Hello! I’m still recovering, but am feeling better and am ready to slowly start trying to get back to work. Thanks for all the thoughts over the past few weeks. And thanks in advance for your patience as I try to get back into the swing of things!

Just a heads up that I’ll be taking some time off from the site. I’ve had a pretty serious medical issue arise so I’ll be stuck in a hospital room for a while. Those updates will come as soon as I can get out of here and back on my home computer. I’ll be back as soon as possible!

UPDATE (1/1/11): The good news is I’m out of the hospital and beginning recuperation at home. The bad news is I need to take some time off from the site. I don’t plan on giving up here, but I really need to take some time to get better and make some changes in my life after the medical issue of last week. Thanks to those who sent well wishes and thanks for your understanding. I can’t wait to talk to you all again when I’m able.

The final NCAA and SEC weekly statistical rankings of players and teams for the 2010 season have been released.

Since at least 1994, the Lady Vols have never finished the season ranked in the top ten nationally in any in-game statistical category. Until now! Incredibly they’ve not only done it, but done it in three different categories — assists, kills, and hitting percentage!

The national stats rank 328 teams and the top 250 players in each category. All stats (except hitting percentage) are “per set”, not totals. Also included are Tennessee’s rank in the polls.

POLLS	NATIONAL	SEC
AVCA Poll	24th	2nd
Volleyball Magazine Poll	nr	nr
Pablo Rankings	30th	2nd
RichKern.com Poll	22nd	2nd
RPI	15th	2nd

NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS
ACES	ASSISTS	BLOCKS	DIGS	KILLS	HIT%
294th	8th	36th	172nd	8th	7th

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – ALL MATCHES
ACES	ASSISTS	BLOCKS	DIGS	KILLS	HIT%
10th	1st	3rd	6th	1st	1st
OPP ACES	OPP ASSISTS	OPP BLOCKS	OPP DIGS	OPP KILLS	OPP HIT%
1st	4th	5th	4th	4th	3rd

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – CONFERENCE MATCHES
ACES	ASSISTS	BLOCKS	DIGS	KILLS	HIT%
9th	2nd	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd
OPP ACES	OPP ASSISTS	OPP BLOCKS	OPP DIGS	OPP KILLS	OPP HIT%
1st	2nd	5th	3rd	2nd	2nd

NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
BLOCKS	Leah Hinkey	65th
DIGS	Kelsey Robinson	248th
KILLS	Nikki Fowler	110th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Leah Hinkey	31st
HITTING PERCENTAGE	DeeDee Harrison	117th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Nikki Fowler	174th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Kayla Jeter	184th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Leslie Cikra	205th
POINTS	Nikki Fowler	125th

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – ALL MATCHES
BLOCKS	Leah Hinkey	4th
DIGS	Kelsey Robinson	9th
KILLS	Nikki Fowler	6th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Leah Hinkey	5th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	DeeDee Harrison	9th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Nikki Fowler	11th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Kayla Jeter	13th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Leslie Cikra	16th
POINTS	Nikki Fowler	5th

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – CONFERENCE MATCHES
ASSISTS	Emily Steinbeck	8th
BLOCKS	Leah Hinkey	3rd
DIGS	Kelsey Robinson	7th
KILLS	Kayla Jeter	6th
KILLS	Nikki Fowler	7th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	Leah Hinkey	5th
HITTING PERCENTAGE	DeeDee Harrison	10th

The local newspaper is reporting on a secondary violation that occurred at Tennessee a few months ago. Due to some confusion, the Lady Vols started their preseason practices three days earlier than allowed by NCAA rules. After discovering the error the team sat out double the six early practices they got in.

[ click to continue article… ]

Tennessee fell to #24 in the final AVCA Coaches Poll. This is the sixth time in school history Tennessee has finished in the rankings. The Lady Vols have been ranked wire-to-wire in the top 25 for all 16 weeks this year. That total is the school record for weeks ranked in a single season and consecutive weeks ranked in a single season. They also are now second with most total consecutive weeks ranked, going back to 2009.

In other systems Tennessee is: #15 RPI, #22 RichKern.com Poll, #30 Pablo Ranking.

