University of Tennessee Athletics
NINTH-RANKED LADY VOLS READY FOR NCAA REGIONALS THIS WEEKEND
December 09, 2004 | Volleyball
Dec. 9, 2004
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- With a pair of victories over Eastern Kentucky and Texas A&M last weekend, the No. 9 University of Tennessee volleyball team (32-2) advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since a three-year run from 1982-84. In the process the Lady Vols won two NCAA Tournament matches for the first time in school history. From 1982-84, the Lady Vols needed only one victory to reach the Sweet 16.
A match-up with Ohio State (29-3), the fifth seed nationally, awaits No. 12 Tennessee in Minneapolis, Minn. First serve at 5 p.m. CST. Georgia Tech (27-6) faces No. 4 Minnesota (30-4) in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.
The two winners face off at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the regional final, which will be broadcast live by CSTV. The winner of that match advances to the national semifinals, which take place on Dec. 16 in Long Beach, Calif. The national championship match is on Dec. 18.
In all-time play, Ohio State has won all six meetings with Tennessee, the last appearance occurring on Sept. 12, 1997 by 15-3, 15-0, 18-16 scores.
The Big Orange has won both meetings with Georgia Tech, both of which were of the five-game variety. The most recent match was on Oct. 20, 1993, with UT prevailing, 12-15, 15-11, 3-15, 15-10, 15-11.
The Lady Vols have fallen to Minnesota in the squads' three all-time meetings, the most recent one coming by 15-5, 15-5, 15-11 scores on Sept. 15, 2000.
Tennessee is the only SEC team still playing in this year's NCAA Tournament. Georgia and Arkansas each fell in their first round matches, while Florida saw its streak of 13 straight Sweet 16 appearances come to an end with a second round loss to Stanford, 25-30, 30-15, 21-30, 30-27, 15-9.
Including home wins over Eastern Kentucky (30-24, 30-16, 30-22) and Texas A&M (30-21, 24-30, 30-23, 32-30) this season, Tennessee is 6-6 in NCAA Tournament play all-time, 5-0 at home, 1-3 on the road and 0-3 at neutral sites.
Tennessee's .938 winning percentage is the third highest among NCAA Division I teams, trailing only Hawai'i's 1.000 (28-0) and Nebraska's .964 (27-1) winning percentages. UT will break the school record for highest winning percentage. The previous standard of .864 was set by the 1973 squad's 38-6 mark. The last time that the Big Orange won 32 or more matches occurred in 1981 as that squad went 34-22.
Meanwhile, Tennessee's 15-1 SEC mark not only gave UT a school record for conference victories, originally set last season when the Lady Vols went 10-6 in SEC play, but also set the school record for highest conference winning percentage at .938.
A perfect 9-0 November gave UT its second undefeated month (with at least four matches) in school history. UT previously went undefeated in September 1979 with a 6-0 mark. Teams that did not suffer a defeat in a month with fewer than four matches included the 2002 squad (3-0 in August), the 1996 team (2-0 in August), the 1990 Lady Vols (1-0 in August) and the 1981 Orange and White (1-0 in September).
UT brings its longest winning streak in 22 years into the NCAA Regionals as the Lady Vols have won their last 14 matches. The last team to win as many in a row was the 1980 squad, which ran off 22 straight from Oct. 2-31.
The Orange and White won their first nine matches of the season and then rebounded from a 3-1 loss at Michigan with nine more wins. After falling at home to then-No. 8 Florida, 3-1, the Lady Vols have been victorious ever since.
