Just wanted to give a heads up on what’s coming now. Most everything to be said about the Clemson match was already said in the pre game notes and post game story, so I’m going to skip the recap. In the next week or so I’ll post a season recap, a look at the record book, and a final statistical update. After that things will slow down and I’ll only post when something comes up.

I also want to go ahead and pass out some “thanks” before people stop visiting for the off season! Thanks to the fans, families, and friends that supported me when I was considering shutting down. Thanks to the coaches and players for an amazing season. A special thanks to the volleyball staff at UT, specifically Cameron Harris who puts together the official match notes, stories, and stats — without those doing this blog would be almost impossible! And thanks to everyone who visited this season. The site is more fun knowing you’re reading!

Tennessee ends their season tonight against Clemson in five (25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12). For the first time in school history Tennessee played its fourth five set match in a row. After winning the first three they come up just short. Nikki Fowler had 19 kills and 14 digs. Chloe Goldman had 27 digs. Congratulations to the Lady Vol seniors for leading the team to an amazing 22-10 season. Much more tomorrow and in the week to come.

UPDATE: Tennessee has the story and stats. In addition to Fowler’s double-double, Michaela Hanakova had one as well with 23 assists and 11 digs and Kelsey Mahoney got one with 29 assists and 12 digs. Alyssa Hilby led in blocking with 8. Kylie Marshall had 3 aces, 20 digs, and 9 digs. Milan Clarke had 13 kills and 4 blocks. Farren Powe had 8 kills and 3 blocks. Mindy Flynn had 9 kills and 2 blocks. Match recap on Monday Tuesday.

#12 seed Utah defeated Furman 3-0 in the first round. They will advance to round two tomorrow to take on the winner of the Tennessee/Clemson match, which is scheduled to start in about 30 minutes.

• Tennessee will take on Clemson in the first round of the tournament. The Tigers are 22-9 and 14-6 in the ACC. If the Lady Vols win they will then take on the winner of the match between 12th seed (AVCA #18) Utah (24-5) and Furman (21-13).

• Tennessee leads the all time series with Clemson 4-1. The Lady Vols’ lone loss was in 1980. Their last win was 1988. Clemson head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover was an assistant coach at Tennessee during that win.

• Tennessee is undefeated vs Utah in all four previous meetings. Last year the Lady Vols upset #21 Utah at the AVCA Showcase.

• Tennessee is 2-0 against Furman. The only meetings were in 1989 and 1993.

• This will be Tennessee’s 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their 5th under Rob Patrick. Tennessee is 6-3 in first round matches and 2-4 in second round matches. Coach Patrick is 6-4 in tournament matches.

• The Lady Vols seniors have plenty of tournament experience to draw on. Laurén LaFlamme has been on the squad for 9 tourney matches while Milan Clarke and Mindy Flynn have been part of the team during 6 matches. All three were on the only Tennessee team to ever reach the Final Four.

• Match notes are online for Clemson, Tennessee, and Utah.

• Live stats and video of all three matches are available online.

	Tennessee	Clemson	Utah	Furman
Aces per set nat’l rank	1.07 230th	1.20 175th	1.22 167th	1.57 37th
Assists per set nat’l rank	12.31 76th	12.43 62nd	12.21 79th	11.03 197th
Blocks per set nat’l rank	2.43 42nd	2.80 7th	3.00 5th	2.19 88th
Digs per set nat’l rank	15.31 86th	15.19 93rd	13.16 236th	14.65 125th
Hitting % nat’l rank	.242 51st	.267 18th	.244 48th	.208 123rd
Kills per set nat’l rank	13.22 79th	13.48 59th	13.26 78th	12.10 182nd

A heads up to any fans heading to Clemson this Friday — the match time has been changed to 7pm ET.

UPDATE: The second round match on Saturday, December 6th will also be played at 7pm ET.

Congratulations to Coach Rob Patrick who was named the SEC Coach of the Year for 2008! This is the second time he has won the honor. Patrick “guided the Lady Vols to their fourth NCAA appearance in five years, 10th in school history. The Lady Vols finished third in the SEC East with a 15-5 SEC record and a 22-9 overall record”.

UPDATE: Tennessee has more info. Patrick: “I’m very humbled to be chosen the coach of the year. I really see this award as a tribute to the terrific job that our entire coaching staff has done this season. I can’t say enough about the jobs that Gregg Whitis, Katie Noble and Philip Bennett have done. Without them, this would not have been possible. It is also very gratifying to know that this honor comes from a group of colleagues that I respect greatly. Every single coach in the SEC is very talented, and there are a number of very deserving candidates for this award this season.”

Congratulations to Nikki Fowler who picked up her second award of the day. This time she was the only unanimous pick on the All-SEC first team!

UPDATE: Tennessee has more info. Coach Patrick: “I’m especially happy that the coaches around the league took notice of Nikki’s play this season. For her to be the only unanimous selection to the first team says a lot about what she has accomplished this year. She has been terrific in virtually every facet of the game and I am very excited about having the opportunity to coach her for two more seasons.”

Congratulations to Nikki Folwer on her third SEC Offensive Player of the Week award of the season!

