University of Tennessee Athletics
UT VOLLEYBALL ATTAINS HIGHEST NATIONAL RANKING IN HISTORY
November 15, 2004 | Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2004
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Tennessee volleyball team (24-2, 13-1 SEC) rose three spots in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll released today to 12th, surpassing UT's previous highest ranking in school history of 13th, reached three times in 1983, on Oct. 3, Nov. 21 and 28.
The Lady Vols earned their latest ranking after sweeping Georgia, 30-20, 35-33, 30-18, on Friday and topping then-No. 7 Florida, 30-21, 23-30, 25-30, 31-29, 15-12, on Sunday. The victory over the Gators earned Tennessee a share of its first SEC regular-season championship in school history.
In the process, the Lady Vols made history by ending three astounding SEC winning streaks that Florida brought into the match: a 145-match regular season winning streak (an NCAA record), a 121-match overall (including SEC Tournaments) winning streak (also an NCAA record) and a 109-match home winning streak.
The last team to defeat Florida in a regular-season match was South Carolina by a 6-15, 15-12, 15-13, 15-12 score on Nov. 13, 1994. No SEC team had even taken two games from the Gators during the streak. The last squad to win any SEC match versus UF was Arkansas in the SEC Tournament title match, 15-7, 15-7, 17-15, in Athens, Ga., on Nov. 23, 1997. The last time Florida lost at home in the SEC was on Sept. 30, 1990, by a 15-7, 15-9, 15-11 score to LSU.
The Lady Vols earned not only its third win ever against a top-10 team but its first since Sept. 17, 1983, when the Orange and White topped No. 9 Arizona State, 2-15, 15-11, 15-10, 15-9. Prior to that, Tennessee defeated No. 7 Arizona, 15-11, 1-15, 15-13, on Nov. 5, 1982.
The Lady Vols broke the school record for conference victories after defeating Kentucky, 30-25, 30-24, 31-29, on Oct. 29 for their 11th SEC win. With a 15-1 final SEC mark this season, Tennessee also set a school mark for highest conference winning percentage at .938, breaking the previous standard of .833 (5-1), set in 1984.
UT's 26-2 overall record is its second-best mark through 28 matches in school history. The 1973 team went 25-1 on its way to 27-1 and 36-2 starts and a 38-6 final mark.
Tennessee has now been nationally ranked for 10 consecutive weeks after joining the elite group on Sept. 13 for the first time since Sept. 17, 1985. The stretch is the school's longest since the Big Orange was nationally ranked for 19 consecutive weeks from Nov. 15, 1982-Sept. 11, 1984.
The Lady Vols next head to the SEC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla., as the No. 2 seed, facing seventh-seeded Auburn at noon on Friday. The winner of that match plays the winner of the Arkansas-LSU contest at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The final to determine the SEC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament will commence at 3 p.m. on Sunday and be broadcast live on SEC-TV (Fox Sports Net South in the Knoxville area).
