Three high school seniors who have publicly committed to Tennessee have been named to AVCA Under Armour Girls’ High School All-America volleyball watch list for the upcoming season. Later this year the AVCA will name 48 student-athletes as Under Armour All-Americans. Congratulations and good luck to Kelsey Robinson, Carly Sahagian, and Kylann Scheidt.

I just found a few links I had saved for later posting during my computer downtime. It may not be fresh news, but both are still interesting reads.

The first discusses NCAA emerging sports. Sand volleyball has caused some spirited debate this year. And both sides have some compelling arguments. ESPN takes a look in a piece that doesn’t quite give equal time to both sides, but is a good starting place if you want to find out what’s going on.

While some contend that sand volleyball will become a regional sport played in Florida and California, the push for its NCAA inclusion has come from places including Nebraska, Tennessee and the University of Denver. Professional volleyball’s AVP Tour has been widely popular in southern states and in centrally located states such as Colorado. And with the success of the AVP Tour, players have professional opportunities after college.

The second article comes from Husker Extra and talks about Lady Vols assistant coach Dani Busboom’s transition to coaching. It includes quotes from both Busboom and head Coach Rob Patrick.

Patrick has no reservations that Busboom will be a winner on the recruiting trail. Her sales and broadcast work was a great training ground, said Patrick…

“That’s what recruiting is, and when you have somebody that can do that with a championship ring on her finger, well that helps, too,” Patrick said of Busboom. “She’s somebody that you can put out there as a face of Tennessee volleyball.”

You’ve probably noticed a few changes around the site in the past few days. Hopefully everything will be acceptable — or at the very least, not too objectionable!

One thing in particular I’d like to point out is the updated schedule page. Instead of a dry list of matches to be played, it’s now more informative and interactive. (It’s informactive! Or maybe intermational? Ok, maybe not!) Besides the opponent, date, and time, you can now see the venue, series record, and the facts of the last meeting. You can also sort the schedule several different ways. For example, you can choose to see just the home matches or the conference matches. It’s all presented in a (hopefully!) easy to follow graphic style with all the information on each match centered around a game “ticket”.

I’ve checked this (and the many other changes recently made to the site) in several browsers, and I’ll be tweaking things in the days to come. But please feel free to let me know if something isn’t working.

According to the official Lady Vols site, the team finally hit the gym for their first official practice of the season earlier today. Coach Rob Patrick said, “One thing that I was particularly pleased to see was how well we were able to control the ball. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow and continue to build off a strong start.” Returning to the court this year are: seniors Carol Cheade, Chloe Goldman, Kylie Marshall, and Farren Powe; juniors Nikki Fowler and Leah Hinkey; sophomores Amanda Friday, Kayla Jeter and Kelsey Mahoney; and redshirt freshman DeeDee Harrison. Joining them will be newcomers Emily Steinbeck, a junior transferring from UT Martin, and freshmen Jasmine Brown, Leslie Cikra, Natalie Guerra, and Rebekah Smith.

And some sad news to report, also from the official site: Sophomore Alyssa Hilby will be redshirting this season after suffering an injury. Hilby had a stellar freshman year, after stepping into the shoes of Leah Hinkey (who was injured in the fourth match of 2008). Hilby knocked back 117 blocks last year for a 1.21 blocks per set average. That was the 37th best in Division I for the year and the 7th best single season in Tennessee history in that category.

While you can’t order them online at Tennessee’s new ticket website, season tickets for volleyball are available by phone. At $39 for 13 matches you’re not getting a discount on the individual ticket price, but at least you won’t need to worry about forgetting to bring cash to the games — as long as you remember to bring your ticket! The Ticket Office can be reached at 865-656-1200.

The SEC and XOS Digital have announced plans to launch the SEC Digital Network sometime within the next few weeks (“just prior to football season”). The Network will “provide fans with access to exclusive content through online video syndication, digital downloads, and exclusive live-streaming and on-demand video content encompassing: highlights, complete game replays, breaking SEC news in real-time, post-game interviews, tailgate events, behind-the-scenes pep talks, [and] press conferences”. Much of the content will be available within minutes of a game’s conclusion. In addition to the expected football and basketball coverage, the SEC says “more than 750 Olympic events and all championships and tournaments” will be featured as well.

We’re a month from the first serve! In just 30 days the Lady Vols will take the court at home against Tennessee Tech.

In the past Tennessee started their seasons on home turf many times. But in the last 20 years the Lady Vols have had their season opening match at home only 4 times. Only once in the past decade have they started off things here in Knoxville. They might want to start scheduling it that way more often though! Tennessee hasn’t lost a season opener at home since 1978!

I’m getting things around here set up for the new season. So if it seems like the updates are few then I’m probably working on something behind the scenes. I’m resetting the stats on the roster page, adding new players and removing departed ones from my spreadsheet, updating the schedule, and hopefully updating the look of the site a little bit if I have the time!

I’m back! Much longer than I expected to be gone, but back now! And I’m in some serious internet withdrawal! They fixed the original problem with my computer but created a new one so it was back in the shop two additional times before I got it back for good this weekend. Wow! Less than 40 days until the season starts!? Give me some time to catch up on things because I have no idea what’s been going on! It looks like Tennessee has finally announced some of the new recruits we’ve mentioned here so be sure to check that out (along with me!) for all the details on the newest Lady Vols.

Sorry for the downtime. My computer has been out of commission for about a week. I’ve given up on what I can do for it and sent it to the shop for repairs. Hopefully I’ll be back online soon!

PrepVolleyball.com has named Tennessee’s incoming class as a High Honorable Mention in their Top College Recruiting Classes of 2009 list. Singled out were recruits Jasmine Brown, Leslie Cikra, Natalie Guerra, and Rebekah Smith.

Tennessee has announced their 2009 schedule. Coach Rob Patrick said, “We’ve set up a very challenging and comprehensive schedule for next season. We have high hopes for our team, and this schedule reflects that. We made it a point to schedule teams that have been successful in recent years and we will have to play good, solid volleyball in order to win from the first day of the season on”. Check out the link for the full schedule and more thoughts from the coach.

Congratulations to Lady Vol recruit Ellen Mullins who was named to the PrepVolleyball.com Defensive Dandies Third Team. The “Dandy Lions” are “all-around high school talents who project as back row animals at the next level”. Mullins is a three-time All-State player from Father Ryan HS in Nashville TN who will graduate in 2010.

While Tennessee has not officially announced their schedule for the 2009 season, other schools are announcing theirs. Which means we can piece together some of it. In addition to their SEC rivals the Lady Vols will also be taking on some big names from other conferences. Here’s what I’ve been able to scrap together so far (obviously subject to verification) — about half the matches of the season. Tennessee should be releasing the full version in the near future.

Xavier Invitational — Cincinnati OH
9/4 Michigan
9/5 Notre Dame
9/6 Xavier

Carolina Classic — Chapel Hill NC
9/?? North Carolina
9/12 Marshall
9/13 Colorado State

SEC
9/27 Mississippi
10/2 @ South Carolina
10/11 Auburn
10/16 @ Alabama
10/21 @ Kentucky
10/30 @ Mississippi
11/8 Alabama
11/13 @ Auburn
11/22 South Carolina
11/25 Kentucky

The 2008 Tennessee volleyball media guide was named the 6th best in the country by the College Sports Information Directors during their annual Publications Contest. Congratulations to Cameron Harris, Debby Jennings, and Eric Trainer!

Some more photos from the 2009 SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Tournament are posted here:

[ click to continue article… ]