Congratulations to Chloe Goldman who today became the 10th All-American in Lady Vol history! Nikki Fowler earned the honors for the second year in a row. Both were named to the AVCA All-American Honorable Mention list. Fowler is just the 4th Lady Vol to be honored by the AVCA in back to back seasons. Tennessee has the story.

Just a heads up that I’m having some email issues. If you sent me something and I did not respond, or if I sent you something and you never got it I apologize. Hopefully I’ll have this fixed ASAP.

UPDATE: OK, I’ve fixed the problem on my end. Thanks to a friend I’ve discovered that over-zealous spam filters may be the culprit for people not getting messages from me — so check your spam folders before you assume I’m ignoring you!

Congratulations to Chloe Goldman and Nikki Fowler who were named to the AVCA All-South Region Team. The full list is here (PDF). Good luck to both as they are now eligible for All-American status (which should be announced next week or soon after)!

UPDATE: Tennessee has the story.

Complain about college football’s bowl set-up all you want, but one good thing about it is that of the 68 teams that make their post-season 34 get to end with a win. In volleyball, of the 64 teams in the tournament only one gets to finish the year with a victory. 62 other really good teams are going to end the year with a loss just like us.

So while it may sting right now, it’s not what we should focus on as we move forward. Here are a couple of quick numbers for you about the 2009 squad’s record which prove it’s been an amazing season.

• Most SEC wins in school history
• 2nd best record in the last 25 years
• 6th best record in school history
• Less losses than the team that went to the Final Four
• Only the 7th team in school history with single digit loses
• 3rd most wins in the last 25 years
• 2nd most home wins in the last 25 years
• 3rd most wins against ranked opponents in the last 25 years

I’m not quite ready to call it a wrap here yet! I’ve already updated the schedule and stats pages. Some time this month I’ll post a look at the updated record book as we’ve done before (like in 2007 & 2008) and a season recap. Plus, hopefully we’ll have a few more awards to announce this week and next!

I’ll post a few more pictures soon, but here are a couple I wanted to get out now. The first is the line-up for the team’s match vs Minnesota. The second is a panoramic photo of Thompson Boling Arena during the team’s warm-up. This one is full resolution — a thumbnail is below. The best way to get the full size version is to right click this link and choose “Save/Download File”. [Ha! Just noticed the clocks in the photo give away the secret of panoramic pictures!]

I’ll be back with more throughout the month, so don’t forget to check back! But I want to go ahead and send a special thanks to all the players, coaches, staff, families, friends, and fans who made this such an unforgettable season. Let’s all do it again next year!

An amazing season of Tennessee volleyball ended tonight, as the Lady Vols lost to Minnesota 3-0 (25-15, 15-16, 25-18). Much more soon…

UPDATE: UT has the story, stats, and quotes. I may take a day off and then will be back with a much bigger update — photos, stats, records, and more.

• Nikki Fowler had 17 kills, 12 digs, and 7 blocks. Kayla Jeter had 18 kills and 3 blocks. Leah Hinkey hit .357 and had 10 blocks. Farren Powe hit .600 with 9 kills. She also had 6 blocks. Chloe Goldman dug 20 balls. Kylie Marshall had 15, and also knocked down 5 blocks and had 2 aces.

• Tennessee is 10-10 vs Duke all-time. They are 11-10 all-time in Tournament matches, 8-1 at home, and 7-4 in first round matches.

• Tennessee broke the school’s NCAA Tournament record for team block assists and total team blocks with 31 and 33 respectively. The previous records were 27 and 30 set in 2005 against Missouri.

• Leah Hinkey was one block short of tying Sarah Blum’s NCAA Tournament record. Farren Powe just missed Blum’s tournament hitting percentage record by .067.

• With 1,059 in attendance, the match rates as the seventh largest home crowd in school history.

• Fowler’s consecutive double-double streak now stands at 15.

