In the latest issue of COBRA Magazine, Tennessee features prominently. Kayla Jeter was named to their All-Preseason First Team, while Tiffany Baker and DeeDee Harrison made the Third Team. In addition, Baker is interviewed by the magazine. The Tennessee/Florida State match to open the season is listed as one of the top pre-conference matches of the season (they pick the Lady Vols to win 3-1). And in their tournament predictions they have Tennessee facing Texas for the national championship.

Head Coach Rob Patrick starts his sixteenth season with the Lady Vols in just ten days. Looking ahead, it’s easy to be spoiled in our expectations for the coming year. Looking back just might help us appreciate how far we’ve come and how lucky we are that the right pieces were put in place just when we needed them most.

Things were pretty rough for the Tennessee volleyball program going into 1997. The team had only been to one NCAA Tournament in the previous twelve years. They’d been knocked out of the SEC Tournament in the first round eight years in a row. Their 17-16 mark in 1996 was just their third winning record in ten years. That March, the head coach of six years was let go. In June, a former assistant coach who claimed she was warned having a baby might mean losing her job won a $150,000 judgement in a jury trial against the school when the threat was apparently carried out. Sports Illustrated mentioned the Tennessee volleyball program (probably for the first time ever) and concluded “it’s hard to think of a setback more embarrassing… for a school that has been at the forefront of gender equity in college sports”.

It was in the shadow of all this that UT was conducting their search for a new volleyball coach for the struggling program. After four months there was still no news, which didn’t seem to bode well. The local newspaper, the Knoxville News Sentinel, picked up on the prolonged process under the headline “Lady Vols’ Coaching Search Goes On… And On”. For a sport that didn’t normally merit a lot of coverage, Tennessee volleyball was getting a lot of it — and not the kind they wanted. Lady Vol athletic director Joan Cronan told the paper, “It’s important that we find the right person… I’ve tried to be so selective. It’s maybe easier to find a coach that can maintain a program than it is to find one to rebuild”. The reporter ominously ended the piece: “Eventually, someone will be hired for this task”.

“Eventually” came later that month when a 36 year old assistant on the defending national champion’s staff was chosen as the 11th volleyball coach at UT since 1958. First time college head coach Rob Patrick had spent the previous three seasons at Stanford. During his time with the Cardinal the team went 92-6 and won two national championships. On the recruiting front he helped land the #2 class in the country, including high school player of the year (and 1996 National Freshman of the Year) Kerri Walsh. With all the issues surrounding the Lady Vol program the Patrick pick probably seemed better than fans could have hoped. Cronan made sure to push her choice’s pedigree by comparing his previous post to something the local crowd could appreciate: “I think you could compare Stanford volleyball to Tennessee basketball”. In his first comments to the News Sentinel Patrick didn’t want to talk about the team’s troubled past. “The administration wants to make a concerted effort to have a good volleyball program. That is what’s important to me”. Once again, the reporter ended his piece in a way that left little doubt about his opinion of the team’s future: “There’s a long way to go”.

Patrick didn’t waste any time hitting the recruiting trail (Cronan said she sent him an orange shirt via FedEx). A month later he told the local paper the most common reaction he got when talking to potential volleyball players about UT was… nothing. No one knew anything about them. “I feel like a preacher, going out and spreading the word about Tennessee”. Stumping for the team on the road is one thing. But even on his own campus volleyball didn’t seem to get much respect. Though the sport was one of the longest running women’s sports at the school it was already being overshadowed by soccer and softball which had just been recently added. While those teams got new fields volleyball was playing in Alumni Gym, a facility built in 1934 for the basketball team. But Cronan (a former College of Charleston volleyball coach herself) knew hiring a coach off a national championship squad wasn’t enough to turn around a program. A new assistant athletic director had been hired to handle Lady Vol marketing and promotions and was working to raise interest in the team. And Stokely Athletics Center, another former home to Tennessee basketball, was being renovated for volleyball (though it wouldn’t be ready until the next year). Coach Patrick noted, “It’s my understanding that if we don’t have Stokely done, we’ll be playing outside on the grass”. While challenges remained the local reporter ended this latest article on a more hopeful note with a quote from a player who said, “I think a lot of people are getting their confidence back”.

The media department dubbed Patrick’s first season a “Blueprint for the Future”. And while the groundwork was no doubt laid for future success, that first season itself was filled with unexpected difficulties which plagued the team the whole year — injuries. Their starting setter was lost for part of the year due to a preseason knee injury. Her replacement had not been on the court for a year and a half due to injuries. Yet the team went on to their best start in six years going 3-1 and winning the Tennessee Preview tournament in Chattanooga. At the next tournament in Indiana the Lady Vols lost a middle blocker to a back injury. At the following tournament in Nebraska, another middle blocker and the backup setter went down with ankle problems. An outside hitter had to take over setting duties against the Huskers. Heading for home for the first time the Lady Vols were 3-8 and down to just eight healthy players. The team went 2-1 leading up to their first SEC match of the year. They won it, but had another player suffer a minor ankle injury. Things started looking up as the team won 7 out of 9 matches before again losing a top player for the year with a knee injury, another player to a surgery complication, and another player who was dismissed for a violation of team rules. The team would go on to lose 7 of their next 11, ending the season 15-19. The media department would later note that a total of 68 matches were missed due to injury from three athletes who were lost for either the year or their careers and three others who were only able to play part of the season. But there was some cause for celebration to end the year. The team managed to win their first SEC Tournament match since 1988, their first over Alabama since 1981.

