University of Tennessee Athletics
2023-24 Tennessee Athletics Year in Review
July 08, 2024 | Baseball, General, Tennessee Tailored
I'm telling you, this is not the last. Tennessee's coming in all sports. It's a special night, but this is the first of several to come. I really believe that.Peyton Manning
C H A M P I ?? N S
— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) May 20, 2024
Tennessee is the first SEC school to win regular season conference titles in men's basketball, softball and baseball in the same year. pic.twitter.com/hmqfcZcNci
Tennessee followed a record-breaking 2022-23 academic year with the most extraordinary year of success across all 20 sports in UT Athletics history.
The 2023-24 academic year was the best year of competitive results in Tennessee Athletics history under the leadership of Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White.
Tennessee finished third in the Learfield Directors' Cup, a record finish for UT. Last year's sixth-place showing was the previous high-water mark at Tennessee.
Tennessee baseball captured its first national championship. It marked the 24th team national title in Tennessee Athletics history and the first since women's indoor track and field in 2009.
The historic achievements this year on Rocky Top included:
- Tennessee, already one of only two schools with multiple SEC All-Sport Championships, won the trophy for the third consecutive year.
- For the first time in school history, all 20 sports reached the postseason (NCAAs and a bowl game). UT was one of two Power Five schools to have all sports reach the postseason this year.
- Tennessee is the only school in the nation to reach the postseason in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball in the last three years.
- UT was the only institution to win the SEC championship in men's basketball, softball, and baseball in the same year.
- Eleven sports finished this academic year in the Top 10 and six in the Top Five.
- Of UT's 20 teams, 19 earned a top-25 ranking in 2023-24, with 17 reaching the top 15, 13 claiming a top-10 spot and seven peaking in the top five.
- Tennessee won four SEC titles in 2023-24, for a total of 12 SEC championships since 2021. Prior to 2021, Tennessee won two SEC titles in the four years combined.
- Sophomore softball standout Karlyn Pickens was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year to lead the Lady Vols to their second straight SEC regular season championship.
- Senior Dalton Knecht was named SEC Player of the Year to lead men's basketball to its second outright SEC regular season title since 1967.
- Softball senior Rylie West received the University of Tennessee's highest student honor – the Torchbearer Award. It was the second consecutive year Tennessee softball had a player receive the Torchbearer Award, following Kiki Milloy's recognition last season. The first Torchbearers were awarded in 1931, and West is the 30th student-athlete to receive the honor and the second softball player to earn this recognition.
- Three Tennessee coaches were named the National Coach of the Year in their respective sport (Tony Vitello, Baseball; Kim Cupini, Rowing; Alison Ojeda, Women's Tennis).
- Knoxville again proved why it is America's College Sports City in 2023-24. Tennessee posted the highest overall attendance of any school in the nation across football, men's and women's basketball.
- A total of 1,161,218 people attended the Volunteers' 38 home events in those three sports. That figure put Tennessee over 96,000 above second-place LSU, which had 44 home events. The only other school to top one million was South Carolina, which had 41 home events.
- Tennessee football, men's basketball and baseball took full advantage of the tremendous fan support on Rocky Top, posting a combined 60-7 (.895 winning percentage) in 2023-24.
- The power of the Tennessee brand was on full display in terms of television ratings. Tennessee had 29 games with over 1 million viewers. Last year, Tennessee had 23 games with over 1M viewers.
- Tennessee's Elite Eight game vs. Purdue had 10.4 million viewers, the most watched early Elite Eight game in five years. Eleven men's basketball games drew over 1M viewers this season, up from 8 the year prior.
- Tennessee's 35-0 Citrus Bowl victory drew 6.8M viewers on ABC, the most-watched bowl game outside of the New Year's Six.
- In the final game of the College World Series, 3.34 million viewers made the deciding game the most watched baseball game this season to this point – college or pro.
America’s College Sports City strikes again ?? pic.twitter.com/vSwPD0HTwo
— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) April 17, 2024
- The Spring 2024 semester was another record-breaking term for Tennessee Athletics, as the student-athlete population posted a cumulative 3.37 GPA, the second-highest GPA for a spring semester in UT history.
- The strong showing in the spring follows the best semester GPA in Tennessee history with a 3.40 departmental GPA in the fall.
- All 16 sports earned a team GPA above 3.00 (third consecutive semester)
- 60 student-athletes earned a 4.00 semester GPA
- 221 student-athletes were recognized on their respective Dean's Lists
- 77 percent of UT's student-athletes earned a 3.00 GPA
BASEBALL – SEC CHAMPION, SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION, NATIONAL CHAMPION
The Tennessee baseball program reached the mountain top in 2024, winning the first National Championship in program history by defeating Texas A&M in the Men’s College World Series Finals. Led by ABCA National Coach of the Year Tony Vitello, the Volunteers became the first SEC team to ever win 60 games in a season, finishing with an incredible 60-13 overall record. UT also became just the fourth program in history to win the SEC regular season crown, the SEC Tournament title and the National Championship in the same year, cementing itself as one of the greatest college baseball teams ever.
