I’m about to head out to Indiana. While I’ll definitely post updates on what’s going on, look for more detailed info and pics when I get back. And I’ll update this post if any more prematch info pops up before then.

• The NCAA Tournament starts today for 8 of the 64 teams, including fellow SEC member Auburn who will take on Missouri State tonight. You check out an interactive bracket for the tournament here or get a printable version here (PDF).

• Game times
    – Fri. 12/3 5pm ET: Tennessee vs Alabama A&M
    – Fri. 12/3 7pm ET: Indiana vs Miami FL
    – Sat. 12/4 3pm ET: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner

• Ticket Info
    – $6 per day at the door, $5 for students, seniors, and kids.
    – Advance tickets: $10 for all three matches, $6 for students, seniors, and kids.
    – Seating is general admission.
    – IU Ticket Office: 866-487-7678

• Follow online
    – Tournament Central
    – Tennessee vs Alabama A&M: GameTracker | online video
    – Indiana vs Miami: GameTracker | online video

• More info
    – Tennessee: website | coach’s video | notes (PDF)
    – Alabama A&M: website | story
    – Miami: website | coach’s video |notes (PDF)
    – Indiana: website | coach’s video & audio | notes (PDF)

• The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Erin Chapin has posted two videos with Kayla Jeter, Nikki Fowler, and Rob Patrick:
    – “Lady Vols head to Indiana for NCAA Volleyball Tournament”
    – “Lady Volleyballers talk about team chemistry”

• ESPN has their annual Five Burning Questions article about the tournament up. Tennessee and Nikki Fowler get a mention, though the writer mistakes our potential second round game as our first round.

• In case you missed them, here are parts one, two, and three of my tournament notes.

UPDATES:

• The UT site has some photos of practice in Indiana on Thursday.

• If GameTracker annoys you and you can’t watch the video stream, be sure to check out the volleyball team’s Twitter account: @UTVolleyball. If you’re not a Twitter user you can still read the page to get all the updates.

• The SEC gets off to a good start as Auburn won the first match of the Tournament this evening over Missouri State (25-15, 26-24, 27-25).

• GoVolsXtra has a piece about freshman Kelsey Robinson.

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
A C E S   P E R   S E T
94	Amie Goodwin	0.33	ALABAMA A&M
120	Lane Carico	0.32	MIAMI
158	Jordan Haverly	0.31	INDIANA
A S S I S T S   P E R   S E T
36	Katie Gallagher	10.88	MIAMI
219	Mary Chaudoin	7.75	INDIANA
B L O C K S   P E R   S E T
9	Ashley Benson	1.43	INDIANA
53	Leah Hinkey	1.17	TENNESSEE
93	Taylor Wittmer	1.08	INDIANA
D I G S   P E R   S E T
54	Rose Corneille	4.94	ALABAMA A&M
93	Ryan Shaffer	4.58	MIAMI
168	Caitlin Cox	4.04	INDIANA
225	Lane Carico	3.73	MIAMI
250	Kelsey Robinson	3.59	TENNESSEE
K I L L S   P E R   S E T
58	Lane Carico	3.86	MIAMI
105	Jordan Haverly	3.54	INDIANA
107	Nikki Fowler	3.52	TENNESSEE
111	Ashley Benson	3.50	INDIANA
233	Karensa Beckford	3.05	ALABAMA A&M
247	Kayla Jeter	3.02	TENNESSEE
H I T T I N G   P E R C E N T A G E
10	Ashley Benson	.412	INDIANA
30	Leah Hinkey	.370	TENNESSEE
88	Ali Becker	.334	MIAMI
145	Ariell Cooke	.316	MIAMI
151	DeeDee Harrison	.314	TENNESSEE
193	Kayla Jeter	.303	TENNESSEE
197	Nikki Fowler	.301	TENNESSEE
P O I N T S   P E R   S E T
41	Ashley Benson	4.46	INDIANA
52	Lane Carico	4.38	MIAMI
99	Jordan Haverly	4.10	INDIANA
126	Nikki Fowler	3.98	TENNESSEE
196	Karensa Beckford	3.71	ALABAMA A&M
249	Clarissa Moore	3.54	ALABAMA A&M

The SEC now has three head coaching vacancies, as South Carolina announced that Ben Somera has resigned. Georgia’s Joel McCartney was let go last month and Alabama’s Judy Green has moved on to coach Birmingham-Southern College.

