Lady Vol 2V8 Earns Big 12 Boat of the Week Honors for Second Time

IRVING, Texas – For the second time this season, the Tennessee 2V8 crew has been named the Big 12 Boat of the Week by league coaches, the conference announced Wednesday.

The boat was coxed by Abigail Bacci and featured Kate Schildmeyer, Casey Chronister, Beatrice Bernard, Alex Pidgeon, Riley Ferdelman, Paige Reymann, Sheya Lavin and Haley Savastano. This marked the ninth time ever in which the Lady Vols won the award, and this was just the second time the second varsity eight earned the recognition. After only winning the weekly honor twice before last season, head coach Lisa Glenn has coached UT to seven Big 12 Boat of the Week awards between last year and this year.

The Big Orange earned a 14-1 record last weekend during the Lake Wheeler Invitational, winning two of its heat during the three-session regatta. The boat consistently threw up some of the top times among the second varsity eights in each session.

The crew came out on top its first race of the weekend thanks to an impressive 6:27.189 time to defeat top opponents No. 9 Syracuse and Boston University, which received votes in the most recent coaches poll. The effort was the third-fastest mark by a second varsity eight boat during the morning and was faster 14 of the first varsity eights.

During the squad's second race on Friday, the boat came in second behind eighth-ranked Penn with a time of 6:57.188 but topped Clemson and Alabama—both of which received votes—as well as Boston College and Louisville. The boat's effort was the second best of the 2V8 races in the afternoon, crossing the finish line faster than No. 9 Syracuse (6:59.561), No. 14 Duke (7:01.545) and No. 19 Iowa (7:08.445).

Picking up where it left off, the Lady Vol 2V8 dominated its heat to cap off a strong weekend showing on Saturday. UT jumped out to an early lead within seconds and never looked back to top Alabama, UCF, Georgetown, Navy and North Carolina. Comfortably cruising for more than half the race, the crew threw down a 6:49.259 effort, which was the third-fastest time of the day from the second varsity eights ahead of crews from ninth-ranked Syracuse and 19th-ranked Iowa. Only No. 8 Penn (6:45.275) and No. 14 Duke (6:49.079) recorded better marks.

For the season, the Tennessee 2V8 owns a 30-4 record.

Times:
Friday A.M. Session - 1. RV Tennessee (6:27.189), 2. #9 Syracuse (6:31.789), 3. RV Boston (6:36.265), 4. Louisville (6:44.895), 5. Oklahoma (6:50.595), 6. Georgetown (6:55.811)
Friday P.M. Session - 1. #8 Penn (6:47.610), 2. RV Tennessee (6:57.188), 3. RV Clemson (7:06.536), 4. Louisville (7:12.886), 5. Boston College (7:17.932), 6. RV Alabama (7:22.840)
Saturday A.M. Session - 1. RV Tennessee (6:49.259), 2. RV Alabama (6:57.825), 3. UCF (7:09.433), 4. Georgetown (7:14.033), 5. Navy (7:14.323), 6. North Carolina (7:18.657)

Up next, the Lady Vols are back in action this Saturday at the Virginia Invitational to wrap up the regular season. The field at Rivanna Reservoir will include the host Cavaliers as well as Navy and North Carolina.

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University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site

Lady Vol 2V8 Earns Big 12 Boat of the Week Honors for Second Time

Players Mentioned

Abigail Bacci

Beatrice Bernard

Casey Chronister

Riley Ferdelman

Sheya Lavin

Alex Pidgeon

Paige Reymann

Haley Savastano

Kate Schildmeyer

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