Tennessee had seven players earn postseason All-America honors, led by consensus first-team selections Blake Burke (unanimous) and Christian Moore. Joining Burke and Moore as All-Americans were Drew Beam, AJ Causey, Dylan Dreiling, Dean Curley (Freshman Team) and Dylan Loy (Freshman Team).
The trio of Moore, Burke and Dreiling had a heavy hand in UT’s record-setting power numbers as the Big Orange led the nation with a program-record 184 home runs, which ranks second in NCAA Division I history, just four shy of LSU’s NCAA record of 188 homers in 1997. The Vols became the first team in NCAA history to have five players hit 20 or more home runs in a single season, led by Moore’s program record 34 long balls. Dreiling (23), Billy Amick (23), Burke (20) and Kavares Tears (20) were the other players to reach to 20-homer mark in 2024.
Tennessee’s pitching staff was once again one of the best in the nation, as well, finishing sixth in the country with a 3.89 ERA. The Vols also finished in the top five nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio, walks allowed per nine innings and WHIP. Senior lefty Zander Sechrist put together one of the most dominant postseasons in program history, posting a 4-0 record with a 1.57 ERA over five starts which included victories in the SEC Tournament semifinal, NCAA Knoxville Regional final and game three of the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional to send UT to Omaha for the seventh time in program history. Sechrist led the Vols to two more wins during their MCWS championship run, tossing a career-high tying 6.1 innings in a win over Florida State to send Tennessee to the championship series before striking out seven batters over 5.1 innings of one-run ball in the winner-take-all game three of the finals.
Sechrist was one of four Vols named to the MCWS All-Tournament Team, along with Moore, Curley and Dreiling, who was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after batting .542 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in Omaha, including going 7-for-12 with seven RBIs in the finals. The Kansas native became the first player in MCWS history to homer in all three games of the finals and also had the walk-off hit in UT’s thrilling comeback victory over Florida State in its opening game of the tournament.
Our moment. pic.twitter.com/FeFonVf6Ju
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) July 2, 2024
MEN'S BASKETBALL – SEC CHAMPION
The men’s basketball team (27-9, 14-4 SEC) posted arguably the finest season in program history. Tennessee won its sixth outright SEC regular season title (11th total), reached the Elite Eight for the second time and notched its highest finish in the AP and Coaches Polls (fifth). The 27 victories tied for the fourth-most ever by Tennessee, as did the 14 league triumphs, while the team’s seven AP top-25 wins tied a program record.
The Volunteers closed out the SEC regular season crown with a game to spare by defeating AP top-17 teams in back-to-back-to-back contests, their first time ever winning three straight affairs all against AP-ranked foes. The stretch concluded with road wins over AP top-25 foes in consecutive games, also a program first.
For the third straight year, Tennessee spent the entire season ranked in the AP top 25, extending the program record to 59 straight weeks, good for the third-longest active streak in the country. The Volunteers were in the top 10 in 19 of the 21 releases, including the top five nine times with a peak position of fourth nationally. Tennessee joined Arizona, Kansas and Purdue as the only schools to earn a top-five spot in each of the last three campaigns.
Head coach Rick Barnes became the 15th coach in DI history to eclipse 800 career wins, as well as surpassed 200 victories at Tennessee and 100 in SEC play. He also earned a spot on the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ballot as a first-time nominee, one of just two active DI coaches on the ballot for their coaching career. A finalist for Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, Barnes also earned his 28th NCAA Tournament trip, tying Bob Knight for fourth-most all-time at the DI level.
In his lone season at Tennessee, Dalton Knecht turned in one of the finest campaigns in program history. Knecht was the runner-up for AP National Player of the Year, a finalist for the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award, a consensus First Team All-American, the Julius Erving Award honoree and the SEC Player of the Year, among many other accomplishments. He won the SEC scoring title at 21.7 points per game, eighth-best in the country, and amassed 780 total points to rank fifth nationally and second in program history. Knecht set a school single-season record and led all DI players with six 35-point games.
Zakai Zeigler claimed SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition, the second Volunteer ever to do so. He was a First Team All-SEC pick by the league’s coaches and was named to the Bob Cousy Award Midseason Top 10 Watch List. Zeigler was also among 10 semifinalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Additionally, Jonas Aidoo collected Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team plaudits from the league’s coaches, plus AP First Team All-SEC and NABC Second Team All-District 20 distinction.
ROWING
In Tennessee’s first season under head coach Kim Cupini, Tennessee rowing recorded the best season in program history.
Starting the season ranked No. 17 In the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association’s (CRCA) Preseason Coaches Poll, Tennessee ascended to a No. 3 national ranking by season’s end.
The Lady Vols placed third nationally at the NCAA Championship in Sarasota, Florida, on June 2, earning a podium spot in two of the three Grand Final events while tallying 118 team points in all. Each of UT’s three NCAA Championship crews set program bests for boat placement, as its First Eight finished third, the Lady Vol Second Eight crew placed third and its Four boat earned fifth place nationally.
