Category: Lady Vols

UT, Volunteer State pro teams respond to Nashville tornado

A tornado touched down in Nashville early Tuesday morning.

The University of Tennessee and professional sports franchises in the Volunteer State have sent their condolences to the city of Nashville following a tornado going through the Music City.

A tornado touched down in Nashville in the early morning hours Tuesday, leaving behind deaths, injuries and destruction.

News: Nashville Tornado
Mar 3, 2020; Nashville, TN, USA; Tornado damage in East Nashville photographed Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Mandatory Credit: Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via USA TODAY NETWORK

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Middle Tennessee affected by the storms last night!,” Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt Tweeted. “We’re thinking of you.”

University of Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer also took to Twitter and offered his prayers in support of the Nashville area.

“Prayers for everyone in Nashville area this morning as they dig out from the storm’s last night,” Fulmer Tweeted.

Tennessee’s 100-game win streak over in-state opponents ends

2020 Tennessee softball.

JOHNSON CITY — The University of Tennessee softball team saw its roller coaster ride of a season continue on Sunday as it split a pair of games at the Buccaneer Classic.

The Lady Vols opened tournament play with a 4-3 walkoff loss to host East Tennessee State.

Tennessee fell behind 3-0 in the bottom of the first before rallying to tie the contest, 3-3. Ally Shipman hit a two-run homer and KK McCrary also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Buccaneers won the game in the bottom of the seventh when Julia Fritz singled to plate Lauren Lee.

The loss ended Tennessee’s 100-game win streak over in-state opponents and is the first program loss to East Tennessee State.

The Lady Vols found their way back into the win column later Sunday when they toppled Bowling Green, 9-3.

Again, Tennessee (9-7) fell behind as the Falcons scored first in the bottom of the opening frame.

But the Lady Vols roared back and scored four runs in the top of the second, an inning highlighted by a two-run single from Madison Webber and an RBI hit from Chelsea Seggern.

Tennessee never surrendered the upper hand as it scored a pair of runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth before closing out the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh.

Webber went 1-for-3 with a stolen base. Seggern was 2-for-3 with a run and stolen base, while driving in two runs.

Kiki Milloy had two hits, two runs and a stolen base while Amanda Ayala went 1-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run.

In the circle, the Lady Vols got a solid effort from Samantha Bender, who tossed a complete game, surrendering three runs (all earned), three hits and a walk. She had three strikeouts in the contest at Betty Basler Field.

Weather was a factor in the tournament as poor field conditions (due to Friday’s snow in the area) canceled Saturday’s games.

The Lady Vols also had Monday’s game against Tennessee Tech suspended due to rain. Tennessee had a 2-0 lead when the game was called in the second inning. The game will be resumed on a date to be determined.

Rennia Davis named SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week

Rennia Davis named SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee junior Rennia Davis has been named as the Southeastern Conference’s Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Davis has now won the award for the third time during the 2019-20 season and the sixth overall time in her Lady Vol career.

UT press release:

University of Tennessee junior forward Rennia Davis has been chosen as the final SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week of 2019-20, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced on Monday afternoon. It marks the third time this season and the sixth occasion in her career that Davis has been selected for the award.

Additionally, Davis has been announced as the College Sports Madness SEC Player of the Week. It marked her second time this year of being acknowledged by that organization. The first time came on Nov. 18.

The All-SEC and All-America candidate put together back-to-back double-double efforts last week to help the Lady Vols close out the regular season with three consecutive wins and record the program’s 43rd 20-win season in the past 44 years. The 20-9 overall record and 10-6 conference mark significantly improves the Lady Vols’ chances of receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 39th consecutive time.

The 6-foot-2 standout averaged 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Ole Miss and Auburn that helped UT forge a tie for third in the SEC standings after being picked to finish sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches. Davis shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-31), 33.3 percent from long range (2-6) and 81.8 from the free-throw line (9-11) en route to recording her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season and her sixth 20+ point effort of the campaign. She now has scored in double figures in 26 straight games and has done so in 40 of her last 41 contests.

