University of Tennessee Athletics
Grubbs Hoping to Pay it Forward in Her Career
November 28, 2018 | Volleyball
By Rhiannon Potkey
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Tessa Grubbs usually has a large bag of ice or an electrical stimulation machine strapped to her right shoulder before and after Tennessee volleyball practices.
The surgically-repaired joint needs constant care for Grubbs to keep raining down kills on opponents.
But Grubbs carries something else on her shoulder that never leaves - a big chip.
Ever since former club coaches told Grubbs she would never be good enough to play volleyball at a high level, she's been determined to prove the doubters wrong.
Grubbs found a coach who believed in her, spent hours in the gym and has developed into one of the top college players in the country.
The 6-foot-3 junior outside hitter has helped Tennessee reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. The No. 19-ranked Lady Vols (25-5, 16-2) play Colorado State on Friday in the first round in Pullman, Wash.
An All-SEC selection, Grubbs finished conference play with 20 or more kills in six of the last 10 matches. The South Carolina native is averaging 4.18 kills per set this season, which ranks 33rd nationally.
"She has just been so reliable for us this season," Tennessee head coach Eve Rackham said. "Our setters feel really confident getting her the ball and giving her the ball. She gets a lot of sets in tight situations and she delivers. It almost seems like it doesn't faze her."
If not for Nic Allen, Grubbs may never have stayed in volleyball past middle school. Allen had just moved from California to South Carolina, and was asked to help coach club teams.
He immediately noticed Grubbs when he walked into the gym. She was already nearly six feet tall at age 13.
"They threw her on my team and told me she was not that good and would not amount to anything. They said she was really just tall," Allen said. "I looked at her feet and she had the biggest feet and I said, 'What do you mean she's not that good? How do you even know yet? She is 13.'"
Allen was convinced Grubbs had potential. She just needed someone to spend time helping her develop while she grew into her body and became more coordinated.
"She and I did lesson upon lesson upon lesson. I would teach her how to block and she would turn and kind of shuffle and trip over her feet all the time," Allen said. "I am not even exaggerating. She was kind of like a baby deer. But by the end of the year, she was pretty good."
It all finally clicked for Grubbs during one tournament when Allen put her on the outside and she executed a perfect swing. Allen decided to bring Grubbs to another club, and let them have a look at her skills.
"She was their No. 1 player in tryouts. I said, 'Huh, that's funny. I thought the same thing,'" Allen said. "I told her parents and they were like, 'What?' She was just hoping to make the 3s or 4s team and she ended up making the 1s team. It all took off from there."
Even as she's ascended in college and garnered more national attention, Grubbs remains grateful for Allen's guidance and confidence in her abilities.
"He worked with me and told me we are not giving up on you," Grubbs said. "He really was the reason I got where I am today. He had faith in me."
Grubbs is hoping to pay that forward in her own career. She believes in the power of sports to change lives for the better, no matter the level.
Grubbs lived in Belgium from the first through fourth grades while her dad managed nuclear power plants as a project manager for Westinghouse.
One of her close childhood friends in Belgium had a learning disability, and it inspired Grubbs to become a therapeutic recreation major at Tennessee.
"The kids with disabilities sat in a normal class with you, whereas here (in the U.S.) they separate the kids and allow them to grow in different ways than children who don't have disabilities," Grubbs said. "I really liked how they integrated everything over there and I wanted to bring that back and work with children with disabilities here."
Grubbs was reassured of her career path during a recent Tennessee camp.
"We had a little girl with Down syndrome and she was on our team," Grubbs said. "Seeing how excited she got playing volleyball, that is why I want to get into that."
Grubbs has played through pain during her three years at Tennessee. She had shoulder surgery last May to repair her labrum, bicep and rotator cuff - "go big or go home," Grubbs joked of the all-encompassing procedure - and she suffered a concussion in September that sidelined her for a few matches.
Through it all, Grubbs has remained diligent about improving different facets of her game to help the Lady Vols engineer a program turnaround in the first year under Rackham.
"She has totally expanded her range as an attacker," Rackham said. "When we got here, she was mostly a one-dimensional type hitter. I feel like through this season she has started to understand that she needs to be able to hit more than one thing and she has become much harder to defend now."
When Grubbs returns home to South Carolina, she still sees the former coaches that didn't think she would amount to much in volleyball.
She could have listened to them and left the sport, depriving Grubbs of a lifetime of memories and depriving college volleyball of a standout player.
Although Grubbs doesn't hold a grudge, she has never forgotten the snub.