While Patrick’s first season may not have seemed much different than the ones that came before it, looking back it is obvious that the most important thing he did that year was put in place the foundation for what was to come. 1997 may have been yet another losing season for Tennessee, but it was the last one for the next decade. In his fifteen years on Rocky Top, Patrick teams have had 13 winning seasons, 9 20+ win seasons, 9 seasons with 10 or fewer losses, 8 NCAA Tournament bids, 5 Top 25 finishes (2 of which were Top 10), 2 SEC Championships, and a Final Four appearance. And let’s not forget the 19 All America honors for 13 different players, 6 SEC Player of the Year honors, 3 SEC Coach of the Year awards, and 2 National Coach of the Year titles. That’s an unprecedented resumé unmatched in Lady Vol volleyball history — even if you were to combine every other coach’s accomplishments.

Last season Coach Patrick looked back at the difference between recruiting for Tennessee today and when he first got here. “Number one, being at Tennessee is huge. It is a name that everybody around the country knows. I don’t have to tell them where we are. I don’t have to tell them who we are… It’s a little bit easier than when I came here 15 years ago. I felt like a preacher running around the country trying to extol the virtues of Tennessee. Now I really don’t have to do that”. Sixteen years ago reporters were ending articles with skepticism and derision when Joan Cronan said it was important to take the time to find “the right person”. There’s no better way to end this article than to say “mission accomplished”.

If you’re not already, be sure to follow the official Tennessee Twitter account. Since the preseason started they’ve been cranking out news even faster than I can get to it! Here’s two recent items:

• Three from #TNVB! RT @SEC_Chevonne: Five #SEC volleyball standouts earn COBRA Magazine preseason honors: http://bit.ly/OUJGZS

• Be sure to check out @RobPatrickUT in a video interview with @InsideTennessee following last week’s 1st practice: http://tennessee.scout.com/2/1211105.html #TNVB

Also you can keep up with the entire SEC by following this Twitter list of all the SEC coaches and team accounts.

The first AVCA Coaches Poll of the season is out and for the 8th time in school history the Lady Vols will start the season ranked, this year at 15th. The defending SEC Champions only rate as the second best team in the conference with Kentucky ranked two spots above them. Florida is the only other SEC team in the poll coming in at #18. LSU, Texas A&M, and Missouri are receiving votes.

Tennessee’s Previous AVCA Preseason Rankings
1983	14th
1984	16th
1985	19th
2001	rv
2004	rv
2005	9th
2006	11th
2007	rv
2010	19th
2011	24th
2012	15th

2012 AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll
1	UCLA
2	Texas
3	Penn State
4	Nebraska
5	USC
6	Stanford
7	Illinois
8	Hawaii
9	Purdue
10	Iowa State
11	Pepperdine
12	Florida State
13	Kentucky
14	Washington
15	Tennessee
16	Minnesota
17	California
18	Florida
19	San Diego
20	Oregon
21	Northern Iowa
22	Kansas State
23	Michigan
24	Ohio State
25	Colorado State

While I was in Florida this past week the Lady Vols were hitting the court for the first time. Check out reports from the official site here and here. There are also roster updates and new photos and videos so be sure to check the official site out.

And come back later today for the first coaches poll of the season.

Congratulations to Kelsey Robinson and DeeDee Harrison on being named to the SEC Preseason All-SEC Team. Tennessee tied for the lead for most players on the nine person squad with Missouri and Kentucky. Arkansas, Florida, and LSU players took the last three spots.

2012 Preseason All-SEC Team
Whitney Billings	Junior	Kentucky
Desiree Elliott	Junior	LSU
DeeDee Harrison	Senior	Tennessee
Lisa Henning	Junior	Missouri
Stephanie Klefot	Senior	Kentucky
Molly Kreklow	Junior	Missouri
Chloe Mann	Junior	Florida
Jasmine Norton	Senior	Arkansas
Kelsey Robinson	Junior	Tennessee

The preseason is officially underway with the annual poll of the SEC coaches released today. They unanimously predicted that the Lady Vols will repeat as conference champion. This marks just the second time since 1994 that the coaches have selected a team other than Florida. Tennessee received the votes of 12 of the league coaches while Florida came in second with 1 vote (coaches can not vote for their own team). In the division races the Lady Vols are also projected to come out on top in the East by 12 coaches, with Kentucky picked second and Florida third. In the West LSU gets the nod for the 5th year in a row, with newcomer Texas A&M picked second and Arkansas third.