Davis was Tennessee’s only player in double figures in the regular season finale at Auburn on Sunday, connecting on nine of 18 shots and three of four attempts at the charity stripe to finish with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists. She also was instrumental in a defensive effort that limited Auburn to 55 points just one game after the Tigers had scored 95 on the road at Missouri. She also helped the Lady Vols restrict AU double-double career leader Unique Thompson to six points and five rebounds on the afternoon.

Against Ole Miss last Thursday, Davis was good for 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as UT improved to 13-3 at home in 2019-20. The effort was one of 20 this season when the Jacksonville, Fla., native has paced UT in scoring and one of 13 as the team’s leading rebounder.

Davis and her teammates will depart for Greenville, S.C., on Tuesday night and play in the SEC Tournament’s second round on Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET. UT, which received the No. 6 seed after the third-place tie was broken, will meet the winner of Wednesday’s tilt between No. 11 seed Missouri and No. 14 Ole Miss.

Lady Vols prepare for SEC Tournament play

Lady Vols prepare for SEC Tournament play.

KNOXVILLE — The Lady Vols ended the 2019-20 regular season Sunday with a 56-55 win at Auburn.

Tennessee freshman Jordan Horston hit a shot with 0.6 seconds left on the clock to secure victory for the Lady Vols.

The win placed the Lady Vols with a 20-9 overall record and 10-6 in Southeastern Conference play. Tennessee has now recorded 20-win seasons in 43 of the last 44 years.

Tennessee will now play in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.

SEC Tournament play begins Thursday and the Lady Vols will play the winner of the No. 11 vs. No. 14 match-up at 8:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised by the SEC Network.

Lady Vols outlast Ole Miss on Senior Night

Lady Vols outlast Ole Miss on Senior Night.

KNOXVILLE — The Lady Vols closed out the home portion of their basketball schedule with a victory over Ole Miss Thursday night.

Tennessee beat the Rebels by more than 50 points when the two teams met earlier in the season in Oxford and held Ole Miss to 28 points.

But this time the Lady Vols escaped Thompson-Boling Arena with a 77-66 victory and the game was tight as the Rebels trailed just 45-42 with 4 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Rebels’ box-and-one defense held UT’s Rennia Davis to just three points with just under six minutes remaining in the third stanza.

Davis, a junior and Tennessee’s leading scorer, finished the game with 19 points. She also had 11 points for the Lady Vols (19-9 overall, 9-6 in the Southeastern Conference).

Tamari Key had a career-high 17 points. Rae Burrell finished 14 for Tennessee, which jumped to a 20-9 lead against Ole Miss (7-21, 0-15 SEC) in the first quarter.

But the Rebels never went away thanks to 22 points from Deja Cage and 21 by Milicia Reid.

Chelsea Seggern’s walk-off double snaps losing streak for Lady Vols

2020 Tennessee softball.

KNOXVILLE — It took a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning for the University of Tennessee softball team to snap an early-season four-game losing streak.

The Lady Vols were playing in their 2020 home opener at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium and they needed a win after going 1-5 in Tampa over the weekend. And thanks to senior second baseman Chelsea Seggern, Tennessee nabbed a 3-2 victory over in-state foe UT Martin Tuesday night.

Seggern, one of the Lady Vols’ best hitters came through in the clutch against the Sky Hawks (9-7) with a game-winning double that plated pinch-runner Kiki Milloy with the winning run.

Tennessee’s Jenna Holcomb reached on an error to begin the game-winning rally for Tennessee (8-6), before being lifted for Milloy.

The Lady Vols fell behind 2-0 before storming back to tie the contest thanks to a two-run home run by KK McCrary, her first career round tripper.

