Congratulations to Tennessee recruit Kylann Scheidt who was named to the AVCA 2009-10 Under Armour Girls High School All-America First Team! Scheidt, a senior at Farragut High School, will be the first player from the Knoxville area on the UT roster during at least the last 13 years.

Yesterday we looked at the current seniors when they were just starting out in their own words. Today, we’ll look back at what Coach Rob Patrick had to say about the new members of his squad back in 2006.

The 2006 recruiting class put together at Tennessee was ranked sixth in the country by Volleyball Magazine and eighth by PrepVolleyball and CVU.

“We are very excited about our 2006 recruiting class, as we feel that it fills all of our team’s needs, and each one has the ability to compete for a starting job their first year. It is nice to know that people outside our program also feel so highly about this class. They are quick, physical athletes who will be coming in with a tremendous amount of volleyball experience, maybe the most of any class that we have signed.”

“On paper, we feel it’s the best recruiting class we have ever brought to Tennessee. Obviously, they have not gotten any match experience here, but the type of volleyball experience, as well as skill and athleticism, that they will bring is better than any other class that we have ever had.”

“The two items that really jump out at you with this recruiting class is the speed and quickness… and the high level of competition that they have experienced during their high school and club careers.”

Carol Cheade: “Carol is a player who can play any of the front row positions and will allow us to diversify our offense by being able to attack successfully anywhere along the net. She will bring a different style of volleyball from her home country of Brazil, which will compliment and fit in very well with our offensive and defensive schemes. She has the ability to stay in a match in all six rotations as her back court skills are at a very high level.”

“Carol brings some great international experience and a different style of play to our team. Her skill level and experience will allow us to use her creatively in our offense where she can play all three of the front row positions. She’s benefited greatly from joining our program in January 2006 and will be physically ready to play after spending the spring and summer in our weight-lifting and strength training program.”

Chloe Goldman: “Chloe will bring a lot of energy and excitement to the court for us this year. She’s a very active defensive player who, once she is incorporated into our defensive systems, will have a big impact on our ball control. She has a chance to play quite a bit this year and we are very excited to watch her development.”

Kylie Marshall: “Kylie will come into our program with the most experience of any of our players in this class as she has played at the highest level in our youth national team programs. Her quickness, explosiveness and ball control skills will give her an opportunity to compete for a starting job when she sets foot on campus.”

“Kylie is an elite athlete who brings a focused intensity to our volleyball team. I’m extremely excited to watch her progression at the collegiate level. She’s played at the highest level in juniors as a member of the USA Youth National Team, and I feel that her quickness and leaping ability will allow us to use her in some very creative ways in our offense.”

Farren Powe: “Farren is very athletic and will come in and challenge for time at the middle and outside hitting positions. She has the flexibility and skills to play any of the front row positions effectively. While she is the rawest talent among our incoming freshmen, she may end up as our biggest surprise this year. We are very excited about her potential and look forward to seeing her grow in our program.”

• Tennessee is now 10-40-1 vs Florida and 19-25 vs South Carolina.

• With the wins this past weekend, Tennessee has ensured they will end the season with single digit losses for the 7th time in program history and just the 4th time in the last 25 years. All 4 of those most recent seasons have been on Coach Rob Patrick’s watch.

• Florida has only lost to 4 different teams this season: #4 Washington, #10 Kentucky, #17 LSU, and Tennessee.

• The last two times Tennessee beat Florida they went on to have great success in the NCAA tournament, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 2004 and the Final Four in 2005.

• The Lady Vols notched their 13th sweep of the season vs South Carolina. Only counting three-set sweeps, that’s tied for the eighth best total in school history.

• Here’s one the coach himself brought up during his “Chalk Talk” this past weekend: With their 15th SEC win of the season vs the Gamecocks, the Lady Vols have tied their best ever regular season conference win total. Last year’s team went 15-5, while the 2004 squad went 15-1 (they then went on to win 3 SEC tournament games). They can break the record with a win over Kentucky.

• Tennessee has had two matches this season make the top five on the home attendance chart.