	TENNESSEE	ALABAMA A&M	MIAMI	INDIANA
R E C O R D S
W-L	24-6 (.800)	16-10 (.615)	23-8 (.742)	21-11 (.656)
Conference	15-5 SEC	7-1 SWAC	13-7 ACC	9-11 Big Ten
R A N K I N G S
Seed	11	–	–	–
AVCA	19	–	–	–
RPI	14	191	18	34
Pablo	14	270	29	26
S T A T S national ranking in parentheses
Aces/set	0.92 (296th)	1.34 (103rd)	1.21 (156th)	1.25 (137th)
Assists/set	13.48 (13th)	10.14 (274th)	13.41 (18th)	12.36 (80th)
Blocks/set	2.48 (35th)	1.9 (187th)	1.92 (179th)	2.68 (19th)
Digs/set	14.87 (165th)	13.77 (236th)	17.64 (15th)	13.54 (254th)
Kills/set	14.53 (10th)	11.47 (249th)	14.42 (14th)	13.18 (92nd)
Hitting %	.286 (15th)	.200 (149th)	.257 (30th)	.232 (61st)
Opp. Hitting %	.174	.158	.203	.178
Serve %	.917	–	.942	–
Reception %	.968	–	.960	.958

Congratulations to Amanda Friday who was named to the 2010 SEC Volleyball Community Service Team! The award highlights “an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts”. (SEC and UT announcements.)

“Friday has worked with Habitat for Humanity, participated in annual Holiday Dinner for the Homeless, where she hosted guest from a local shelter on campus for a meal and gifts and helped with Teams for Toys where they purchase, wrap and give Christmas gifts to underprivileged local children. She has also assisted at Knox Kicks Soccer Clinic, helped lead a free volleyball clinic for youth club team, and participated in the UT Donor Thank-a-Thon, calling donors to offer thanks for their contributions to their scholarship.”

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler — again! This time she has been named to the 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-America First Team! Fowler was the first player in school history to win Academic All-District honors all three years she was eligible and the first Lady Vol to be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is only the third Tennessee player to make the Academic All-America list. UT’s other honorees are Kelsey Fautsch, who made the Third Team in 2006, and Bonnie Kenny in 1983. Fowler is a marketing major with a 3.80 GPA.

TENNESSEE

• Tennessee is making their 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The team is 11-11 all-time in the tournament and are 7-4 in first round matches.

• The Lady Vols enter the NCAA Tournament having won 9 of their final 10 matches, and 15 of their last 18.

• The Lady Vols have only been swept one time this season, which is the second fewest losses by sweep in school history. The 2004 squad was not swept at all.

• Tennessee has swept 17 out of 30 opponents this year. That’s the second most in the last 25 years. The 2004 team swept 18 of 35 teams.

• Tennessee made their very first NCAA Tournament appearance in the state of Indiana. In 1981 (the first year the tournament was held), Purdue defeated the Lady Vols 3-0 in front of 496 fans. This is the third year the team will travel to Indiana for a tournament match.

• The Lady Vols are ranked #14 in the RPI.

ALABAMA A&M

• Tennessee and Alabama A&M are meeting for the first time. A&M is 0-2 vs Indiana and 0-1 vs Miami FL.

• Alabama A&M has won the Southwestern Athletic Conference 10 of the last 11 years.

• They are making their 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and are 0-9.

• Alabama A&M has won their last 8 matches in a row.

