While the season may not have ended exactly when we would have hoped, we can’t be too down after all the historic things this young team did after facing some unexpected preseason setbacks. Here are just a few of the amazing numbers:
The Lady Vols went 28-4 overall this season. That’s the second fewest losses in school history and the second most wins in the past quarter century.
28-4 is good for an .875 winning percentage, which is the second best record in school history.
At 19-1 in the SEC, Tennessee easily surpassed their old record of 16 for the most conference wins in school history. The record also tied for the least conference losses in school history and the best SEC winning percentage in school history.
UT had a 14-1 record at home, which tied for the best home record in the past 25 years. Their 13-0 regular season record was the best of that time frame.
For just the second time in program history, Tennessee went an entire season without being swept by an opponent.
There was a 52 day time period between Lady Vol losses this year — from October 12th to December 2nd. That tops the previous longest stretch which was 50 days between losses set in 2004 from October 22nd to December 10th (both streaks were ended by Ohio State).
Three out of Tennessee’s four losses this year came in 5 set matches.
Just moving 11 points total over UT’s four losses would have been enough to win every match: 3 points vs Illinois, and 2 points each vs Houston, Kentucky, and Ohio State.
The Lady Vols had winning steaks of 13 and 11 matches this year, the 4th and 5th longest in school history.
An unprecedented in SEC history 14 weekly conference honors were given to an SEC record tying 6 different players this year.
Tennessee had a record year with 7 spots on the All-SEC teams going to Lady Vols.
SEC annual awards went to 3 Lady Vols in the same season for the first time, including the first ever Player of the Year award.
And, oh yeah, let’s not forget they went out and won the SEC Championship too!
This was Tennessee’s 5th overall title. They previously won it 3 times when the SEC Tournament decided the Champion, then shared a title with Florida one year.
It was UT’s 1st Championship in 7 years and just the 2nd in the past 25 years.
The Lady Vols are still one of only three teams to win the conference since 1989.
Their 19-1 record stands as the second best record among all schools in SEC history.
And we’re not done yet! While the games may be over hopefully we’ll have a few more awards coming to Knoxville soon…
Besides potential award announcements, they’ll be a few more updates in the coming weeks before I slow things down around here (more on the UT recruits, a record book update, probably a few more photos to post, etc…).
So more is coming! But before people stop checking in as much during the off-season I want to go ahead and say something.
As some of you know, I had a serious medical problem a few weeks after the 2010 season ended. And I spent most of the offseason making some major lifestyle changes to hopefully prevent any complications or reoccurrences. But another major change that occurs when something like that happens is psychological. I’m enjoying things more, appreciating things more, not taking things for granted as much.
And this amazing Lady Vol team has given me so much to be grateful for. I would have been happy with a lot less — in fact just happy to be at Thompson Boling Arena to watch another season! But an SEC Championship was beyond what I would have dared hope for, especially after those preseason team setbacks. I hope the players know how much I, and their friends, families, and fans appreciate all the hard work they put in every year. No matter the outcome — win or lose, championship or last place — we love you guys, your effort, and how well you represent Tennessee on and off the court. I’m looking forward to being back next year (and a lot longer) covering all the things you do for the team and your fans.
Tennessee’s surprising season ends just short of the Sweet Sixteen as the team falls in 5 to Ohio State (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12). More on this match soon. But we’ll not dwell on it too long as we’ll start recapping the phenomenal year this amazing team gave us.
UPDATES: Despite the score there were some nice individual performances from the team tonight. For just the 5th time in the last decade, and the first time since the 2004 NCAA Tournament, 5 Lady Vols had double digit kills. Kelsey Robinson had 17 kills, 16 digs, and with 59 attacks was just 1 short of the school Tourney record. Tiffany Baker had 13 kills and a career high 8 blocks. DeeDee Harrison put down 12 kills and 6 blocks while hitting .308. Shealyn Kolosky had a huge night earning career highs with 11 kills and 10 blocks for her first double double. She is the only Lady Vol this season to notch double digit blocks. And she hit .391 on the night. Leslie Cikra had 10 kills and 4 blocks. Mary Pollmiller was the third player in the match to pick up a double double with 49 assists and a match and career high 19 digs. She added in a career high 5 blocks as well. Ellen Mullins and Nikki Brice had 13 and 11 digs respectively. The Lady Vols had 20 team digs, just the 2nd time this year they’ve gotten more than 12 in a match. The total of 35 blocks also set a school Tournament record.
This is the 3rd time in the last 4 years that Tennessee has been knocked out of the Tournament in a 5th set match decided by 3 points or less.
I’ve got a couple more weeks of updates before things start to slow down around here so I hope you’ll continue to come back for a while longer. Stay tuned in the coming days for a season recap and record book updates.