1. Georgia on 10/28/2005 at TBA with 3,311
2. Florida on 10/31/2003 at TBA with 1,571
3. Florida on 11/20/2009 at TBA with 1,532
4. Florida on 10/22/2004 at Stokely with 1,337
5. Mississippi State on 9/27/2009 at TBA with 1,168

• If you read the pre-match notes you might remember that I said during the past two years the second to last SEC match on the schedule has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. Two years ago a leak in the roof delayed the match for an hour and last year a tripped fire alarm caused a 30 minute delay. So did the streak continue vs South Carolina? Yes! If Nikki Fowler’s shoe malfunction counts — there was about a 45 second delay while she ran to the bench to borrow someone else’s shoe! OK, you’re right. That streak is over!

• One streak that is still going is Fowler’s double-double streak which now stands at 13. Kelsey Mahoney and Kylie Marshall also got double-doubles, both vs Florida.

• Career highs matched or exceeded:

– Jasmine Brown: digs
– Carol Cheade: hitting percentage (5-9 attempts)
– Amanda Friday: digs (in a 4 set match), aces, and points
– Leah Hinkey: assists (in a 4 set match)
– Kayla Jeter: kills and attacks (in a 3 set match), hitting percentage (20+ attempts), assists, block assists, total blocks, and points
– Kelsey Mahoney: attacks and assists (in a 4 set match), assists (in a 3 set match), hitting percentage, block solos, and total blocks

The Lady Vols just missed making the AVCA Top 25 but checked in with their highest unofficial ranking of the year at 27th. Three teams Tennessee has defeated this season are in the top 25: #10 Kentucky, #15 Florida, and #25 Notre Dame.

This is becoming a Monday tradition! Congratulations to Nikki Fowler for being named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the third consecutive time!

She may not be done being honored today yet! Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed — the Academic All-America announcement should be coming later today. (By making the All-Region First Team earlier this season Fowler is automatically under consideration for the All-America award.)

UPDATE: UT has the story and some impressive stats: first player to win three consecutive SEC Offensive Player of the Week awards, most in a single year by any player in conference history (her 4th), tied for most in a career (her 7th). Also announced — she’s the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week as well.

UPDATE 2: The Academic All-America awards have been announced and unfortunately Fowler didn’t make it this time. Full list follows:

[ click to continue article… ]

Continuing our salute to the seniors this week, today we look back to their freshman year. In 2006, the team was asked questions about themselves, the team, and UT. Here is how the current seniors responded during their first season as Lady Vols.

FRESHMAN CAROL CHEADE
• On what she did over the summer: “I went home to Brazil and spent time with my friends at the beach.”
• On why she chose to come to Tennessee: “Coming here has allowed me to play volleyball at a high level, while getting a good education.”
• On what she likes about Knoxville: “I had never seen snow before I came here, so I was really excited about that.”

FRESHMAN CHLOE GOLDMAN
• On why she chose to come to Tennessee: “I came here because the support that athletes get at UT, both athletically and academically, is second to none.”
• On what surprised her about Knoxville: “The McDonald’s is orange.”
• On what she likes best about UT: “I really enjoy being part of an athletics team and being around my teammates and coaches.”

FRESHMAN KYLIE MARSHALL
• On what she did over the summer: “I went to Nationals with my club team before coming to UT for the rest of the summer.”
• On the match she is most excited about: “I am most excited about the Florida match. It’s a big rivalry and we’ve had some recent success. Hopefully, we’ll do well again this year.”
• On why she chose to come to Tennessee: “I loved the team, the coaches and the atmosphere. It just felt like the perfect fit for me.”
• On what surprised her about Knoxville: “There is orange everywhere. When you drive down the street, you even see orange cars. Every single car has an orange “T” on it. It’s not quite like Washington.”

FRESHMAN FARREN POWE
• On what she did over the summer: “I just worked out and hung out with some friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.”
• On the match she is most excited about: “Florida. The rivalry between the schools is exciting.”
• On her goals for 2006: “My goals are to earn a starting spot on the team, maintain a 3.0 GPA and win the SEC and national championships.”
• On what she likes most about the volleyball team: “I love the bonding atmosphere. It is like we are all sisters here.”

Congratulations to LSU! With Kentucky’s loss today, LSU wins at least a share of the SEC championship for the first time since 1991. Kentucky can win a share by defeating Tennessee on Wednesday, though the Lady Vols will be looking to spoil the Wildcats’ title hopes for the second year in a row.