• Tennessee shares one common opponent with Alabama A&M. They lost to Alabama, UT defeated them twice. A&M also lost to Indiana earlier this year.

• The Bulldogs have the fewest wins of any team in the tournament.

• A&M has the second worst RPI of all tournament teams at #191.

INDIANA

• Tennessee is 3-2-1 vs Indiana all-time. The first meeting between the teams was in 1977 and ended in a 1-1 tie. The last meeting was in 2007, when UT defeated the Hoosiers in 3 at the Lady Vol Classic. Indiana is 0-2 vs Miami FL and 2-0 vs Alabama A&M.

• Indiana is participating in their 5th NCAA Tournament, where they are 2-4.

• Head coach Sherry Dunbar was an assistant under Rob Patrick at Tennessee for 6 years.

• After starting the season with 12 straight wins, Indiana went 9-11.

• Indiana is tough at home. They are 11-2 on their home court this season, including wins over #4 Penn State, #10 Illinois, #13 Michigan, and #19 Minnesota.

• IU shares one common opponent with the Lady Vols: Northwestern. UT lost to them and Indiana lost to them twice. Indiana also defeated Alabama A&M this year.

• Indiana is ranked #34 in the RPI.

MIAMI FL

• Tennessee is 1-1 vs Miami all-time. The first meeting between the teams was a 0-2 loss in 1977 and the last meeting was a 2-0 win in 1981. Miami is 2-0 vs Indiana and 1-0 vs Alabama A&M.

• The Hurricanes are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance, where they are 2-2.

• Miami finished the year with 5 straight wins and won 10 of their last 13.

• The Lady Vols and the Canes shared 4 common opponents. UT defeated Florida State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Auburn twice. Miami split a series with Florida State, lost to Oklahoma, defeated Auburn, and won both games vs Virginia Tech.

• Miami is ranked #18 in the RPI.

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler on being named the SEC Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year! She shares the honor with Kentucky’s Lauren Rapp. This is Fowler’s second Player of the Year award (2007 SEC Freshman of the Year), and Tennessee’s fourth (2005 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Amy Morris, 2009 Libero of the Year Chloe Goldman).

Player of the Year: Kelly Murphy, Florida
Libero of the Year: Stephanie Klefot, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Desiree Elliott, LSU
Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Lauren Rapp, Kentucky; Nikki Fowler, Tennessee
Coach of the Year: Mary Wise, Florida

SEC STORY | UT STORY

UPDATE: Coach Patrick said, “Nikki defines student-athlete at the very highest level. She has represented the University of Tennessee in the absolute best way possible and I am extremely proud of what she has been able to accomplish during her four years here. I have no doubts at all that she will be successful in whatever venue she decides to pursue following her volleyball career. It makes it much easier for us as coaches to make academics important within our program when you have someone like Nikki who buys in to it every day. She is a fantastic role model and mentor for our younger players both in the classroom and on the volleyball court.”

And good luck to Fowler as CoSIDA and ESPN announce the Academic All-American team tomorrow!

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler and Kayla Jeter on making the All-SEC First team, Leah Hinkey on making the Second Team, and Kelsey Robinson on making the SEC All-Freshman Team! This is Fowler’s fourth post-season SEC team (2007 Freshman Team, 2008 and 2009 SEC First Teams), Jeter’s second (2009 Second Team), and Hinkey’s second (2006 Freshman Team).