Tennessee defeats Duke 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16) to advance to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row. More soon…
UPDATE: Kelsey Robinson led the match with 19 kills. She picked up a double double with 11 digs, and hit .302. Her 53 total attacks was just 7 short of the school NCAA record. Tiffany Baker had 13 kills and 8 digs. Leslie Cikra has 12 kills, hit .333, and added in 5 blocks. DeeDee Harrison had a match leading 7 blocks. Shealyn Kolosky put down 4 more. Mary Pollmiller had 47 assists and 8 digs. Ellen Mullins picked up 18 digs while Nikki Brice contributed a career high 14 more. Mullins and Jasmine Brown each served up two aces.
The Lady Vols held Duke to just 4 team blocks. That’s 1 block per set — tied for the second fewest of the year. They scored 12 team blocks themselves, which is tied for the second most on the season. The 1,552 attendance was the most ever for an NCAA match in Knoxville, topping the last time Duke came to town in 2009.
Tennessee will face Ohio State at 7pm Friday night for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen!
The Buckeyes defeat MTSU 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 25-18) to advance to the 2nd Round tomorrow night. They’ll face the winner of tonight’s match between Tennessee and Duke.
Tennessee volleyball is featured on the front page of the College Sports section of ESPN. The story talks about the season and tournament with Kelsey Robinson, DeeDee Harrison, and Coach Rob Patrick.
If you missed Patrick’s appearance on The Net Live yesterday you can catch up on it here or in iTunes.
Patrick was on Vol Calls last night as well. That show is archived here, but not yet available to listen to.
Don’t miss this piece (mentioned in the previous post) from the local paper about Coach Patrick.
It’s the first day of the NCAA Tournament — time to take down all the SEC Championship stuff and refocus on new goals! I’ll be updating this post throughout the day if any more prematch info comes up before tonight.
20 teams will take the court across the country today. That not only includes the Lady Vols, of course, but also fellow SEC member Kentucky taking on Dayton in Texas.
The local newspaper sports website has a nice piece up on Coach Patrick. “For Patrick, a life well-lived includes Lady Vols’ volleyball success. Patrick approaches volleyball like life: with zeal”.
Game times
– Thursday at 4:30pm ET: Ohio State vs MTSU
– Thursday at 7pm ET: Tennessee vs Duke
– Friday at 7pm ET: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winnerTicket Info
– At the door: $6 per day, $5 for students/seniors, and $4 for kids
– Advance: $10 for all matches, $6 for students/seniors, and $4 for kids
– UT Ticket Office: 865-656-1200Follow online
– Ohio State vs MTSU: GameTracker | free online video
– Tennessee vs Duke: GameTracker | free online video
– Combined Twitter feed of all four teamsMore info
– Tennessee: website | match notes
– Duke: website | match notes
– Ohio State: website | match notes
– MTSU: website | match notesPDF and interactive brackets are online at the NCAA site.
You can catch up on all the match notes previously posted here:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
With one day to go before the Tournament, here are some stories and info from around the web.
Once again controversy surrounds the NCAA Tournament selection process. In their annual “Five Burning Questions” feature, ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel does a good job of synopsizing some of the main issues.
In the spirit of equal time here is a Q&A from a selection committee member, but good luck finding any actual answers in it!
ESPNW has a less pointed and more game based look at the storylines heading in to the Tournament.
The SEC has posted a piece by UT’s Brian Rice titled “Ready For Anything: Lady Vols Poised For Tournament“.
Local NBC affiliate WBIR has posted a video from a recent sportscast featuring the Lady Vols.
The Tennessee YouTube page has a video preview of the Duke match with coach Patrick and Kelsey Robinson.
The official site has a cool video with sisters and Lady Vols DeeDee Harrison (volleyball) and Izzy Harrison (basketball).
Want an easy way to follow the happenings and results at each 1st Round location? Check out the following links to read the Twitter updates from the teams at each site. No Twitter account or separate program needed — you can read right from your browser.
Purdue | Northern Iowa | USC | Penn State |
UCLA | Hawaii | Stanford | Florida State |
Minnesota | Tennessee | Pepperdine | Texas A&MIf you’re into probability and statistics check out this thread at VolleyTalk where the relative strengths of each part of the bracket are being discussed using the numbers from the latest Pablo Rankings. Some of the numbers relevant to UT: Of the 16 seeds Tennessee has the 5th toughest road to the Sweet Sixteen and the 11th toughest path to the Final Four.
On a related note, check out RichKern.com for a chart that uses Pablo to determine the probabilities of each team making it to the Final Four. The Lady Vols are one of nine teams in the field given at least a 20% chance of being in San Antonio. The others are: Texas, Purdue, Illinois, USC, Penn State, Iowa State, Florida, and Nebraska.
