University of Tennessee Athletics
Volleyball Opens Home Slate with Comcast Lady Vol Classic
September 11, 2008 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2008
Tournament Notes in PDF Format 
| Tournament Central
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team (3-3) will christen the home portion of its schedule this weekend as it is set to host the sixth annual Comcast Lady Vol Classic at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Sept. 12 and 14. The Big Orange will welcome Gardner-Webb, Dayton and No. 17 Illinois to Rocky Top for the two-day competition.
UT opens the tournament at 10 a.m. on Fri., Sept. 12, against Gardner-Webb before it squares off with Dayton at 7 p.m. that same evening. After a day off due to the Tennessee - UAB football game, the Big Orange will return to action at 1 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 14, against Dayton.
Senior outside hitter Milan Clarke will look to continue her steady play after she led all players on the UT squad at the Denver Pioneer Classic with 38 kills and an average of 3.17 kills per game. Junior Kylie Marshall had a solid weekend as well, displaying her versatility by splitting time between the outside hitter and libero positions. The Puyallup, Wash., native tallied 14 kills on 42 swings, 41 digs, four aces and four blocks over the weekend.
Tickets for this weekend's matches will be available for purchase at the northwest corner of the arena on the upper level. Parking will be available for free in the G5/G30 lot above the parking garage adjacent to the arena. Fans wishing to follow along with this weekend's matches live at home can do so by clicking on the "Live Stats" link available at www.UTLadyVols.com.
Next week, the Orange and White will close out its longest homestand of the season when it opens Southeastern Conference play against Mississippi State and Alabama. UT will take on the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. in Thompson-Boling on Fri., Sept. 19, before hosting the Crimson Tide at 1:30 p.m. just two days later.
SCOUTING GARDNER-WEBB
Tennessee looks to get back on track this weekend when it faces Gardner-Webb on Friday at 10 a.m. to open the sixth annual Comcast Lady Vol Classic. GWU comes into the match with a record of 2-5 after winning two out of three matches in the Runnin' Bulldog Classic last weekend and dropping a match at Furman on Tuesday.
GWU freshman middle blocker Laura Wilcox was named the Big South Freshman of the Week last week after posting 30 kills and .295 attack percentage for the tournament and being named to the all-tournament team.
Senior OH Heidi Steinebrunner leads the squad with 57 kills, good for a 2.85 kills per set average, while junior setter Regina Feagin paces the team with a 7.70 assists per set average and 62 total digs. Feagin already owns the school record for assists with a total of 2,782.
Bethany Martin, a 5-10 senior from Beaver Dam, Penn., is poised to make history this weekend as she needs just one block to pass Deshay Duddy for the all-time GWU career record. Martin and Duddy are currently tied at 197 career blocks.
Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between Tennessee and Gardner Webb.
SCOUTING NO. 17 ILLINOIS
The Lady Vols will cap off a doubleheader on Friday against the 17th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin's squad stands at 5-1 this season with its only loss coming at the hands of No. 7 Stanford. Four players are averaging more than 2.14 digs per set and the Illini have 64.0 total blocks for the season, good for 14th among all Division I schools.
Illinois is paced by a strong sophomore class, which includes team statistical leaders Laura DeBruler (4.59 kills per set), Hillary Haen (132 assists, 6.00 assists per set average), and Johannah Bangert (.341 attack percentage).
DeBruler has been named to the all-tournament team in both of her team's tournaments this season and was a preseason All-Big-Ten selection. Junior libero/defensive specialist Ashley Edinger, meanwhile, leads the team with 4.77 digs per set.
The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 2-2, with the last meeting coming on Sept. 25, 1987, a 3-0 Illini win.
SCOUTING DAYTON
Tennessee will close out the 2008 Comcast Lady Vol Classic on Sunday when it faces the Dayton Flyers at 1 p.m. After sweeping its three opponents at last week's Dayton Flyer Invitational, the Flyers are sitting at 4-2 in Head Coach Kelly Sheffield's first season. UD faces Illinois and Gardner Webb on Friday.
Offensively, Dayton is led by 6-6 middle blocker Lindsay Fletemeier, a redshirt sophomore from Garden City, Mich. Fletemeier has 85 kills this season and is attacking at a clip of .330. She also leads the team with 23 total blocks, five of which are of the solo variety. The Flyers are ranked 25th among Division I programs with an average of 14.08 kills per set.
