Category: Lady Vols

Lady Vols defeat Charlotte in season opener

The Lady Vols defeat Charlotte in its season opener.

No. 22 Tennessee women’s tennis team opened its 2022 spring dual season with a road victory Friday.

The Lady Vols defeated Charlotte, 4-0.

Rebeka Mertena and and Elza Tomase defeated Charlotte’s Ruxi Schech and Kaavya Sawhney, 6-1.

The Lady Vols earned a 6-2 win from Esther Adeshina and Eleonora Molinaro against Rocio Safont and Lucie Petruzelova.

In singles competition, Mertena, ranked No. 14 in the country, defeated Schech, 6-3, 6-1.

Tomase, the nation’s 56th-ranked player, notched a three-set win over Lucia Quitero, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Molinaro defeated Emma Wilkins in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

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Lady Vols win swim meet at Vanderbilt

Lady Vols win swim meet at Vanderbilt.

The Lady Vols’ swim team defeated Vanderbilt Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee.

No. 6 Tennessee defeated the Commodores, 207-58, at Centennial Sportsplex.

The Lady Vols won all 14 events.

In the 500 freestyle, Claire Nguyen claimed victory with a time of 4:50.33. Lauren Wetherell was second (4:52.20) and Summer Eaker was third (4:59.73).

Wetherell won the 1,000 freestyle, posting a time of 10:00.47, a personal best time in the event. Eaker touched the wall in second with a mark of 10:06.29.

Nguyen also posted a victory in the 200 fly (2:01.63).

Emma Carlton won the 100 fly (54.40) and the 100 back (53.67).

Olivia Harper won the 200 back (1:59.97) and finished second in the 100 back (55.44).

The Lady Vols swept the 200 back as Ellie Caldow finished second and Danika Katzer claimed third.

Alexandra Gebel led UT with three individual wins on the day. She posted victories in the breaststroke events and the 200 individual medley race.

Tyler Adams promoted to associate head coach

Tyler Adams has been promoted to associate head coach.

Tennessee assistant volleyball coach Tyler Adams has been promoted to associate head coach.

Adams has been an assistant on Tennessee’s staff for the past four seasons.

During that time, he has been responsible for scouting, video breakdown and statistical analysis.

Adams has been instrumental in the development of the Lady Vols’ attacker Morgahn Fingall, who finished her junior season with career-highs in kills (338), hitting percentage (.250), digs (187), aces (16) and blocks (100) in 2021.

Adams, who played five years at Central Florida on its men’s club volleyball team, also spent one season playing professionally in Germany.

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Lady Vols defeat Kentucky, remain unbeaten in conference play

Lady Vols defeat Kentucky and remain unbeaten in conference play.

The Lady Vols kept its undefeated Southeastern Conference record intact with an 84-58 victory over Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena.

No. 5 Tennessee (17-1, 6-0 SEC) overcame a first-quarter deficit against the No. 19 Wildcats (8-5, 1-2) to win its eighth consecutive game.

The Lady Vols, who are off to its best start since winning a national championship in 2007-08, were trailing, 17-11, at the end of the opening quarter.

Tennessee used a balanced offensive attack to post a comeback victory over Kentucky.

Tennessee outscored the Wildcats, 27-10, in the second quarter.

Rae Burell and Keyen Green scored 14 points. Jordan Horston scored 11 points and Jordan Walker added 10.

Alexus Dye and Tess Darby finished with nine points each. Dye also had seven rebounds.

Rhyne Howard had a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats. Former Lady Vol Jazmine Massengill had 13 points for Kentucky.

Tennessee wins three events at Virginia Tech Invitational

Tennessee wins three events at Virginia Tech Invitational.

The Volunteers’ and Lady Vols’ track teams concluded the Virginia Tech Invitational with three victories Saturday.

Charisma Taylor, who won the 60-meter hurdles on Friday, notched her second win with the Lady Vols. She won the long jump competition with a leap of 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6.25 inches).

Freshman Mia O’Neil notched her first victory with the Lady Vols as she won the 200-meter dash (24.57 seconds).

Tennessee’s relay team of Will Mazor, Blake Ewaskey, Tim Thacker and Riley Bucholz finished its race in less than 10 minutes to emerge victorious with a time of 9:59. 25.

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Tennessee posts top indoor marks at Virginia Tech

A recap of day one of the Virginia Tech Invitational.

The Volunteers and Lady Vols opened its 2022 indoor track and field season Friday at the Virginia Tech Invitational.

Tennessee’s women won in the 3,000-meter run. Three athletes posted top-5 finishes. The Lady Vols swept the top three spots in the event.

Sydney Semour crossed the line first as she finished the race in 9 minutes, 31.94 seconds. Katie Thronson claimed second (9:36.37) and Olivia Janke came in third (9:38.35).

