VB Weekend Preview: Tennessee Classic

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee volleyball kicks off its 2023 campaign this weekend, as UT plays host to the Tennessee Classic Friday and Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

The Lady Vols welcome Marist, Texas State and UT Martin to Rocky Top for the season's opening weekend. The Big Orange will play three matches over the two-day tournament, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET against Texas State.

Tennessee plays twice on Saturday, starting at 12:30 p.m. with Marist before closing out the weekend at 6:30 p.m. against UT Martin.

For fans planning to attend, note that Tennessee's clear-bag policy will be in effect again this season. All fans should enter through Gate C.

TENNESSEE CLASSIC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
Friday, August 26
Marist vs. Texas State – 10 a.m.
Marist vs. UT Martin – 4 p.m.
Tennessee vs. Texas State – 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 27
Texas State vs. UT Martin – 10 a.m.
Tennessee vs. Marist – 12:30 p.m.
Tennessee vs. UT Martin – 6:30 p.m.

TICKETING PROCEDURE
Tickets to all Tennessee Athletics events are digital and can be accessed through a mobile device to improve security and reduce the risk of ticket fraud as well as make the process more convenient for fans.

Fans will gain admission into all venues via a unique QR code which will be scanned directly from a mobile device. For quick and easy entry into Tennessee Athletics venues, fans are encouraged to download the Tennessee Athletics app from the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android).

Digital tickets can be managed via a mobile device or desktop web browser, but a mobile device is required for venue access on matchdays.

Your mobile device is the ticket on gameday. All valid digital tickets will display a moving barcode or a hold near reader (tap-and-go) icon. PLEASE NOTE: SCREENSHOTS OF TICKETS WILL NOT SCAN AT THE GATE AND WILL NOT ALLOW ENTRY!

2023 Roster Breakdown

The 2023 edition of Tennessee volleyball looks to be a fun one with plenty of big-time matchups in store and a cast of talented student-athletes ready to compete.
With a roster of 21 student-athletes, the Lady Vols boast one on of the deepest squads in the league. Head coach Eve Rackham Watt and her staff will have plenty of options at each position this season.
In total, there are 12 returners from a year ago, including five starters and the libero, while four transfers arrived on Rocky Top with a combined 15 seasons of Division I experience. Three of the four will be playing in their fifth season thanks to the extra COVID year. Rounding out the roster, UT brought in five freshmen from around the country.
Tennessee will be led by Morgahn Fingall, who earned All-America honors last season as one of the nation's top attackers. Between Fingall, Erykah Lovett and Jenaisya Moore, the Big Orange enjoys a formidable group of outside hitters.
Moore was the highlight of this transfer class, arriving in Knoxville after four seasons at Ohio State. Lovett was a huge addition from the transfer portal last season, when she totaled 379 kills, 312 digs and 13 double-doubles as a sophomore.
With the departures of middle blocker Danielle Mahaffey and setter Natalie Hayward, the Lady Vols have options to address those positions.
After earning SEC All-Freshman Team honors last year, Kiki Granberry and transfer Raeven Chase will present a strong front for Tennessee at the middle blocker spot. Granberry posted 103 total blocks last year, while Chase has crossed the triple-digit blocks mark during each of her last three seasons.
At setter, graduate transfer Lauren Woodford from Syracuse, graduate student Kylie Robinson and redshirt freshman Caroline Kerr will battle it out for the spot.
Rounding things out, the libero position will be up for grabs between Ashllyn King, who transitioned to the role last year after starting out as an outside hitter and defensive specialist, and graduate transfer Yelianiz Torres.

Recapping Fingall's 2022 Campaign

As a senior last season, Morgahn Fingall enjoyed the best year of her career, earning All-American recognition by AVCA and VolleyballMag.com. She received an All-SEC First Team nod and was stellar in the classroom, being named the 2022 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Cementing herself as one of the nation's best attackers, Fingall led the SEC in kills per set and points per set last season while also finishing second in kills and total points. She ranked in the top-30 nationally in all four categories despite being 91st in the nation in total attacks, making her one of the most efficient players in the nation.
Fingall is on the verge of entering the Lady Vols all-time top-10 lists for both kills and kills per set, giving her an opportunity to etch her name further into UT history. Last season, her 483 kills and 4.39 kills per set were the second most in Tennessee history during a single season in the 25-point rally-scoring era. She ranks fourth among returning Power 5 players in kills per set.
In total, she posted double-digit kills in 26 matches, including eight outings with 20-plus kills and three efforts with 25 or more kills.
She broke or matched the Tennessee records during in the 25-point rally-scoring era by number of sets played: three (23 vs. Alabama), four (27 vs. LSU) and five (29 vs. Mississippi State).