Tennessee has announced the signing of Bianca Arellano, a setter from Phoenix AZ.
Coach Patrick: “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.”
Postponed from Monday, The Net Live podcast will air Wednesday at 12pm ET. One of the guests will be Tennessee head coach (and current AVCA president) Rob Patrick. Other guests will include:
USC’s head coach Mick Haley, whose Women of Troy are ranked #1 in the Coaches Poll but only got a 7th seed in the Tournament. The Pac-12 champs were also put in the “regional of death” along with the Big Ten champion, the WAC champion, and the WCC champion. Haley had some strong thoughts about it all during the ESPN selection show.
Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott, whose team picked up the #1 Tournament seed.
Louisville head coach Anne Kordes, who is slated to follow Patrick as AVCA president next year.
Selection Committee member Diane Turnham may also appear.
The podcast team is working on more possible guests as well. Check it out on their website.
INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS A C E S P E R S E T 12 Emily Danks 0.48 OHIO STATE 67 Kelsey Robinson 0.37 TENNESSEE A S S I S T S P E R S E T 4 Mary Pollmiller 12.03 TENNESSEE 25 Kellie Catanach 11.17 DUKE 179 Amanda Peterson 9.05 OHIO STATE 202 Morgan Peterson 8.59 MTSU B L O C K S P E R S E T 69 Oyinlola Oladinni 1.14 MTSU 79 DeeDee Harrison 1.12 TENNESSEE 105 Christiana Gray 1.07 DUKE 125 Mariah Booth 1.04 OHIO STATE 152 Lindsey Cheatham 1.00 MTSU 190 Kelli Barhorst 0.97 OHIO STATE D I G S P E R S E T 12 Ali McCurdy 5.70 DUKE 145 Sarah Mignin 4.30 OHIO STATE 213 Ellen Mullins 3.83 TENNESSEE H I T T I N G P E R C E N T A G E 9 Christiana Gray .399 DUKE 23 Oyinlola Oladinni .373 MTSU 84 Leslie Cikra .333 TENNESSEE 136 DeeDee Harrison .314 TENNESSEE 184 Kelli Barhorst .308 OHIO STATE 196 Lindsey Cheatham .298 MTSU 208 Ashley Adams .298 MTSU K I L L S P E R S E T 12 Kelsey Robinson 4.57 TENNESSEE 44 Mari Hole 4.02 OHIO STATE 73 Ashley Adams 3.82 MTSU 184 Emily Danks 3.27 OHIO STATE P O I N T S P E R S E T 9 Kelsey Robinson 5.19 TENNESSEE 47 Mari Hole 4.55 OHIO STATE 77 Ashley Adams 4.26 MTSU 97 Emily Danks 4.16 OHIO STATE
Congratulations to Kayla Jeter on being named to the SEC Volleyball Community Service Team. The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 20 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.
Kelli Stipanovich, Senior, Outside Hitter, Arkansas
Sarah Wroblicky, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Auburn
Betsy Smith, RS-Junior, Middle Blocker, Florida
Kathleen Gates, Senior, Setter, Georgia
Ann Armes, Graduate Student, Middle Blocker, Kentucky
Lauren Waclawczyk, Senior, Defensive Specialist, LSU
Morgan Springer, Senior, Libero, Ole Miss
Hannah Wilkinson, Senior, Middle Blocker, Mississippi State
Brandi Byers, Junior, Middle Blocker, South Carolina
Kayla Jeter, Senior, Outside Hitter, TennesseeJeter has participated in the Honor Air Veterans Welcome, where she greeted war veterans and thanked them for their service. She has also volunteered at the Manorhouse Assisted Living Home by working the dining room, helping residents change and aiding the staff in building maintenance and resident transportation. Jeter’s other community service projects include volunteering in Knoxville at the Karm Homeless shelter, helping as a peer mentor and giving volleyball lessons to children.
Large versions of the player images in the slideshow are available on the photo page.
