ll have a mini-reunion with teams they beat along the way who will be looking for revenge. Cincinnati was hoping for their first ever Sweet Sixteen berth before losing a five-set 15-13 squeaker to Florida State in the second round. Iowa State was going for their first Final Four appearance but lost a five-set match in the Regional Finals to the Seminoles 15-11.
• Tennessee and Iowa State are meeting for only the second time. The Cyclones took the first match 3-0 in 1989.
• Cincinnati looks to even up their all-time record with Tennessee which currently stands at 4-3. The Bearcats won the previous meeting 3-2 in 2000.
• Molly Alvey is very familiar with the Lady Vols having played against them every year since 2005: as the assistant and then associate head coach at Mississippi from 2005-2009, her two seasons as head coach at Houston from 2010-2011, and now her first year as head coach of Cincinnati in 2012.
• Tiffany Baker and Olivia Okoro will be facing former Hebron High School teammate and now Bearcat Morgan Allred, with whom they won a Texas state championship in 2010.

Match and other information:

• #12 Florida State: Friday 8/24 at 7pm ET | website | match info from FSU | live stats | live video
• Cincinnati: Saturday 8/25 at 10am ET | website | match info from UC | live stats | live video
• #10 Iowa State: Saturday 8/25 at 7:30pm ET | website | match info from ISU | live stats | live video
• #15 Tennessee: website | match info from UT

LINKS UPDATED

There are a lot of new faces on the Tennessee volleyball squad this season. With only three days left before the first match here’s a very quick look at each of them. Apologies for not having as much data on some players as others, and for any mistakes or omissions in info.

Junior outside hitter Whitney Heeres joins the Lady Vols from Ball State. She played in all but two matches for the Cardinals, starting in more than half of them, and helped the team to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002. Heeres averaged 2.26 kills per set and 2.44 points per set in 2011. She attended Flushing Senior High School in Michigan where she was part of a team that won four conference and district championships and a regional championship. She was named All-State and was nominated for the Michigan Miss Volleyball Award. Heeres played club for Michigan Elite and qualified for the Junior Olympics twice. She also earned a spot on the Michigan High Performance Team.

Sophomore middle blocker Olivia Okoro transfered to Tennessee from UCLA. She played in 7 matches for the national champions, starting in 3 of them. Okoro went to high school with Lady Vol Tiffany Baker at Hebron High in Carrollton TX, where they won the state championship in 2010. She was named All-Texas twice. She was ranked #9 on ESPN’s Top Seniors list and 24th on PrepVolleyball’s Senior Aces list. She played club ball at Dallas Premier, finishing 3rd at the 2010 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships. 2011 National Coach of the Year Michael Sealy said of her, “Olivia is very athletic. She gets up fast, and when she is up and you’re blocking her, if you aren’t jumping with her then you aren’t touching her. She is quick laterally, side-to-side. Olivia has all the raw talent that you’d want from a big-time Division I player”. Okoro did an interview for the UCLA website last season.

Freshman setter Bianca Arellano, of Phoenix AZ, was named to the 2011 Under Armour All-American Second Team and was the state Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year. She ranked 30th on the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list and was one of Volleyball Magazine’s top 50 seniors in the nation. She helped lead Xavier College Preparatory to three state championships, earning three All-State honors along the way. Arellano was a member of Club Red Volleyball. Coach Patrick said of her, “Bianca is our type of setter. She is somebody that is very athletic, who can really do a great job of getting to the ball with her quickness. She has a very high volleyball IQ and plays the game at a very high intellectual level. She is one of those rare players that make the other people around her better. I’ve seen it over and over again in her high school team and her club team. She has been able to maximize the players she has on her team and make everyone on her team play at their highest level.”

Freshman defensive specialist Megan Hatcher is from right here in Knoxville, attending school just a few blocks from me at Webb. An All-State player, Hatcher’s teams have been the state runner-up and state semifinalist. She played club at K2. Coach Patrick said, “Megan brings a tremendous amount of competitiveness and fight. If you ever watch her play, she’s a person who plays with a lot of passion and has a very good skill set to play a defensive specialist or libero for us. She is someone who is already physically strong and will get stronger in our weight program and we are excited about the athleticism she will bring”.

Freshman Alex Lynch, a middle blocker from Alameda CA, played for Bishop O’Dowd High. They dominated the Hayward Area Athletic League, not losing a match in her time there. They won the North Coast Section title in 2008, played for the state NorCal title in 2009, and made the NorCal semifinals in 2010.

Freshman outside hitter Ashlyn Sunseri played the most recent part of her high school career at Northridge in Tuscaloosa AL. She helped her team win the area championship and reach the region tournament the past two years. She won All-State honors her senior year. Ashlyn was a member of Birmingham Volleyball Club. Her father is the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee football team.

The first match of the season is just 4 days away! You can start preparing by checking out the promotions (PDF) running during each match this year. First up this week: $1 dollar admission to the Florida State match and free SEC Champion t-shirts to the first 750 fans; free admission to the Cincinnati match to kids 12 and under and those who donate two school supplies and a free hot dog and drink to the first 100 kids; free admission to the Iowa State match to kids 12 and under and those who donate two school supplies and a free hot dog and drink to the first 100 kids and a free lunchbag to the first 250 kids 13 and under.

• The SEC website recently interviewed Coach Rob Patrick. Topics included the team’s youth, the target on their back, Kayla Jeter’s recovery, the schedule, and how the team is coming along.
• The UT website talked to Coach Patrick and Jeter after Saturday’s scrimmage. Check out the link for video.
• Again, if you’re not following the team’s official Twitter account you should be. Recent updates include photos from picture day and the weekend scrimmage.

Volleyball season kicks off one week from tonight! Individual tickets are on sale at UTTix.com. I called the ticket office to get season tickets, as I have every year since 2007, and was told they don’t have them. That’s probably been technically true in past years as well and I was just being sold one of every available ticket in one transaction. So I’m not sure what’s changed this year. Maybe I’ll just go down to the ticket office and ask for one of everything instead of asking for season tickets! Luckily for Tennessee fans seating at massive Thompson Boling Arena is never going to be an issue and prices are very inexpensive compared to some other big programs. So waiting to buy tickets at the door is not a big deal, other than having to wait in line.

The Knoxville News Sentinel’s UT sports website talked with Coach Patrick about how the team is doing and what their goals are. “Our team right now has a lot of confidence… We want to win a national championship”. He also discussed the newcomers to the SEC, Texas A&M and Missouri. “They’re both really good. They will be in the top half of the conference right away. And that’s saying a lot”.

As we get closer to first serve the team is taking the time to talk to the cameras. UT has been posting several practice reports which include videos. So far Coach Patrick has ben interviewed several times along with players Kelsey Robinson, DeeDee Harrison, Mary Pollmiller, Jasmine Brown, and newcomer Bianca Arellano. Also, InsideTennessee has posted interviews with Patrick and Kayla Jeter and DeeDee Harrison.

UPDATE: New report and video from assistant coach Rachel Cooper now up at the official site.