Tag: ETSU

ETSU brings 11 players with local baseball ties to Lindsey Nelson Stadium

Buccaneers have 11 players with Knoxville ties.

When East Tennessee State University makes a trip to Lindsey Nelson Stadium Tuesday night to take on No. 10 Tennessee, several Buccaneers will have a homecoming as they played their high school baseball in the Knoxville area.

ETSU (10-5) has 11 players with Knoxville ties on its 2021 roster.

They include: Hunter Loyd (a junior pitcher who played at Christian Academy of Knoxville under legendary coach Tommy Pharr); Austin King (a sophomore infielder from Farragut, where he played for the Admirals, who are always in contention for a Class AAA State Championship); David Beam (a senior outfielder and star at Bearden High School); Noah Webb (a sophomore catcher who played for Sevier County); Sean Kearney (a senior infielder who prepped at Knoxville Catholic); Landon Smiddy (a pitcher from Farragut); Bryce Hodge (who played at Halls High before beginning his collegiate career at Walters State Community College) and Walker Trusley (a pitcher who starred in both baseball and football at Powell High School).

Other players with ties to the area include Owen Kovacs and Adam Birkholz, who both pitched at Farragut, and Bubba Hubbard who played at Walters State.

First pitch for the game between Tennessee (17-3) and the Bucs is slated for 6:30 p.m. EDT.

ETSU, Randy Sanders defeat Samford in spring season opener

The Southern Conference is playing a 2021 spring football season due to not competing in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Southern Conference is playing a 2021 spring football season due to not competing in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

East Tennessee State kicked off its spring season Saturday with a 24-17 victory over Samford.

After falling behind 14-0 entering the second quarter, ETSU outscored Samford 24-3 for the remainder of the contest.

Randy Sanders. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Randy Sanders is in his third season as head coach for ETSU. He won the Southern Conference championship in his first season as the Buccaneers’ head coach during the 2018 campaign.

Sanders played quarterback at Tennessee (1984-88) and was a longtime assistant coach for the Vols (1989-2005).

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UT men’s tennis downs East Tennessee State

Recapping the Vols’ tennis victory over ETSU.

The University of Tennessee men’s tennis team kept its perfect record intact with a 7-0 victory over East Tennessee State University Tuesday afternoon at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

The Volunteers (3-0), who are ranked No. 13 in the nation, lost just one set to ETSU in matches that counted in the team scores.

At No. 1 singles: Johannus Monday defeated the Buccaneers’ Yusf Khamis 6-4, 6-1.

At No. 2 singles, UT’s Martim Prata downed Frazier Rengifo 6-1, 6-2. In the third rung on the singles ladder, the Vols picked a victory when Giles Hussey swept Dimitri Badra 6-1,6-1.

At No. 4, Mark Wellner beat Milo Bargron 6-4, 6-3.

Tennessee’s Luca Wiedenmann won at No.5 singles and the Vols’ prevailed as Joel Gamerova won his match.

The Vols won eight of nine matches played, but clinched early. Tennessee also prevailed in two doubles matches that didn’t figure in the final dual match score against ETSU (0-1).

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Kellie Harper recaps Lady Vols’ win against ETSU

Tennessee defeated ETSU, 67-50.

The Lady Vols (2-0) defeated East Tennessee State, 67-50, Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper met with media to discuss the Lady Vols’ win.

Tennessee will return to action Sunday at West Virginia for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. EST and the game will be streamed on Big 12 Now/ESPN+.

UT transcript:

Opening Statement:
“I’m glad we won the game. Obviously, for us, it was a little sloppy at times. Our execution needs to be better. I think the good thing is that we got to see a feisty team, a team that’s athletic on the perimeter. Hopefully, that will help us in our next few games. I’m disappointed in our execution on both ends of the court. We’ve got to get a lot better, but we’ve got time to do that, and I’m confident that we can.”

On what the team needs to do to build leads of 20+:
“Our first quarter, I think we shot over 60 percent from the field. The problem was that we had too many turnovers to start the game. We just needed to get shots up. If you get shots up, then you’re putting points up on the board at a pretty good clip. I think defensively, in the second half, I didn’t think we guarded very well. I don’t think we guarded 1-on-1. We’ve got to get down and guard. That has to be a priority for us, to defend better. Really, those two things will take care of a lot. If you take care of the basketball and get more shots up, you put more points up on the board. Then, if you prioritize defending on the other end and limit some of their easy buckets, then that lead grows.”

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Lady Vols topple ETSU

Recapping women’s basketball team’s victory over East Tennessee State Tuesday night

The Lady Vols returned to the hardwood in the friendly confines of Thompson-Bowling Arena Tuesday and notched their second victory of the 2020-21 season.