TENNESSEE DUKE OHIO STATE MTSU R E C O R D S W-L 27-3 (.900) 21-8 (.724) 19-14 (.576) 21-11 (.656) Conference 19-1 SEC 14-5 ACC 9-11 Big Ten 14-2 Sun Belt R A N K I N G S Seed 14 – – – AVCA 15 34 28 – RPI 9 43 48 45 Pablo 9 36 29 32 S T A T S
national ranking in parenthesesAces/set 1.16
(180th)0.97
(275th)1.10
(219th)1.16
(175th)Assists/set 13.46
(8th)13.05
(36th)13.39
(13th)12.69
(60th)Blocks/set 2.19
(100th)2.05
(137th)2.41
(61st)2.58
(35th)Digs/set 14.88
(165th)17.54
(26th)15.37
(128th)11.86
(300th)Kills/set 14.59
(7th)14.02
(29th)14.29
(16th)13.63
(61st)Hitting % .278
(9th).231
(74th).238
(60th).271
11thOpp. Hitting % .176 .193 .201 .179 Serve % .882 .944 .910 – Reception % .953 – .951 –
TENNESSEE
Tennessee is making their 13th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, their 4th in a row, and their 7th in the last 8 years. The team is 12-12 all-time in the tournament and 8-4 in first round matches.
The Lady Vols enter the NCAA Tournament having won 12 matches in a row, and 23 of their last 24.
This is the 8th year Knoxville has hosted. Tennessee is 8-2 in NCAA Tournament matches at home. The first year UT hosted was 1982 at the 2nd NCAA Tournament. They got their first ever Tourney win, a 3-2 decision over Northwestern. The Lady Vols’ only losses at home in the Tournament are a 3-1 loss to Duke in 2006 and a 3-0 loss to Minnesota in 2009.
The Lady Vols have not been swept this season, which ties the 2004 squad for school best.
Tennessee is undefeated at home this year with 13 wins.
The Lady Vols are ranked #9 in the RPI.
DUKEThis is the seventh straight NCAA Tournament for the Blue Devils, an ACC record. Duke has advanced to the Tourney in 10 of 13 seasons under head coach Jolene Nagel.
Tennessee and Duke are meeting for the 21st time, and the 3rd time in the Tournament. Overall the teams are tied up at 10 all-time. In 2006 Duke knocked the Lady Vols out of the Tournament in the 1st Round 3-1. In 2009, Tennessee returned the favor, also 3-1 in the 1st Round.
Duke has never faced Ohio State and is 2-0 vs MTSU.
In 2010, #12 seed Duke advanced to the Regional Finals (“Elite Eight”) where they lost 3-1 to eventual champion Penn State.
Tennessee and Duke shared one common opponent this season: Virginia Tech. The Lady Vols defeated the Hokies 3-2, while the Blue Devils defeated them 3-2 in their first meeting and 3-1 in their second.
Duke is 8-2 in their last 10 matches.
The Blue Devils are ranked #48 in the latest RPI.
OHIO STATEOhio State returns to the Tournament for the 18th time and the 3rd year in a row. Last year, they made it to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Stanford.
Ohio State is 1-0 vs MTSU, 7-0 vs Tennessee, and has never faced Duke. OSU defeated UT 3-2 in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2004 Tournament and MTSU 3-1 in the 2nd Round of the 2006 Tournament
Tennessee and Ohio State shared 3 common opponents this year: Alabama, Maryland, and Illinois. UT swept Alabama twice, while the Buckeyes did the same in their only meeting. Tennessee took Maryland 3-2, while Ohio State won in 4. Both teams couldn’t finish off Illinois, with the Lady Vols losing in a tight 3-1 match, while Ohio State fell 3-0 in their first meeting and 3-1 in their second.
The Buckeyes are 4-6 in their last 10 matches.
They are ranked 48th in the RPI.
MTSUMTSU is in the NCAA Tournament for the 6th consecutive season and the 7th time in school history. Last year they lost to Louisville in the 1st Round.
The Blue Raiders are 0-1 vs Ohio State, 0-14 vs Tennessee, and 0-2 vs Duke.
Middle Tennessee and the Lady Vols shared 3 common opponents: Auburn, Arkansas, and Illinois. Tennessee swept Arkansas twice, while the Razorbacks swept MTSU. UT had 3-1 and 3-0 matches vs Auburn, while MTSU lost to them 3-2. And both teams fell to Illinois, MTSU 3-0, UT 3-1.
For just the 2nd time in school history (2006 was the other), the Lady Vols do not have a team from the state of Tennessee on the schedule. That will change if MTSU gets past Ohio State and UT defeats Duke.
The MTSU roster features 5 players from the state of Tennessee, two of whom are heading back to the east side of the state this weekend: Morgan Peterson from Seymour and Halie Vannoy from Morristown.
MTSU is 8-2 in their last 10 matches.
They are ranked #45 in the RPI.
I was going to just quietly update the awards part of the rosters with the SEC Players of the Week winners since there were so many bigger honors announced today. But then I remembered a stat worth reporting. First of all congratulations to Kelsey Robinson and Mary Pollmiller on being named the Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week. With these awards, 14 conference weekly honors have been given to a Lady Vol this year. No other SEC school has won more in a single year than Tennessee in 2011. The team broke Florida’s record of 13 set back in 2008.