"There are no hard feelings," Grubbs said. "But I am too competitive, so I knew I had to prove the entire club wrong."
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Tessa Grubbs usually has a large bag of ice or an electrical stimulation machine strapped to her right shoulder before and after Tennessee volleyball practices.
The surgically-repaired joint needs constant care for Grubbs to keep raining down kills on opponents.
But Grubbs carries something else on her shoulder that never leaves - a big chip.
Ever since former club coaches told Grubbs she would never be good enough to play volleyball at a high level, she's been determined to prove the doubters wrong.
Grubbs found a coach who believed in her, spent hours in the gym and has developed into one of the top college players in the country.
The 6-foot-3 junior outside hitter has helped Tennessee reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. The No. 19-ranked Lady Vols (25-5, 16-2) play Colorado State on Friday in the first round in Pullman, Wash.
An All-SEC selection, Grubbs finished conference play with 20 or more kills in six of the last 10 matches. The South Carolina native is averaging 4.18 kills per set this season, which ranks 33rd nationally.
"She has just been so reliable for us this season," Tennessee head coach Eve Rackham said. "Our setters feel really confident getting her the ball and giving her the ball. She gets a lot of sets in tight situations and she delivers. It almost seems like it doesn't faze her."
If not for Nic Allen, Grubbs may never have stayed in volleyball past middle school. Allen had just moved from California to South Carolina, and was asked to help coach club teams.
He immediately noticed Grubbs when he walked into the gym. She was already nearly six feet tall at age 13.
"They threw her on my team and told me she was not that good and would not amount to anything. They said she was really just tall," Allen said. "I looked at her feet and she had the biggest feet and I said, 'What do you mean she's not that good? How do you even know yet? She is 13.'"
Allen was convinced Grubbs had potential. She just needed someone to spend time helping her develop while she grew into her body and became more coordinated.
"She and I did lesson upon lesson upon lesson. I would teach her how to block and she would turn and kind of shuffle and trip over her feet all the time," Allen said. "I am not even exaggerating. She was kind of like a baby deer. But by the end of the year, she was pretty good."
It all finally clicked for Grubbs during one tournament when Allen put her on the outside and she executed a perfect swing. Allen decided to bring Grubbs to another club, and let them have a look at her skills.
"She was their No. 1 player in tryouts. I said, 'Huh, that's funny. I thought the same thing,'" Allen said. "I told her parents and they were like, 'What?' She was just hoping to make the 3s or 4s team and she ended up making the 1s team. It all took off from there."
Even as she's ascended in college and garnered more national attention, Grubbs remains grateful for Allen's guidance and confidence in her abilities.
"He worked with me and told me we are not giving up on you," Grubbs said. "He really was the reason I got where I am today. He had faith in me."
Grubbs is hoping to pay that forward in her own career. She believes in the power of sports to change lives for the better, no matter the level.
Grubbs lived in Belgium from the first through fourth grades while her dad managed nuclear power plants as a project manager for Westinghouse.
One of her close childhood friends in Belgium had a learning disability, and it inspired Grubbs to become a therapeutic recreation major at Tennessee.
"The kids with disabilities sat in a normal class with you, whereas here (in the U.S.) they separate the kids and allow them to grow in different ways than children who don't have disabilities," Grubbs said. "I really liked how they integrated everything over there and I wanted to bring that back and work with children with disabilities here."
Grubbs was reassured of her career path during a recent Tennessee camp.
"We had a little girl with Down syndrome and she was on our team," Grubbs said. "Seeing how excited she got playing volleyball, that is why I want to get into that."
Grubbs has played through pain during her three years at Tennessee. She had shoulder surgery last May to repair her labrum, bicep and rotator cuff - "go big or go home," Grubbs joked of the all-encompassing procedure - and she suffered a concussion in September that sidelined her for a few matches.
Through it all, Grubbs has remained diligent about improving different facets of her game to help the Lady Vols engineer a program turnaround in the first year under Rackham.
"She has totally expanded her range as an attacker," Rackham said. "When we got here, she was mostly a one-dimensional type hitter. I feel like through this season she has started to understand that she needs to be able to hit more than one thing and she has become much harder to defend now."
When Grubbs returns home to South Carolina, she still sees the former coaches that didn't think she would amount to much in volleyball.
She could have listened to them and left the sport, depriving Grubbs of a lifetime of memories and depriving college volleyball of a standout player.
Although Grubbs doesn't hold a grudge, she has never forgotten the snub.
"There are no hard feelings," Grubbs said. "But I am too competitive, so I knew I had to prove the entire club wrong."
Players Mentioned
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