WEEKS RANKED SINGLE SEASON		CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED SINGLE SEASON		CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED TOTAL
2010	16	2010	16	1982 – 1984	19
2004	14	2004	14	2009 – 2010	18
1983	14	1983	14	2004 – 2005	17
2006	8	2006	8	2005 – 2006	11
2005	7	1982, 1985, 2005, 2005	3	1985	3

Tennessee picked up another recruit recently. According to her club website, Mary Pollmiller has verbally committed to the Lady Vols. Pollmiller made the All-State Honorable Mention list in Colorado, playing setter for Chatfield High School. She’s #93 on the PrepVolleyball Senior Aces list where they say she has “natural hands”, “terrific court sense” and a “great range”. They add “very few can chase down and better the errant second touch like she does… The college that eventually signs her will have found the total package and one of the best female athletes around”.

I’ll have more on Tennessee’s recruits in the next week or so. For some reason some high school volleyball awards aren’t announced until late December! Maybe I’ll split the piece up and do half this week and half next week…

Congratulations to Penn State (again!) on winning the 2010 volleyball national championship! I started this site back in 2007 and the Nittany Lions haven’t lost a title since. Coincidence? Yes.

The 2011 Final Four will be played in San Antonio, Texas — which is just 1,118 miles from Knoxville…

While the season may have ended a little earlier than we had hoped, it was nevertheless a great year for Tennessee volleyball.

• 25 wins: the 2nd most in the last 25 years and the 8th most in school history.

(In the 1970’s and early 1980’s the team sometimes played 40+ matches so it’s not completely comparable to today’s schedule. That’s why I’ve included numbers for the last 25 years as well, when the schedule has never gone beyond 40 matches.)

• 7 losses: the 2nd fewest in the last 25 years and the 3rd fewest in school history.

• .781 winning percentage: the 2nd best in the last 25 years and the 4th best in school history.

• 19 wins by sweep: the most in the last 25 years and the 2nd most three-set sweeps in school history.

• 1 loss by sweep: the 2nd lowest in school history.

• 12 wins at home: the 4th most in the last 25 years and the 7th most in school history.

• 15 regular season SEC wins: the 2nd most in school history.

• 15 weeks in the AVCA Poll (so far): the most in school history.

• 11 seed in NCAA Tournament: the highest in school history.

• As I’ve said before, I know this is not how you judge losses. But I still think it’s important in that it shows just how good this year’s team was. In this piece I pointed out that Tennessee was just 14 points from erasing 5 of their 6 losses. So I guess it’s fitting the season ended in a similar fashion. The Lady Vols were just a 2 point swing in the 4th or 5th set vs Indiana away from the Sweet Sixteen. So the final number there is 16 points total decided 6 of the team’s 7 losses — that’s just a 2.67 point margin per match.

They’ll be a few more updates in the coming weeks before I call it a wrap for the season. Final individual stats pages and the season match books are done. I’ll probably do an article about the UT recruits, their post season awards, and how they did in their state tournaments next. Then in January I’ll post a record book update. I probably have a few more photos to post as well, though the ones from Indiana did not turn out very good.

So more is coming! But before people stop checking in as much during the off-season I want to go ahead and send out some special thanks.

• to the players: Hi, my name is James and I’ve never met most of you! Sure if my kids want an autograph I’ve probably said hello in passing. Maybe that’s going a little overboard in making sure I don’t accidentally break some obscure booster rule! But I hope you know from the effort I put in here how fond I am of you all — win or lose.

• to the coaches and staff: I quite literally could not do this site without you. From chalk talks to the best media package in the SEC, your insights, data, and availability to lowly bloggers is very much appreciated. I hope to still see you all on the sidelines next year!

• to the families: When I started this site I assumed it would be just a fun but fairly solitary outlet for my own fanaticism. I had no idea I’d be making friends along the way. And thank you so much for sharing your girls with us at Tennessee.

• to the readers: I planned on doing this site for myself whether anyone else read it or not. But it is a more gratifying project knowing it is seen and appreciated by others. Thanks for your support!

Congratulations to Tennessee’s THREE All-Americans! Nikki Fowler was named to the All-America Third Team, while Leah Hinkey and Kayla Jeter were named Honorable Mention All-America.

UPDATES: Fowler is the first Lady Vol since 2005 to be named to one of the three AVCA All-America teams, and just one of five Tennessee players ever so honored. Fowler won Honorable Mention status in both the past two seasons. With her third, she has now won All-America awards in more seasons of her career than any other Lady Vol in school history.