The Lady Vols get a 3-0 win on senior day against South Carolina (25-10, 25-19, 25-14). More soon. [score fixed]

UPDATE: Tennessee hit .333 and held the Gamecocks to .050. Nikki Fowler got yet another double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs. She hit .355 and had 3 blocks as well. Kayla Jeter had 19 kills, hitting an impressive .567. She also had 7 blocks. Kelsey Mahoney had 40 assists, 9 digs, and 2 aces. Jasmine Brown had 5 digs and Amanda Friday had 4. DeeDee Harrison had 2 kills and a block while Leah Hinkey had 2 blocks.

Tennessee’s seniors had a solid afternoon. Chloe Goldman dug up 17 balls and picked up 3 assists. Kylie Marshall had 4 kills, 12 digs, a block, and the 100th ace of her career. Farren Powe had 3 kills, 7 blocks, and 2 digs. Carol Cheade hit .400 with 3 kills and also put back 2 blocks.

I’ll have some photos up later this week.

It’s Senior Day vs South Carolina today. I have to admit that this will be the hardest one so far for me. I moved back to Knoxville during these seniors’ freshman year. And I started the site when they were sophomores. So this is the first class I’ve really been with almost their entire careers. And I can’t believe they’ll be gone after next month. I can honestly say that for me it won’t seem like Tennessee Volleyball without them.

I probably shouldn’t say this publicly, and no offense is meant to any other player because I love them all. But Chloe Goldman has been my absolute favorite player. She’s so talented and so good at what she does. That’d be reason enough to like her so much. But what has really set her apart is her personality on the court, her passionate play, and (perhaps most endearing!) the way she doesn’t completely suppress how she feels about how a game is going! Before every match she goes up to every player on the court for a high five. She’s the only player you can hear during a match no matter where you’re sitting in the arena. But if you’re a ball girl after a play she doesn’t like, you might want to brace yourself when she throws the ball at to you! I know coaches and players always say they don’t care about individual awards, honors, and records. But friends, families, and fans do! And if Chloe doesn’t win Defensive Player of the Year this season the SEC coaches are going to have a very unhappy webmaster to answer to!

Chloe may be my favorite player, but Kylie Marshall is in my mind the model volleyball player. She attacks, she digs, she serves, and even blocks some. She’s the obvious choice for leader of the team and always seems so professional in her bearing. That’s not to say she is stoic and unemotional at all — after a big point she’s the first to find her teammates and get in a quick celebration! She’s a great role model for how to carry one’s self during a match no matter how good or bad things are going. And she’s always so graceful and just looks the part of the quintessential volleyball player. I don’t think I’ve seen another player at Tennessee who is so well rounded at playing all over the court, leading, and keeping herself at such a consistently high level. I mentioned this a few weeks ago but it is worth repeating. Kylie has played in every match of her career since she got here in 2006! Unless we’re lucky it may be a long time before we see another all around great player/leader/person like Kylie Marshall.

I’m not the kind of fan who jumps up and down and taunts opposing players and fans. But that doesn’t mean I don’t really get into watching these matches. When things get close I can barely sit still because I get so anxious! Except when the ball is set to Farren Powe. I have never watched nervously as the ball is hit over the net when it comes off her hands. She is so powerful and ends so many points that I sometimes wonder if we should just give her the ball every time! How explosive is she? The following is absolutely true and not exaggerated in the least! I’ve taken a lot of pictures of the team. And I’ve come to notice that sometimes photos of certain players have distinctive attributes that almost always show up. For example: Milan Clarke’s expression was usually one of intense concentration; Nikki Fowler always seems to look like the impressive things she is doing take no effort at all; Chloe Goldman often sticks her tongue out as she digs (sorry Chloe — you’re still my favorite!); and every pic of Kylie Marshall spiking or serving always looks like it was perfectly posed for the camera. What is the defining characteristic of almost every photo of Farren I’ve taken? She’s a blur! She’s too fast for my camera! I think nearly every picture of her that was good enough to post has been her standing still before a point begins! I’m so going to miss that quick set to Farren that more often than not ended in an impressive point and yet another unusable picture on my camera!

Carol Cheade hasn’t got as much playing time as the other seniors so I unfortunately can’t say as much about her as I would like to. When she does play I have never seen her not play hard and well. Carol, Kylie Marshall, and Nikki Fowler are the only Lady Vols to play in both SEC sand volleyball tournaments. Every time Coach Patrick mentions her it is always with the highest regard for her talent and her knowledge. In fact in a recent article she’s mentioned as the player on the team right now most likely to go on to a possible coaching career. And I have a picture of with my daughter! She’s a great player when you need someone solid off the bench, and she seems like a great person off the court as well. I wish we could have seen a lot more of her.