• Career highs matched or exceeded:
– Jasmine Brown: digs (in a 4-set match)
– Amanda Friday: digs (in a 4-set match)
– Nikki Fowler: block assists and total blocks (in a 4-set match)
– Leah Hinkey: total blocks (in a 4-set match)
– Kayla Jeter: kills and points (in a 4-set match)
– Kelsey Mahoney: attacks, block assists, total blocks

• The official site has has the story, stats, pictures, post-game audio (still not working for me), and a video replay available. Duke’s story is also online.

The Lady Vols move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 with a 3-1 win over Duke (25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-12). Nikki Fowler had a double double, Kayla Jeter led in kills, Leah Hinkey had double digit blocks, and Chloe Goldman led in digs. More soon.

11th seeded Minnesota advances to the second round after defeating Louisville in a tight four set match (25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 25-22).

Here are some final notes for the matches this weekend in Knoxville.

Game times:
• #11 Minnesota vs Louisville: 12/4 at 5pm
• #24 Tennessee vs Duke: 12/4 at 7pm
• Winners of round one matches face off on 12/5 at 7pm

Follow online:
• Minnesota vs Louisville: live stats and free video
• Tennessee vs Duke: live stats and free video

Tickets: (prices are per day — two matches on Friday and one match on Saturday)
• Adults: $6
• Students/Senior Citizens: $5
• 12 and under: $4

Websites and notes:
• Tennessee | match notes (PDF)
• Duke | match notes (PDF)
• Minnesota | match notes (PDF)
• Louisville | story

• Need to get fired up before the match? UT has a video with highlights from the 2009 season.

• Keep track of all the tournament matches with this interactive bracket.

In case you missed these:
• Part one notes
• Part two notes
• Part three notes

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
A C E S   P E R   S E T
81	Claire Smalzer	0.36	DUKE
182	Rachael Moss	0.31	DUKE
A S S I S T S   P E R   S E T
64	Kellie Catanach	10.53	DUKE
72	Taylor Carico	10.39	MINNESOTA
B L O C K S   P E R   S E T
6	Lecia Brown	1.50	LOUISVILLE
10	Lauren Gibbemeyer	1.48	MINNESOTA
44	Farren Powe	1.21	TENNESSEE
50	Leah Hinkey	1.18	TENNESSEE
89	Gwen Rucker	1.10	LOUISVILLE
168	Becci Burling	0.98	DUKE
177	Christiana Gray	0.97	DUKE
D I G S   P E R   S E T
53	Chloe Goldman	4.75	TENNESSEE
169	Claire Smalzer	3.98	DUKE
218	Christine Tan	3.73	MINNESOTA
235	Lindsey Mango	3.61	LOUISVILLE
H I T T I N G   P E R C E N T A G E
6	Lecia Brown	.413	LOUISVILLE
7	Lauren Gibbemeyer	.409	MINNESOTA
114	Christiana Gray	.320	DUKE
124	Ariana Filho	.317	MINNESOTA
126	Farren Powe	.316	TENNESSEE
224	Sophia Dunworth	.287	DUKE
K I L L S   P E R   S E T
19	Lola Arslanbekova	4.35	LOUISVILLE
79	Nikki Fowler	3.78	TENNESSEE
145	Rachael Moss	3.38	DUKE
181	Lauren Gibbemeyer	3.26	MINNESOTA
P O I N T S   P E R   S E T
29	Lola Arslanbekova	4.80	LOUISVILLE
56	Nikki Fowler	4.45	TENNESSEE
97	Lauren Gibbemeyer	4.17	MINNESOTA
144	Rachael Moss	3.92	DUKE

	TENNESSEE	DUKE	MINNESOTA	LOUISVILLE
R E C O R D S
W-L	23-7 (.767)	27-5 (.844)	24-8 (.750)	21-10 (.677)
Conference	16-4 SEC	17-3 ACC	15-5 Big Ten	10-4 Big East
R A N K I N G S
Seed	–	–	11	–
AVCA	24	30	11	39
R(K)PI	17	30	8	38
Pablo	24	35	11	50
O F F E N S I V E   S T A T S national ranking in parentheses
Hitting %	.224 (88th)	.259 (24th)	.254 (30th)	.255 (27th)
Kills/set	13.2 (81st)	13.9 (38th)	13.5 (60th)	13.0 (102nd)
Aces/set	1.1 (234th)	1.5 (62nd)	1.0 (282nd)	0.9 (295th)
Serve %	.923	.903	–	.923
Assists/set	12.2 (83rd)	12.9 (32nd)	12.5 (60th)	11.9 (119th)
D E F E N S I V E   S T A T S national ranking in parentheses
Opp. Hitting %	.161	.156	.160	.193
Digs/set	16.4 (50th)	15.1 (122nd)	15.5 (102nd)	12.3 (292nd)
Blocks/set	2.7 (14th)	2.2 (82nd)	2.8 (11th)	3.0 (5th)
Reception %	.965	.938	.950	.941