“Was UT’s top offensive weapon in its five-set road victory over No. 17 Kentucky, topping the team with a season-high 24 kills. The victory marked UT’s first over a ranked team since last season and its first road triumph over a ranked team since 2005. Her 24 kills in that match stand as the third-highest kill output during an SEC match this season. She also had seven digs, three blocks and two assists in the contest.”

UPDATE: Tennessee has the story and an interesting stat: Fowler “is the only player in the SEC to have won the award more than twice this season and becomes just the sixth player in conference history to claim offensive player of the week laurels three times in one year”. In light of this and the unanimous All-SEC selection seems odd she didn’t get the Player of the Year award.

The Lady Vols are in the NCAA Tournament! They will take on Clemson on their home court at Jervey Gym. Updating as needed…

The Tigers are 22-9 and 14-6 in the ACC.

Also playing at Clemson will be 12th seed (AVCA #21) Utah (24-5) and Furman (21-13).

If Tennessee makes it out of South Carolina, they would play in the Seattle Regional.

The bracket is now online. Tennessee will play Clemson on Friday, December 5th.

Tennessee leads the all time series with Clemson 4-1. The Lady Vols’ lone loss was in 1980. Their last win was 1988.

Clemson has the story.

This will be Tennessee’s 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their 5th under Rob Patrick. The team is 6-3 in first round matches.

Tennessee has the story.

While we’re waiting for the tournament announcements, here are some video interviews a few members of the team did this season.

• Milan Clarke
• Farren Powe
• Kelsey Mahoney
• Chloe Goldman did an interview as well but it doesn’t seem to be in the archives

The Lady Vols will learn whether their season continues tonight. ESPNU will air the NCAA Selection Show this evening at 10pm ET. The 64 team field and the first round pairings and locations will be announced.

• NCAA Championship site
• Championship Host site
• Tournament Bracket

Tennessee finished off the season in exciting style, defeating both Kentucky and Auburn — the teams at the top and bottom of the conference — 16-14 in a fifth set! Kylie Marshall notched her third double-double of the season. Four players matched or exceeded career highs.

• Tennessee ends the regular season going 12-1 in their last 13 matches. That ties for the best 13 match regular season ending stretch in school history. The 2004 squad also went 12-1 in their last 13.

• Tennessee will finish 2008 with 10 losses or less, the 10th such season in UT history and the 6th during Rob Patrick’s 12 years.

• The last three matches Tennessee has played (South Carolina, Auburn, and Kentucky) have all went to 5 sets. This is only the 4th time is school history the Lady Vols have played three 5 set matches in a row. It is the first time they have ever won three 5 set matches in a row.

• The win over Kentucky prevented the Wildcats from winning a share of the conference, ensuring that Tennessee remains the only team in 17 years to win an SEC title other than Florida.

• Tennessee put up season highs in kills, attacks, and assists vs Kentucky.

• For the second season in a row the Lady Vols experienced an unexpected in-game delay in their second to last conference match of the season. Against Auburn last week a tripped fire alarm delayed the match for half an hour as the building was evacuated and the fire department called in. Last season water dripping onto the court from a leaky rook delayed the match against Kentucky for an hour while a new court was taped onto a different location of the floor.

• Career bests matched or exceeded:
– Milan Clarke: attacks and blocks
– Amanda Friday: aces and digs
– Kelsey Mahoney: assists
– Kylie Marshall: kills and points

Tennessee defeats Kentucky tonight, preventing them from winning a share of the conference title. The score was 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21,16-14). What may have been the biggest Tennessee away crowd of the season was on hand for the big win over the #17 team in the country. Much more in a few hours.

UPDATE: OK, not “much more”! It’s 2am and I’m heading to bed! But here are the story and stats from Tennessee and Kentucky.

Happy Thanksgiving! Tennessee finishes the regular season tomorrow at #17 Kentucky. Since it’s a holiday I’m going to keep this short.

• Since my ban on posting photos I’ve been turned mainly into a stats site. And this may be the stat of the season. Tennessee is 10-6 away from Thompson-Boling Arena this season. But, in the seven away matches played when I have been in attendance, they are 7-0! I don’t want to overstate my apparent importance to the team so I’ll just leave it at that. But to answer the question I know is on everyone’s mind — yes, I will be in Lexington tomorrow! ;)

• On a more serious note… This week former Kentucky volleyball star Jenni Casper was killed in a car accident. Casper played from 2003 to 2006. She was twice named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. When she finished her career she was the all-time conference career digs leader. Condolences to the Casper family and the Wildcats athletic program.

• Kentucky (26-4, 17-2) | match notes
UK leads the all time series 39-23, and has won the last five.
UT lost earlier this year 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19).
Game time is Wednesday, November 28th at 7:00pm ET
Follow the match with Gametracker. Live video streaming should be available from the UK website. Or if you’re in Knoxville, why not just make the short 2.5 hour drive up to Memorial Coliseum to support the team!

With a win over South Carolina, Florida has clinched at least a share of the SEC title for the 18th year in a row. A Tennessee win over Kentucky would give Florida the title outright. With the win over Auburn on Sunday, Tennessee secured a third place finish in the conference.