I hadn’t meant to write this much today! But these four players are going to be so missed and I hope they know how much they’ve all meant to the fans. Rocky Top won’t be the same without them.

I’ll be writing and posting some more photos a little later this week.

2006 Lady Vols

Tennessee defeated Florida tonight 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-22)! Nikki and Kylie had double-doubles. Much more later!

UPDATE: Wow! What a match! That might top beating UK earlier this year! Nikki Fowler continued her impressive double double streak — which now stands at 12 — with 19 kills and 16 digs. Kylie Marshall got her second of the year with 11 kills and 15 digs. Kelsey Mahoney got her 7th of the year with 46 assists and 14 digs. Kayla Jeter and Farren Powe had double digit kills with 12 and 10 respectively. Powe also had 4 blocks while Jeter had 3. Chloe Goldman notched her 35th match with 20+ digs, with 21 tonight. Amanda Friday had 7 digs. Leah Hinkey had 3 blocks.

This was the first win vs Florida since 2005, and the first for the seniors on the team in their careers. With 1,532 in the crowd, this was the third highest attended home match in school history — missing second place by just 39 people! Tennessee has defeated two top 25 teams this year (or three teams currently ranked in the top 25).

UPDATE: Story and stats from the Lady Vols and the Gators.

The tight SEC race is winding down and someone could secure at least a share of the championship Friday — though the (remote!) possibility of a four way tie still exists. Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee each have three conference matches remaining, while LSU has two left. Here are the scenarios:

• Kentucky (16-1) can lose one of their remaining matches and still claim a share of the championship for the first time since 1988. Remaining: SC, UF, UT. Chances? Very good to at least split the title. With two top 25 RPI teams on the schedule winning outright will be more difficult but doable.

• LSU (16-2) needs to win out and have Kentucky lose one match to get a share of the title for the first time since 1991. If LSU loses a match they can still split the title with two Kentucky losses. Remaining: MSU, Alabama. Chances? Good to at least split the title. They should be able to win out. And with Kentucky facing two top 25 RPI teams the Tigers have good reason to be hopeful. Winning outright is possible but I’m sure they’ll be happy enough to share!

• Florida (14-3) needs to win out, and have Kentucky and LSU both lose one of their remaining matches to claim a share of the title. The last time Florida was not at least the co-SEC champion was 1990. Remaining: UT, UK, SC. Chances? Not good. While Kentucky may lose two, the problem is hoping for an LSU loss vs two teams who have a combined 16-41 overall record. Possible? Yes, but don’t count on it.

• Tennessee (13-4) needs to win out, and have Kentucky and LSU lose all their remaining conference matches to get a share of the title for the first time since 2004. Tennessee can not win the title outright. Remaining: UF, SC, UK. Chances? Not likely. The recent loss to Auburn all but knocked UT out of contention. With two top 25 RPI teams on the schedule, UT will have enough to handle on their own. And that’s on top of hoping for 4 additional UK and LSU losses within a week of each other.

• The four way tie scenario (all of the following must occur):
– Kentucky loses to South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee
– LSU loses to Mississippi State and Alabama
– Florida loses to Tennessee and beats Kentucky and South Carolina
– Tennessee beats Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky

Tennessee has less than a week remaining in the regular season. The Lady Vols take on #13 Florida this Friday and then South Carolina on Sunday. Make sure you get to both matches if you can — to help set an attendance record Friday and to honor the seniors Sunday.

• Tennessee is 9-40-1 vs Florida. They are 2-8 in the last 10 meetings. Florida won the match earlier this season 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21).

• Tennessee is 28-25 vs South Carolina. They are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. UT won the match earlier this season 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16).

• Florida has been dominant since coach Mary Wise took over the program in 1991. She’s only lost 15 SEC matches in her career! LSU beat her thrice her first year. But since then no conference opponent has won more matches against her than Tennessee — and that number is just 3!

• If the Lady Vols can get to five sets vs Florida, history says they have at good shot a winning. Tennessee has won 5 of those 7 matches in the series history. The last time Florida won a five set match was 1987.

• South Carolina has what has to be the toughest regular season ending schedule of anyone in the conference. Based on RPI, they are finishing vs #10 LSU, #20 Kentucky, #23 Tennessee, and #18 Florida.