Transfer Class Set to Make an Impact

During the offseason, the Lady Vols added four talented transfers, who are expected to make immediate impacts, to their already veteran group.
Graduate student Jenaisya Moore comes to Rocky Top after playing four seasons for Ohio State as an outside hitter. She helped lead the Buckeyes to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a regional final run (Elite Eight) in 2022. Last season, she set a career-high with 362 kills and hit a career-best .249 as one of the top attackers in the country.
Graduate student Yelianiz Torres joined the Lady Vols after four seasons as a libero for Bowling Green, in which she appeared in every match and collected a career-high 579 digs. Her experience and skill at the libero position made her a massive addition for the Lady Vols.
Helping fill a major void at middle blocker is graduate student Raeven Chase from Eastern Michigan. During her time in Ypsilanti, she was twice named to the All-MAC First Team and has recorded 100-plus blocks in each of the last three seasons, making her one of the top shot blockers in the nation. She brings 765 career kills and 422 career blocks to Rocky Top.
Rounding out the group is setter Lauren Woodford, who is a graduate transfer from Syracuse with two years of eligibility remaining. Last season, she led the Orange with 568 assists and averaged 5.51 assists per set. For her career, she boasts 568 assists for an average of 5.51 assists per set.

UT Excited for Challenging 2023 Slate

The only way to be the best is to beat the best, and Tennessee volleyball will have plenty of opportunities to pick up some massive wins this season, as the Lady Vols take on five conference champions and 10 NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
Six of the 10 NCAA Tournament programs earned national seeds, while five programs advanced to at least the round of 16.
The Big Orange's first major test comes the second week of the season, when UT travels to San Diego to take on the Toreros and Boston College before heading to Madison, Wisconsin, to face the Badgers.
San Diego, who advanced to the NCAA Tourney semifinals as a No. 2 seed, posted one of the best records in the country last season, going 31-2 with eight ranked wins and a perfect league record to win the West Coast Conference. The Toreros' only losses on the season were against Louisville and Texas, who faced off in the National Championship match.
Boston College narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament and went on to win the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
Wisconsin is the reigning Big Ten champs. The Badgers earned a No. 1 seed a year ago thanks to a 28-4 record and made it to the quarterfinals.
The following weekend, the Lady Vols hit the road again for matchups against two more conference champions: Loyola Chicago and Marquette. Loyola won the Atlantic 10 Championship and put together a strong 25-9 record. Marquette won the BIG EAST Conference regular season title to earn a No. 4 seed. The Golden Eagles were primed for a strong postseason run but fell to the eventual NCAA champions in the third round to finish with a 29-4 record.
In SEC play, Tennessee will play eight matches against NCAA Tournament teams, including a home-and-home series against Kentucky, who was a No. 3 national seed, and a road trip to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators, reigning SEC Champs. Both teams advanced to the third round of the tournament last season.

Granberry, Pawlik Learned From Valuable Reps in 2022

With Danielle Mahaffey missing the majority of the 2022 campaign, two middle blockers earned valuable reps that prepared them for even bigger roles this season.
Kiki Granberry, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, and Klaudia Pawlik were both expected to added depth at the blocker position last year but were quickly thrust into starting roles.
Granberry started in all but one match on the year and led the team in total blocks with 103 in 114 sets. She was also third on the team in kills, tallying 149.
Pawlik started in the other middle blocker role until Mahaffey returned during the back half of the season. The Poland native made the most of her opportunity, recording an impressive 67 blocks in just 59 sets player. Her 1.14 blocks per set were second on the team behind only Mahaffey's 1.15 bps in 41 sets.
Along with Raeven Chase, the Tennessee middle blockers are expecting big things this year thanks to valuable experience earned in 2022.

Lady Vols Return Second-Highest Percentage of Kills in SEC

During three of the first five seasons under head coach Eve Rackham Watt's direction, the Lady Vols ranked inside the top three in the SEC in kills. Last year, the squad ranked second, marking the best finish since UT led the league in 2018 in Eve's first season on Rocky Top. Heading into 2023, Tennessee could boast its best offensive attack yet.
UT finished with 1553 kills last year. The Big Orange returned a whopping 1287 kills, meaning the group brings back 82.9% of its total team kills this season. That mark is the second-highest in the conference behind only Auburn (96.5%).
Led by Morgahn Fingall and Erykah Lovett, Tennessee returns its top four attackers from a year ago. Fingall (483) and Lovett (379) both ranked inside the top 10 in the SEC in kills, while Kiki Granberry (149) and Jasmine Brooks (133) round things out. Between the four, they accounted for 74 percent of UT's kills last year.
To make things even scarier for opposing defenses, the Lady Vols brought in one of the top transfers in the country in Jenaisya Moore, who set a career-high with 362 kills last year with Ohio State. Paired with Fingall and Lovett, the trio looks to be one of the best attacking fronts in the country.
In fact, Tennessee is one of only 10 schools in all of Division I and is the only SEC team to boast three individuals on its 2023 roster (including transfers) who combined for more than 1,000 total kills in 2022, with Fingall, Lovett and Moore. The trio's numbers ranked fifth nationally for most combined kills from last year with 1,224 and were the third most among Power 5 schools.

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Players Mentioned

Jasmine Brooks

Raeven Chase

Morgahn Fingall

Natalie Hayward

Caroline Kerr

Ashllyn King

Erykah Lovett

Danielle Mahaffey

Jenaisya Moore

Klaudia Pawlik

Kylie Robinson

Yelianiz Torres

Lauren Woodford

University of Tennessee Athletics