UT’s Brooke Dixon claimed fifth in the event as she posted a personal-best time of 9:47.29.

In the women’s 60-meter dash, the Lady Vols’ Joella Lloyd won with a time of  7.30 seconds in the finals. Lloyd, a 2020 Olympian, is the defending SEC champion in the event.

UT’s Shatara Johnson finished fourth in the event with a personal-best time of 7.58.

In the women’s pole vault, UT’s Sara Borton finished first in her debut, posting a mark of 4.0 meters (13 feet, 1.5 inches).

Charisma Taylor also won her Orange and White debut in the 60-meter hurdles (8.15).

Tennessee’s men also had a pair of runner-up finishes to open the meet and the season as Alex Kay finished second in the 500-meter run (1:03.31) and Joe Hoots took second in the 1,000-meter run (2:26.93).

Jordan Horston leads Lady Vols at Vanderbilt

Jordan Horston leads Tennessee to victory at Vanderbilt.

No. 5 Tennessee (16-1, 5-0 SEC) extended its winning streak to seven games, while keeping a perfect Southeastern Conference record intact Thursday with a 65-51 victory at Vanderbilt (10-7, 1-2 SEC).

Tennessee opened the contest with an 18-11 lead in the first quarter.

Jordan Horston recorded 16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and tied a career-high with four blocks.

Rae Burrell had her best game since returning from injury for the Lady Vols, scoring 11 points.

Tamari Key finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for Tennessee, which led 41-23 at halftime.

Iyana Moore led the Commodores with 16 points and Brinae Alexander added 15.

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Tennessee volleyball signs three players

Tennessee volleyball signs three players.

Tennessee has signed three student-athletes.

Lady Vols’ head coach Eve Rackham Watt announced the signing of Keyondra “Kiki” Granberry, Caroline Kerr and Kenady Roper.

That trio joins Kadynce Boothe, who signed in November.

Granberry, a middle blocker, hails from Winter Garden, Florida, where she played at Windermere High School and for OTVA volleyball club.

She was a captain on her high school team, advancing to the state championship match for the first time in school history.

Kerr, a setter from Champaign, Illinios, attended St. Thomas More High School and played club volleyball for Illini Elite.

In 2021, she was named News-Gazette All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year. She led St. Thomas More to its second state championship in program history.

Roper, a libero and defensive specialist, is a native of Morganton, North Carolina.

She played for Patton High School, where she was a four-time all-conference standout and is the school’s all-time leader in digs with 1,666.

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Five Tennessee swimmers earn SEC weekly awards

Five Tennessee swimmers earn SEC weekly awards.

Five University of Tennessee aquatic athletes have earned Southeastern Conference weekly honors.

Anna-Julia Kutsch and Lyubomir Epitropov were named SEC Swimmers of the Week. Josephine Fuller and Jordan Crooks were each named Freshman of the Week as the Vols and Lady Vols swept Duke and Queens University.

Diver Bryden Hattie was named the SEC’s Co-Diver of the week after his performance in the UT Diving Invitational at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatics Center.

Kutsch was named SEC Female Swimmer of the Week after she won the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. She was also a member of two Lady Vols’ relay teams that posted top times.

Epitropopov, a transfer from East Carolina, claimed weekly honors as he won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:00.55 and took second in the 100 breaststroke (54.89).

Fuller, the SEC’s Female Freshman of the Week, accounted for three victories and a third-place finish for the Lady Vols against Duke and Queens.

She won the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events and was a member of UT’s “C” team in the 200 free relay team that took third.

Crooks was named Male Freshman of the Week after he won the 100 freestyle and took second in the 50 freestyle. He also helped UT take second in both the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay.

Hattie was named Male Co-Diver of the Week after his performance at the UT Invitational as he swept the platform events.

Lady Vols win seven matches to close out Tar Heel Invitational

Lady Vols win seven matches to close out Tar Heel Invitational.

Tennessee’s women’s tennis team concluded the Tar Heel Invitational on a high note Sunday at Cone-Kenfield Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Tennessee, which opened the final tune-up for the regular season with seven wins Friday, earned five singles wins Sunday.

Elza Tomase, Eleonora Molinaro, Esther Adshena, Daria Kuczer and Tenika McGriffin all won in singles competition.

Kuczer defeated teammate Callie Creath, 6-3, 6-1 and McGriffin, ranked No. 41 in the nation, upset No. 19 Fiona Crawley of North Carolina, 6-3, 6-4.

The Lady Vols also claimed a pair of wins in doubles as Adeshina and Molinaro downed the Tar Heels’ tandem of Lindsay Zink and Sara McClure, 6-0.

Tomase and Rebeka Martena  North Carolina’s team of Sophia Patel and Anika Yarlagadda, 6-1.