• This Sunday will be the next to last SEC match of the regular season. For the past two years, the match at that point on the schedule has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. Two years ago a leak in the roof during a match at Stokely forced an hour long delay while a new court was taped down on a dry section of the floor. Last year at Auburn a tripped fire alarm during the fifth set forced an evacuation of the building and a 30 minute delay.

#13 Florida (20-4, 14-3)
Game time is Friday, November 20th at 7pm ET in Knoxville
Follow the match with live stats, a free video feed, or Florida’s audio feed.
UF match notes (PDF)

South Carolina (14-13, 5-12)
Game time is Sunday, November 22nd at 1:30pm ET in Knoxville
Follow the match with live stats or a free video feed.
SC match notes (PDF)

The NCAA and SEC have updated their weekly statistical rankings of players and teams for the 2009 season. The national stats rank 329 teams and the top 250 players in each category. All stats (except hitting percentage) are “per set”, not totals. Tennessee’s ranks in the polls are also listed. Numbers in parentheses are the changes from last week.

AVCA: 36th nationally (-1); 4th SEC (UNCH)
NCAA RPI: 23rd nationally (-1); 4th SEC (-1)
Pablo Rankings: 32nd nationally (-1); 4th SEC (UNCH)
RickKern.com Poll: 35th nationally (-2); 4th SEC (UNCH)

NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE

Aces: 226th (-20)
Assists: 95th (-4)
Blocks: 23rd (+6)
Digs: 58th (-11)
Hitting Percentage: 101st (+4)
Kills: 83rd (-1)

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – ALL MATCHES

The SEC stats page has not yet been updated

SEC TEAM RANKINGS – TENNESSEE – SEC MATCHES

not yet updated

NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Blocks: Farren Powe – 47th (-6)
Blocks: Leah Hinkey – 73rd (+17)
Blocks: Nikki Fowler – 232nd (NR)
Digs: Chloe Goldman – 62nd (-12)
Hitting Percentage: Farren Powe – 131st (-3)
Hitting Percentage: Leah Hinkey – 201st (-63)
Kills: Nikki Fowler – 85th (+19)
Points: Nikki Fowler – 59th (+21)

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – ALL MATCHES

not yet updated

SEC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS – SEC MATCHES

not yet updated

• Tennessee is now 24-13-1 vs Auburn and 38-23 vs Georgia.

• Tennessee reached 20 wins for the 18th time is school history. Since Rob Patrick took the helm in 1997, UT has reached that mark 7 times. This is the 3rd fastest they’ve reached 20 wins in the past 25 years. And only the 3rd time in that time period that they got more than half their 20 wins on the road.

• Tennessee recorded some of their best statistical performances of the past few years vs Georgia. Nikki Fowler’s 29 kills, Kelsey Mahoney’s 57 assists, the team’s 19 blocks (5 BS + 28 BA), and Fowler’s 33.5 points are all numbers not seen since at least November 2007.

• Tennessee lost at Auburn for the first time since 1998.

• Chloe Goldman moved into a tie for 7th place on the SEC all-time digs list.

• As previously mentioned, Fowler’s 29 kills vs Georgia were the 17th most ever recorded at UT, and the 9th most ever at UT in a 5-set match.

• This year Fowler has hit 300+ kills and scooped 300+ digs. Since 2001, only Amy Morris (in 2003 and 2004) has reached those levels in a single season.

• Mahoney got her 11th career double-double while Fowler got her 32nd, and extended her double-double streak to 11 in a row.

• Career highs matched or exceeded:
– Jasmine Brown: digs
– Nikki Fowler: kills, total blocks, and points
– Amanda Friday: kills, attacks, aces, digs, and points
– Chloe Goldman: assists (in a 5-set match)
– DeeDee Harrison: kills, attacks, hitting percentage, digs, block solos, block assists, total blocks, points
– Kayla Jeter: assists and block solos
– Kelsey Mahoney: attacks, assists, and digs
– Kylie Marshall: block solos, block assists, and total blocks

Congratulations (again!) to Nikki Fowler on being named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. I’m away from home right now, so I’ll add more later.

UPDATE: More from UT, including this cool tidbit: “The Dallas, Texas, native has now claimed the honors a conference-high three times this year and six times in her three seasons at Rocky Top, making her the second-most decorated offensive player in league history, behind only three-time SEC Player of the Year Aury Cruz from Florida who garnered offensive player of the week honors seven times during her stint in Gainesville”.