First Team All-SEC
Lauren Bledsoe, Florida
Kelly Murphy, Florida
Callie Rivers, Florida
Lauren Rapp, Kentucky
Angela Bensend, LSU
Desiree Elliott, LSU
Regina Thomas, Ole Miss
Nikki Fowler, Tennessee
Kayla Jeter, Tennessee

Second Team All-SEC
Kayla Fitterer, Alabama
Jasmine Norton, Arkansas
Morgan Johns, Auburn
Cassandra Anderson, Florida
Kristy Jaeckel, Florida
Valentina Gonzalez, Georgia
Stephanie Klefot, Kentucky
Michele Williams, LSU
Ashley Newsome, Mississippi State
Leah Hinkey, Tennessee

All-Freshmen Team
Raymariely Santos, Arkansas
Camila Jersonsky, Auburn
Chanel Brown, Florida
Whitney Billings, Kentucky
Desiree Elliott, LSU
Juliette Thevenin, South Carolina
Kelsey Robinson, Tennessee

UPDATE: Coach Patrick said, “I’m very happy and proud to see these four players receive such recognition from the rest of the coaches in our conference. It is a testament to the work ethic and desire to improve that each of them brings to practice every single day. I also think that all four of them would all tell you that they owe some of this recognition to their teammates who have helped them perform at such a high level all season.”

Congratulations to DeeDee Harrison who was named the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week!

Tennessee moved up to #19 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll. The Lady Vols have been ranked for 15 consecutive weeks this year which breaks the school record for weeks ranked in a single season and consecutive weeks ranked in a single season. They also are now tied for second with most total consecutive weeks ranked, going back to 2009.

WEEKS RANKED SINGLE SEASON		CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED SINGLE SEASON		CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED TOTAL
2010	15	2010	15	1982 – 1984	19
2004	14	2004	14	2009 – 2010	17
1983	14	1983	14	2004 – 2005	17
2006	8	2006	8	2005 – 2006	11
2005	7	1982, 1985, 2005, 2005	3	1985	3

The SEC yearly awards should be announced soon which means it’s time for predictions! This year was a little tighter than any other I’ve tried to guess so take these for what they’re worth — possibly not much!

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

If you only look at the stats without names next to them, you’d have to admit there really is no single dominant player in the SEC this year. There are some really good performers: Mississippi’s Regina Thomas has a monster hitting percentage (despite a late injury), and Alabama’s Kayla Fitterer and Arkansas’ Jasmine Norton are knocking down more kills than anyone else. But the winner of the award this year is probably going to win on intangibles, not straight stats. And it will come down to Florida’s Kelly Murphy and Tennessee’s Nikki Fowler. Other than Murphy in aces, neither player is dominating any statistical category. Both players are about equal in how may categories they lead the other in. And they’re pretty close in most individual categories. That’s why we move to intangibles. Florida has had an incredible year — a #1 ranking and the first 20 win SEC season. And Murphy has been the major factor. While she may not be putting up the big numbers some others in the conference have, there is little doubt she is one of the best players in the conference in practical terms like getting her team on the right side of wins and losses. Fowler has been the player to stop at the net if you’re a Tennessee opponent for the last four years. But she’s just as big a threat in the back row. Here also there is little doubt that without Fowler Tennessee doesn’t win as many games as it did. But the more important intangible for Fowler is that she is a senior and Murphy is a junior. Fowler is the most honored weekly player in SEC history. The person who used to hold that title? Aury Cruz, who won the Player of the Year award THREE TIMES! Does the SEC really want to let Fowler graduate without winning the award once? Before you say that a player like Murphy who won the weekly award 4 times in one season can’t possibly be turned away for the annual award, remember this: last year Fowler was the first player in conference history to win the weekly award 4 times. But she still lost the Player of the Year award — to a senior.

If the coaches are not blinded by an admittedly stellar win total and #1 ranking, and take note that the there is not a huge difference in stats between the two, this could go either way. Toss up between Fowler and Murphy, with the edge to Murphy based mostly on Florida’s remarkable record.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

In six of the seven years this award has been given, the player with the most digs in all matches or conference matches has won it. Using that criterion, the winner will be Kentucky’s Stephanie Klefot or South Carolina’s Hannah Lawing. Other possibilities include Mississippi’s Morgan Springer, Mississippi State’s Kayla Woodard, and Auburn’s Liz Crouch. But I’m not about to go against history. And since Klefot is a sophomore and Lawing is a senior I have to be consistent. Lawing wins.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