Dayton also boasts one of the country's best defensive units as it currently sit at 14th in the nation with an average of 16.76 digs per set. The defense is commanded by senior OH/L Nicole Bateman, who has 107 digs this season, and Erin Schroeder, a fifth-year senior setter who is second on the team with an average of 3.56 digs per set. Schroeder also ranks 37th in the NCAA with an average 10.6 assists per set,
The Lady Vols are winless all-time against Dayton in two matches, the last of which was a 3-1 defeat on September 6, 1997.
UT HISTORY IN HOME OPENERS
Throughout the years, the University of Tennessee volleyball team has amassed a stellar 25-5 (.833) record in home openers. During the Rob Patrick era, the Lady Vols have been even better with a 10-1 (.909) mark in his 11 years at the helm. The lone loss during that span was to LSU on Sept. 21, 2001.
SUCCESS IN HOME TOURNAMENTS
The UT volleyball team will be looking to keep its 12-match non-conference home tournament winning streak intact this weekend as it takes on Gardner-Webb, Illinois and Dayton. The Lady Vols have not lost on their home court in tournament play since suffering a five-game defeat at the hands of Michigan on Sept. 13, 2003.
PATRICK CLOSING IN ON RECORD
Lady Vol Head Coach Rob Patrick needs just six more victories this season to become the all-time winningest volleyball coach in Tennessee history. He currently ranks second with a 224-128 record (.636) behind only Bob Bertucci who recorded a 229-115 (.662) mark from 1979-86.
He became just the second coach in UT volleyball history to record 200 career wins with a 3-1 victory over Arkansas on Sept. 17, 2006.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native has led a resurgence of volleyball on the UT campus since his arrival in 1997. Six of the eight years prior to that season, UT had recorded losing campaigns, while Patrick has earned a winning record in nine of the last 10 years, en route to setting the school mark for consecutive seasons above .500 with nine straight from 1998-2006. He bested the previous mark of seven (1978-84) with his 17th win of the 2006 campaign.
FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT
The much heralded UT rookie class is already beginning to make an impact on the court this season with three different freshman having already earned starting nods through the team's first six contests.
Setter Kelsey Mahoney and middle blocker Alyssa Hilby have both started two matches, while fellow classmate Kayla Jeter was named a starter against Denver in the final match of the Pioneer Classic on Sept. 6.
Mahoney is second on the squad with 108 assists and 4.50 assists per game this season in addition to having collected five aces and 26 digs. In just two matches, Hilby has accumulated six kills and eight blocks, while Jeter has seven kills, two aces, 15 digs and seven blocks in a trio of contests.
UT CLAIMS TITLE AT MARQUETTE KICKOFF TOURNAMENT
The University of Tennessee volleyball team opened its season in style, claiming the Marquette Kickoff Tournament title with three wins in two days on Aug. 29-30.
UT christened the campaign with a three-set sweep over in-state rival Chattanooga, 25-13, 25-14, 25-18, on Aug. 29, before taking out Houston in five sets, 25-12, 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, 15-10, and Marquette in four frames, 25-14, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, the following day.
Sophomore Nikki Fowler took home tournament Most Valuable Player honors as well as SEC Offensive Player of the Week accolades after knocking out a team-high 41 kills over the course of the weekend, while senior Milan Clarke and juniors Kylie Marshall and Chloe Goldman earned spots on the all-tournament team as well.
CHANGING THINGS UP A BIT
Following a tough season in 2007, UT Head Coach Rob Patrick decided to change up his recruiting tactics a little bit in an attempt to jumpstart his team. For the first time during his tenure at Rocky Top, Patrick signed a player from the state of Tennessee when middle blocker DeeDee Harrison made the decision to attend Tennessee.
He also went a different route by bringing in junior setter Michaela Hanakova, a transfer from Salt Lake Community College. She is the first junior college player to come to UT since Laura Paul joined the program from Southwest Missouri State - West Plains for the 1999 and 2000 campaigns. Her arrival came just one year after Erika Brez came to Rocky Top from Parkland College in 1998.
FOWLER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SEC TEAM
University of Tennessee sophomore outside hitter Nikki Fowler was named to the 2008 preseason All-Southeastern Conference team on Aug. 21. The poll was the first in the history of the conference and featured nine athletes.
Fowler was the only underclassman to make the squad, which also consists of seven seniors and one junior. Each SEC head volleyball coach voted for seven players and no ties were broken. The Eastern Division had five players recognized, while the West had four. LSU led all teams with three selections, and Florida had two.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Fowler became just the second player in UT history to garner a postseason player of the year award during her initial season at Rocky Top, being named 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year. She also earned a spot on the conference's all-freshman team.