Counting all teams and honorable mentions Hinkey and Jeter are the 11th and 12th Lady Vol All-Americans. A Tennessee player has been honored with an All-America award in 6 of the last 7 seasons.

UT has the story, quotes from the coach, and a dizzying amount of stats on the three players!

Just wanted to check in and confirm updates will be coming! I’ve spent the past week catching up on another website I run where we have some big things going on that I’ve neglected as volleyball season was ending. But the season recap, records update, and recruit news are on their way soon — and hopefully some big news tomorrow.

Congratulations to Leah Hinkey who graduated from the University this week!

“I’m extremely proud of our student-athletes that are graduating this weekend,” said director of women’s athletics Joan Cronan. “Our goal is to build champions while winning championships, and these student-athletes exemplify that mission, both in the classroom and the athletic arena.”

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler, Leah Hinkey, and Kayla Jeter who have been named to the 2010 AVCA All-Region team! If I’m not mistaken, the three are now eligible to also be named to the All-America team as well.

I’ll be doing a season recap, records update, and more soon. But first let’s look back at the NCAA Tournament.

• Tennessee is now 1-0 vs Alabama A&M all-time and 3-3-1 vs Indiana.

• Kayla Jeter tied All-American Sara Blum for the UT Tournament hitting percentage record with .667 against Alabama A&M. With a .466 the Lady Vols shattered the old school Tournament team hitting percentage record of .322.

• Leslie Cikra joined some impressive company against Indiana. In Tennessee’s 7 Tournament appearances since 2000, Cikra is just one of four players to get 20 kills in a match. All-Region Ariana Wilson had 20 vs Washington State in 2000; All-American Michelle Piantadosi had 26 vs Ohio State in 2004; and All-American Kristen Andre had 21 vs Washington in 2005. All were in losing efforts.

• Nikki Fowler, fittingly, ended her career with a double double — 16 kills and 11 digs vs Indiana. It was the 52nd double double of her career, and the 14th of the season.

• Emily Steinbeck also ended her career on a high note. The senior setter bested her UT career high in assists with 40 vs Indiana.

• With a .320 in her final weekend, Leah Hinkey finishes the season in the top 5 in school history in single season hitting percentages and the top 10 in career hitting percentages.

• Six different players hit .300 or better over the weekend: Kelsey Robinson, Kayla Jeter, Nikki Fowler, and DeeDee Harrison vs Alabama A&M; and Leah Hinkey, Leslie Cikra, and Fowler vs Indiana.

• Despite losing the game, the Lady Vols led the Hoosiers in kills, hitting percentage, and total actual points.

• Tennessee has made 3 Tournament appearances in the state of Indiana (1981, 1982, 2010). They got their first tourney win in the state vs Alabama A&M. But they have never advanced to the next weekend when playing in Indiana.

• The Lady Vols are now 7-4 in first round matches and 2-6 in second matches. They are 7-3 when seeded.

• As mentioned previously, Tennessee has been in just about every match they lost this year. And that was just as true this weekend. A 2 point swing in the 4th set or 5th set would have given the Lady Vols the win.

Career highs matched or exceeded (excluding freshmen):

• Leslie Cikra: kills, hitting percentage (with 20+ attempts), and points

• Nikki Fowler: hitting percentage (with 10-19 attempts)

• DeeDee Harrison: kills (in a three set match), attacks (in a three set match), assists, and points (in a three set match)

• Kayla Jeter: hitting percentage, assists, aces (in a three set match), and block solos

• Emily Steinbeck: attacks (in a three set match), assists, and assists (in a three set match)

Tennessee came up just short vs the homestanding Hoosiers who get the upset over Tennessee in five (18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13). More tomorrow.

UPDATE: Be sure to check the official site for stats, details, and a post match video. I’ll be back Monday with a weekend recap.

The Lady Vols advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and the eighth time in school history with a 3-0 win over Alabama A&M (25-11, 25-19, 25-16). More later.

UPDATES: Indiana defeated Miami in five and will face Tennessee tomorrow afternoon.

Be sure to check out the UT site for the story, stats, and video about tonight’s match.

Florida and Tennessee are the last SEC teams standing, as Auburn lost to Nebraska in the second round tonight, and LSU, Mississippi, and Kentucky all lost their first round matches.