This award has been fairly easy to predict the last three seasons, but this year the competition is a little more stiff. The two top candidates are LSU’s Desiree Elliot, who is 7th in hitting percentage and 6th in blocks in the conference, and South Carolina’s Juliette Thevenin, who is 3rd in kills and aces in SEC matches and is 2nd on her team in digs. If you’ve seen Tennessee’s Kelsey Robinson play you’d definitely put her in the mix as well. But even though her defensive credentials are impressive her injury brought her offensive stats down, which if a bit higher probably would have made her a serious contender. Close call but I’m going to say Elliot wins.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

I don’t usually try to predict this one, and I’m not going to start now! But I will point out that since 2006, every winner of this award was also an Academic All-District first team member. This year there are only two of them in the SEC: Mississippi State’s Kayla Woodard and Tennessee’s Nikki Fowler.

COACH OF THE YEAR

With the first 20 win season in SEC history under her belt, this is probably a no brainer for Mary Wise. Though Joe Getzin bringing Mississippi from a 4-16 last place finish in the conference last year to a 13-7 second place finish in the West could get notice as well. Wise wins.

• Tennessee gets the #11 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. They’ll head to Bloomington IN on Friday to face Alabama A&M in the first round. With a win they would face Indiana or Miami FL the next day.

• PDF and interactive brackets are now online at the NCAA site.

• Alabama A&M (16-10, 7-1 SWAC Champion)
• Miami FL (23-8, 13-7 ACC)
• Indiana (21-11, 9-11 Big Ten)

• Against the field: Tennessee is
      0-0 vs Alabama A&M
      1-1 vs Miami (last match: 2-0 win in 1981)
      4-2 vs Indiana (last match: 3-0 win in 2007)

• Other SEC teams in the Tournament: #1 Florida, #13 LSU, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi

• Tennessee played 11 teams this year that made the NCAA Tournament. In those matches they went 11-5.

• This is the Lady Vols’ 12th NCAA Tournament appearance, and their 6th in the past 7 years. In first rounds they are 7-4.

• The final regular season RPI is out:
      #14 Tennessee
      #18 Miami
      #34 Indiana
      #191 Alabama A&M

• This is Tennessee’s highest seed in the tournament since it went to 64 teams.
      11th seed – 2010
      12th seed – 2004 (made the Sweet Sixteen)
      15th seed – 2005 (made the Final Four)

• Good news for traveling fans — if the Lady Vols make it out of the first and second rounds in Indiana, the next two rounds would be played in Dayton OH.

• Miami has the story on their invite.

• The local newspaper website has a short story up about UT in the tournament.

• Tennessee and Alabama A&M have their stories on the tournament online.

• UT has the times for the matches listed as:
      Friday at 5pm – Tennessee vs Alabama A&M
      Friday at 7pm – Indiana vs Miami FL
      Saturday at 3pm – First Round winners

• Indiana adds their take on the tournament.

One last note since I apparently haven’t mentioned it on the site yet! The selection show will be broadcast on ESPNews from 3:00 – 3:30pm today. But if I remember correctly, last year it wasn’t actually its own show. It was just an extended segment broadcast sometime in that time frame.

As we continue to wait for the NCAA tournament announcement, here is some related news. While the final regular season RPI (which the committee uses in their deliberations) won’t be released before the final bracket is announced, Rich Kern has updated his RKPI (which estimates very closely what the RPI numbers should look like). Here are the top 16 and the top SEC teams in his estimation.

1 – Florida 2 – Stanford 3 – Northern Iowa 4 – Nebraska 5 – Penn State 6 – Illinois 7 – Minnesota 8 – USC 9 – Dayton 10 – California

11 – Hawaii 12 – Texas 13 – Duke 14 – Tennessee 15 – Purdue 16 – LSU … 43 – Mississippi 44 – Auburn 45 – Kentucky