The first SEC Freshman of the Year in Tennessee history, Fowler played a critical role in a number of areas for the Lady Vols during her rookie campaign, leading the Big Orange with 370 kills, 1,081 total attacks and 449.0 points and averaging a team high 3.27 kills per game and 3.97 points per game. She also stood second on the squad with 26 aces and 98 blocks, third on the team with 98 assists and 0.87 blocks per game and fourth with 281 digs and 2.49 digs per game.
The only other Lady Vol to claim a postseason player of the year award is Amy Morris, who was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year following the 2005 season.
UT PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN SEC EAST
For the second consecutive season, the University of Tennessee volleyball team has been picked to finish third in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division, as determined by a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, the conference office announced. With a total of 33 points, the Lady Vols were selected to finish behind league-title favorites Florida and Kentucky.
Following Florida (11 points), Kentucky (18) and Tennessee (33) in the East were Georgia (38) and South Carolina (40). LSU, meanwhile, was the unanimous selection to win the Western Division, with Ole Miss (21), Alabama (27), Arkansas (41), Auburn (44) and Mississippi State (52) rounding out the group.
The Gators received the majority of the votes for SEC champion with seven, while LSU earned three and the Wildcats picked up a single nomination in the preseason survey.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER
The 2008 Lady Vol roster boasts a pair of freshmen with strong athletic pedigrees as the fathers of both DeeDee Harrison and Kayla Jeter are former stars in the National Football League.
Harrison's father, former Vanderbilt star Dennis "Bigfoot" Harrison, spent 10 seasons as a defensive end with the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. In addition, her brother, David Harrison, is currently a center on the Indiana Pacers roster in the NBA. Her father earned a spot in the NFL Pro Bowl in 1981, while her brother was named to the All-Big XII First Team and earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American honors at Colorado in 2004. In all, Harrison has 11 siblings, including five brothers and six sisters.
Meanwhile, Jeter's father, Gary, was an All-American defensive tackle for Southern California, a top-five draft pick and played in the NFL for 13 seasons with the New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. During the 1985 season with the Rams, he was a teammate of and played on the same defensive line as DeeDee's father, Dennis.
LADY VOL OLYMPIC CONNECTION
While the 2008 Beijing Olympics took place halfway across the globe, there was at least one connection that linked Tennessee volleyball to Olympic gold, as UT Head Coach Rob Patrick is a former coach of two-time beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh.
During the 1996 season, Walsh was a freshman on the NCAA National Champion Stanford team on which Patrick was an assistant coach. That year, Walsh was named National Freshman of the Year and first team All-American after she and Patrick helped lead the Cardinal to a Pac-10 title and a victory over Hawaii in the national championship match.
MOVIN' TO AN ARENA...DOWN BY THE RIVER
After spending 10 seasons in Stokely Athletics Center, the Lady Vol volleyball team has made the short move down to the Tennessee River to play in Thompson-Boling Arena for the 2008 campaign.
The Big Orange hopes that it can bring with it the tradition of home-court dominance that it displayed in Stokely, where it amassed an impressive 98-34 (.742) record following a multi-million dollar renovation that was completed prior to the 1998 season.
Another tradition that UT hopes to continue at Thompson-Boling is that of record-breaking attendance. Tennessee has competed in TBA on two prior occasions, setting the top two home attendance marks in the process, including a crowd of 3,311 that came to see the Orange and White take on Georgia on Oct 28, 2005. In 2008, the volleyball configuration at TBA will provide seating for up to 7,000 Big Orange faithful.
BRINGING IN THE BEST
The University of Tennessee volleyball program's 2008 recruiting class has been ranked as the 13th-best group of incoming players in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.
The talented class features six student-athletes, including five freshmen and a junior college transfer.
Joining the Big Orange this fall are 5-7 defensive specialist Amanda Friday (Springfield, Va.), 6-3 middle blocker Alyssa Hilby (Tacoma, Wash.), 5-10 setter Kelsey Mahoney (Fort Worth, Texas), 5-11 outside hitter Kayla Jeter (Solon, Ohio), 6-3 middle blocker DeeDee Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.) and 5-8 junior setter Michaela Hanakova (Brno, Czech Republic).
LADY VOLS ON TV
The University of Tennessee volleyball team will make at least two appearances on television this season. The Lady Vols will first hit the airwaves on Sun., Oct. 12, when they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the University of Florida at 1:30 p.m. The match will be shown live on Sun Sports.
UT will also be on television on Sun., Nov. 16 when South Carolina makes the trip to Rocky Top for a 1:30 p.m. contest. That match will be tape delayed and broadcast on FOX Sports Regional Networks at 3:30 p.m. that same day.