Freshman Callie Turner picked up the win for Tennessee to improve to (8-6). She surrendered two runs (one earned) and five hits. She walked two and struck out five.

Lady Vols record 100th win over in-state opponent

2020 Tennessee softball.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee softball (8-6) ended a four-game losing streak Tuesday night.

The Lady Vols defeated UT Martin, 3-2, in its 2020 home opener at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

The win was the program’s 100th victory over an opponent from the state of Tennessee.

Senior Chelsea Seggern secured Tennessee’s victory with a walk-off one-out RBI double to score freshman Kiki Milloy from second base.

The Lady Vols will now play in the ETSU Tournament from Feb. 28-March 1. Tennessee will open tournament play against Bowling Green on Friday at 10 a.m. ET in Johnson City, Tenn.

Tennessee will return home March 4 to take on Lipscomb at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Baseball, basketball, softball in full swing at Tennessee

Baseball, basketball, softball in full swing at Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE — Basketball, baseball and softball are in full swing at the University of Tennessee.

Tennessee’s men’s basketball team (15-12, 7-7 SEC) is coming off a 73-66 road loss to Auburn and will take on Arkansas in Fayetteville on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised by the SEC Network. The Vols will return home Saturday to host Florida at 2 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2.

The Lady Vols basketball team (18-9, 8-6 SEC) will play its regular season home finale Thursday against Ole Miss. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the contest will be televised by SEC Network+. Tennessee will conclude the regular season Sunday, March 1 at Auburn.

The Diamond Vols (7-0) return to Lindsey Nelson Stadium Tuesday to take on Northern Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. ET. The contest can be viewed on WATCHESPN.

The Lady Vols softball team (7-6) returns to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET against UT Martin. Tennessee will then play in the ETSU Tournament in Johnson City, Tenn. beginning Friday and concluding Sunday.

Lady Vols top Vanderbilt to end losing streak

Tennessee defeats Vanderbilt.

KNOXVILLE — The nightmare for the Lady Vols basketball team is over — at least temporarily.

Tennessee snapped a five-game losing streak and picked up its first win in the month of February as it outlasted in-state rival Vanderbilt, 67-63, Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee (18-9 overall, 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference) opened a 32-18 lead in the second quarter, but let the Commodores back into the game and Vanderbilt (13-14, 3-11) took a 56-55 lead in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee, which last won over the Commodores in Nashville on Jan. 30, had enough to come back and reverse its recent bad fortune.

Freshman Jordan Horston has had a roller coaster ride of a rookie season on Rocky Top. She has shown flashes of brilliance at times, but struggled at others.

But on Sunday, she came off the bench and put up one of her most solid performances of the season.

She scored 16 points, including a layup to give Tennessee a 66-63 lead with 46 seconds left in the contest to put the Lady Vols up for good. Jazmine Massengill added a free throw shortly after to provide the final margin of victory.

Horston also had five assists and four rebounds.

Rennia Davis led the Lady Vols with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Rae Burrell added 12 for the Lady Vols, who host Ole Miss in their home finale Thursday night.

Chelsie Hall led the Commodores with a game-high 20 points.

Golden Knights defeat Tennessee again

2020 Tennessee softball.

TAMPA — For the second time in less than 24 hours, the University of Tennessee softball team has been run-ruled by an unranked University of Central Florida team.

The Lady Vols (7-4) closed out the first day of the Tampa Tournament with a 10-1 loss to the Golden Knights Friday.

When the 12th-ranked Lady Vols took the diamond early Saturday morning against UCF (11-2), the result was much the same as Tennessee came up on the short end of a 9-1 decision.

On Saturday, the Lady Vols managed to get just one hit. Tennessee also played some shaky defense on Saturday morning as it committed four errors in the game that ended after five innings.

The Lady Vols got their only run and hit from shortstop Josie Willingham, who homered in the bottom of the third inning.

Willingham’s dinger pulled Tennessee to  within 9-1.