Tennessee defeated East Tennessee State, 67-50.

When the Lady Vols (2-0) last played the Buccaneers, UT averted an upset and escaped with a narrow 72-68 victory.

The Lady Vols made sure there was not a repeat performance this season.

Tennessee opened an 18-11 lead by the end of the first quarter against the Buccaneers and never looked back.

The Lady Vols had three players score in double figures.

Rae Burrell led the way as she scored a game-high 20 points. Rennia Davis added 15 and Jordan Horston finished with 12.

Keven Green chipped in with six points and Tamari Key scored six, while recording five rebounds for the Lady Vols.

Freshman Marta Suarez was UT’s leading rebounder. She totaled eight rebounds for the Lady Vols.

Jakhyia Davis led ETSU (1-1) with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Bucs’ freshman center is a product of Knoxville’s Bearden High School, where she was a four-time All-District 4-AAA Standout.

Lady Vols set for matchup with East Tennessee State

Tennessee will host East Tennessee State.

The Lady Vols (1-0) will host East Tennessee State (1-0) Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tipoff is slated for 7:02 p.m. EST. SEC Network+ will stream the in-state matchup.

Tennessee opened the 2020-21 season with a 87-47 win against Western Kentucky. East Tennessee State defeated Longwood, 62-56, in its season opener.

Tennessee leads the all-time series with East Tennessee State, 23-2-1.

The last meeting between the two schools came on Nov. 5, 2019. Tennessee was victorious, 72-68, opening the Kellie Harper head coaching era in front of a crowd of 5,881 at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tennessee.

The Lady Vols are 249-61-1 all-time versus four- year college teams from the Volunteer State.

Tennessee was 4-0 against in-state teams last season, defeating East Tennessee State, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt at home and the Commodores on the road.

KNOXVILLE, TN – NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Guard Jordan Horston #25 of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers during the game between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

Randy Sanders reflects on Johnny Majors, ‘Miracle at South Bend’

Randy Sanders reflects on Johnny Majors, Miracle at South Bend.

No. 13 Tennessee defeated No. 5 Notre Dame, 35-34, on Nov. 9, 1991 at Notre Dame Stadium.

The Vols rallied to victory after trailing Notre Dame by 24 points. The comeback is known as the “Miracle at South Bend.”

Notre Dame led Tennessee, 21-0, after the first quarter, and 31-7 with less than a minute to play in the first half.

Randy Sanders ETSU
Photo by Dan Harralson

Current East Tennessee State head coach Randy Sanders served as Tennessee’s wide receivers coach in 1991.

Sanders joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” and discussed the Vols’ comeback win at Notre Dame. He also reflected on his time coaching and playing for former UT head coach Johnny Majors.

The show can be listened to here or below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/839457553″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Tennessee Two-A-Days · Randy Sanders

Jason Shay named men’s basketball head coach at ETSU

Jason Shay named men’s basketball head coach at ETSU.

JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University has named a former Tennessee assistant as its next men’s basketball coach.

The school promoted assistant coach Jason Shay to head coach Wednesday.

Shay replaces Steve Forbes, another former UT assistant, who led the Buccaneers to the Southern Conference regular-season championship and tournament title en route to being named conference coach of the year in 2020.

Forbes was named head coach at Wake Forest recently and was hired there by former Tennessee athletics director John Currie.

Shay and Forbes were both assistant coaches for the Volunteers under Bruce Pearl.

Shay, who was named interim head coach at ETSU upon Forbes’ departure, was an assistant for the Bucs over the past five seasons. He was an assistant on Rocky Top for six seasons and worked for Pearl for more than a decade.

Forbes, who guided ETSU to a 30-4 record last season, coached in Knoxville between 2006-11.

Former Vol assistant Steve Forbes guides ETSU to NCAA Tournament

Former Vol assistant Steve Forbes guides ETSU to NCAA Tournament.

ASHEVILLE — Former University of Tennessee assistant and men’s basketball coach Steve Forbes is headed back to the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Forbes and his East Tennessee State University team punched their ticket to the Big Dance when they defeated Wofford, 72-58, Monday night in the Southern Conference Championship game at U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Buccaneers won the regular-season Southern Conference title and were the top seed in the postseason tournament.

The Bucs (30-4) are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2017.

Forbes has been the head coach at ETSU since 2015 when he replaced Murry Bartow.

Forbes is the 2020 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and was an assistant at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl between 2006-11.

He has won 130 games as the head coach in Johnson City.

Jason Shay, who also coached under Pearl on Rocky Top, is an assistant on Forbes’ staff with the Buccaneers.