ESPN has posted their “5 Burning Questions about the first and second rounds”. On the question of “Which seeded team has the toughest road to the Sweet 16?” the answer is 11th seed Minnesota, which has to get past Louisville and Duke or the Lady Vols. They add: “All three teams should be concerned about playing at Tennessee.”

TENNESSEE

• #24 Tennessee hosts the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. They’ll face Duke on Friday night. If they advance they’ll play the winner of the #11 Minnesota/Louisville match on Saturday.

• Tennessee is making their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and are 10-10 all-time in Tournament matches. At home that improves to 7-1. The Lady Vols are 6-4 in first round matches.

• Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament having won 13 of its final 15 matches, and 17 of their last 20.

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

DUKE

• Tennessee is 9-10 vs Duke all-time with the last meeting during the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament where the #25 Blue Devils won in Knoxville 3-1 (30-22, 26-30, 30-25, 30-27).

• The 2009 seniors’ very first NCAA Tourney game was in 2006 during their freshman year in a loss against Duke.

• 12 of the 19 matches with Duke have been 3-0 sweeps. Each team has swept the other 6 times in the series.

• Duke is making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they have won 9 matches, including the first round match in each of their last four trips to the Tournament.

LOUISVILLE

• Tennessee is 12-7 vs Louisville all-time, winning the last meeting earlier this year 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-9, 17-15).

• Since 2004, the home team in the UT/UofL rivalry is 5-1.

• Louisville is making their 12th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 20th overall. The Cardinals are 12-19 all time in Tournament matches.

• Louisville’s Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director, Julie Hermann, was the Tennessee head volleyball coach from 1991-1996. She led the Lady Vols to the NCAA Tournament in 1993, winning the first round vs Sam Houston State in Knoxville before losing in the second round at Georgia.

MINNESOTA

• Tennessee is 1-3 all-time vs Minnesota. The last meeting was a 3-2 win in the second round of the 2005 tournament vs the #17 Gophers in Knoxville (30-19, 24-30, 20-30, 30-27, 15-11).

• Minnesota is making their 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They are 26-14 in Tournament matches, 13-1 in first round matches, but 4-6 in Tournament matches against teams playing on their home court.

The last senior we still need to recap is Kylie Marshall. And there’s a good reason why she is last — she has the most to recap and I kept putting it off! Marshall has had a remarkable career almost unparalleled in Tennessee history. She has played in all 122 matches since she first arrived at Tennessee. She has played in all but 5 sets in the past four years — an amazing 460 sets out of a 465 set career. In all of Lady Vol volleyball history, only All-American Julie Knytych (2002-05) has had a better four year record of consistent play. She’s #3 all-time in career digs after recently surpassing All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Amy Morris (2003-05). She and All-SEC Kristy Dobson (1988-91) are the only players in school history to have recorded at least 300 digs in each of four seasons — Marshall alone is the only player to have recorded 325 digs or more in each of four seasons. Impressed yet? And we haven’t even begun to discuss her hitting (she has over 600 career kills) or serving (she’s just the second player at UT in at least 10 years to reach 100 aces)!

[ click to continue article… ]

The AVCA and UT have announced that Lady Vol head coach Rob Patrick was elected to the organization’s Board of Directors and named President-elect. Patrick said, “It’s an honor to represent such a great group of people. I’m very excited about working with the AVCA and the current board because it is a dynamic and forward-thinking group. There are some exciting initiatives that will be decided over the next few years and the AVCA will have a huge voice in shaping the future of our sport.”