UPDATE: Tennessee has more including comment from Coach Patrick: “It’s great to see our program recognized… but we haven’t earned anything yet”.

Overall SEC
1. Tennessee	12	2. Florida	1
SEC East		SEC West
1. Tennessee	12	1. LSU	20
2. Kentucky	30	2. Texas A&M	22
3. Florida	35	3. Arkansas	27
4. Missouri	37	4. Mississippi	52
5. Georgia	56	5. Auburn	58
6. South Carolina	67	6. Alabama	65
		7. Mississippi State	71

Tennessee has announced the TV schedule for the 2012 season and the Lady Vols will be broadcast a conference high 5 times. ESPNU will air UT’s SEC opener at Missouri on September 12th, and then away matches vs Kentucky on September 26th, and LSU on October 10th. SportSouth will show the only televised match from Knoxville when Alabama comes to town on October 28th. The lone match with Florida this season will air on CSS/CST on November 4th. Since 2009, Tennessee is an impressive 12-3 in televised matches.

Head Coach Rob Patrick spoke to local radio station WNML today. He talked athletic department support, building a program, combining the men’s and women’s departments, the Lady Vol logo, and also some volleyball! Audio is online (in the 1:00 and 1:15 time frames) until the next show is uploaded sometime Friday afternoon.

Just one month to go before the Lady Vols hit the court for the first match of 2012! The defending SEC champions will face Florida State, winners of the ACC, who made their first Final Four appearance in 2011. Both teams finished the season with 28 wins and both were ranked in the final AVCA Poll — FSU at #7 (with a 28-7 record) and UT at #19 (with a 28-4 record).

The Lady Vols only lose three players from last year’s championship squad: Kelsey Mahoney to graduation, Carly Sahagian to Louisville, and Kylann Scheidt to American. The school can’t publicly talk about some new players until after preseason begins, but from what information I have it appears the team will pick up 5 new players (with apologies if there is someone I’ve left off): Olivia Okoro, a sophomore transfer from UCLA, freshman Bianca Arellano, freshman Megan Hatcher, freshman Alex Lynch, and freshman Ashlyn Sunseri. More about the newcomers in the coming month.

A few of the players on the team played some volleyball outside the confines of Thompson Boling Arena this summer.

Tiffany Baker and Mary Pollmiller competed in the U.S. Women’s National A2 Team Program which took place the first week of July. The two were part of a group of just 48 selected from among the 207 athletes that tried-out. After being split into four teams of twelve, the squads played a tournament against each other concurrent with the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships. Pollmiller was on the Gold team which ended up winning the silver. While not medalling (after a tough five-set loss in the bronze medal match) Baker did make an impression on the Red team. In the semifinal match she led both sides with 27 points, while in the bronze medal game Baker led her team with 16 points (one off the match high). Some photos from the week are online at USA Volleyball.

Kelsey Robinson took on a different challenge this summer — sand volleyball. She participated in a USA Volleyball Beach High Performance tryout and trained with the US Under-21 national team in Hermosa Beach. In June she notched her first tournament win. Filling in for former Lady Vol Leah Hinkey, Robinson teamed with Emily Stockman and took down the #1 team of Amy Hvitfeldsten and Dalida Vernier in the semifinals before finishing off Richell Squire and Lauren Mills to win the Semana Nautica CBVA Women’s Open Beach Volleyball tournament championship. In July she and partner Betsi Metter took 3rd place in the women’s pro division at the Spike n’ Sunset EVP Tournament in Chicago.

Congratulations to Tennessee on being just one of 102 Division I schools to earn a 2011-2012 AVCA Team Academic Award. Florida and South Carolina were the only other SEC schools to be recognized. Tennessee is the only conference school to have been honored the last two years in a row.

According to the AVCA: “The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.”

Trophies are great. Getting to hang a new banner from the rafters is nice. But c’mon! You can’t beat the championship ring! The Lady Vols received theirs this week and it is beautiful!

Congratulations ladies, but with that ring on your finger now your other hand is looking a little bare. What can we do about that…

Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Mike Strange has posted his annual list of the top 12 UT athletes and for the first time a volleyball player is at the top. Kelsey Robinson earned the #1 spot for leading the team to “Tennessee’s only regular-season SEC title of the school year” among her other achievements. DeeDee Harrison was 9th on the list and Mary Pollmiller was 11th.

Congratulations to the Lady Vols’ only senior this year, Kelsey Mahoney, who was one of 51 student-athletes at UT who graduated this month. She earned a degree in Nutrition.

The school also announced that the volleyball team as a whole had the fourth best GPA among all 16 sports at Tennessee, scoring a 3.42. The athletics department average was 2.94. Volleyball was only behind women’s golf (3.58 GPA), men’s golf (3.56) and women’s tennis (3.45).