Cupini earned CRCA National Coach of the Year and Big 12 Co-Head Coach of the Year honors in her first season at the helm on Rocky Top. In addition, the Tennessee coaching staff collectively earned the CRCA Staff of the Year Award.
Tennessee’s regular season was highlighted by dominant outings at the Big Ten Invitational in Sarasota and Lake Wheeler Invitational in back-to-back weekends, placing a bow on the month of April. Victorious in 14 of its 15 races at the Big Ten Invitational and sweeping all 15 of its races at Lake Wheeler, Tennessee entered the postseason with resounding momentum.
At the Big 12 Championships, the Lady Vols tied their best-ever finish, placing second as a team and medaling in all five boats. Sarah Abrams, Alice Fahey, Meg Flanagan, Sasha Radovanovic and Emma Seawright each earned All-Big 12 Team recognition following the event’s conclusion.
Tennessee then entered its 10th NCAA Championships appearance all-time and second since 2010 with a trio of top-seven-seeded boats.
Under Cupini’s direction in year one, Tennessee upped its all-time First Team All-American count from three to seven, as Abrams, Fahey, Flanagan and Radovanovic each achieved CRCA Pocock First Team All-America status. Those four served as the first First Team All-Americans at Tennessee since Chelsea Pemberton achieved that feat in 2004.
Further, Emma Seawright earned All-America Second Team honors. Overall, Tennessee's five 2024 All-America selections mark such honors Nos. 14-18 for the program all-time.
Tennessee's 1V8+ crew accounted for a stellar 44-4 boat record in the spring season, earning Big 12 Boat of the Week honors on April 24. Its Second Eight crew posted a 42-6 mark, while the 1V4+ boat capped the year at 38-9. That totals out to a combined record of 124-19 (.867) for the Lady Vols' trio of NCAA Championship crews in 2024.
FOOTBALL
Under the direction of third-year head coach Josh Heupel, Tennessee football won nine games, finished No. 17 in both the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches polls and dominated Big Ten West champion, then-No. 17 Iowa, 35-0, in the program’s first Citrus Bowl appearance in two decades. True freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, making his first career start, was named MVP after accounting for four touchdowns.
It marked the Vols’ first shutout victory in a bowl game since beating Texas A&M, 3-0, in the 1957 Gator Bowl. Tennessee was the only SEC program during the 2023 bowl season to shutout an opponent. Three of the Vols’ four losses were versus teams who finished in the top eight of the final polls.
The 2023 campaign catapulted the Vols 20 victories over the past two seasons, representing the winningest two-year stretch for the program since 2003-04.
Vol Nation delivered as well, as Tennessee led the SEC in total home attendance (713,405) and average home attendance (101,915). Those figures ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the nation. UT sold out all of its season ticket inventory with 70,500 purchased, and the Vols sold out every home game of a season for the first time since 2006.
Academically, the program produced a school-record 63 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll recipients and garnered a cumulative team GPA over 3.00 for the third consecutive semester.
The much anticipated cheez-it bath ??#GBO ?? pic.twitter.com/3gUXALSOiR
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 1, 2024
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Lady Vols finished 20-13 overall and 10-6 in SEC play to tie for fourth in the league in 2023-24. The program reached that season victory total for the 47th time in school history and stayed perfect with its 42nd-straight NCAA Tournament berth before making an exit in the second round.
Fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson overcame being sidelined for eight games due to injury to average 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest, carding the ninth-best single-season scoring average in Lady Vol history. Prior to becoming the No. 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the 6-foot-2 forward earned AP, USBWA and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention, first-team All-SEC by the coaches and USA Today Sports Network, and SEC All-Tournament. She also finished as a top-five finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award for the second year in a row.
Senior guard Jewel Spear was UT’s second-leading scorer and top long-distance shooter in her first season with the program, averaging 13.1 points and draining a team-high 69 three-pointers to rank fourth in the SEC at 2.1 treys per contest. Fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell recorded a Lady Vol-high 136 assists for her third straight year over 100, and she was selected for the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off All-Island Division Team after her play in that tournament.
Redshirt senior Tamari Key finished as Tennessee’s all-time blocked shots leader and the SEC’s sixth best at 347, overcoming a season-ending medical diagnosis in 2022-23 to conclude her career with one final season on the court. Senior guard/forward Tess Darby was named to the SEC Community Service Team for the second year in a row, and junior forwards Sara Puckett and Karoline Striplin were voted to the CSC Academic All-District Team.
After an offseason coaching change, Kim Caldwell was named the fourth head coach in the history of women’s intercollegiate athletics at the University of Tennessee. The Parkersburg, W. Va., native, who has an eye-popping 217-31 record in eight seasons as a head coach, was hired after leading Marshall to a 26-7 overall record and 17-1 league mark in her record-setting first season there in 2023-24. She was named the WBCA’s Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year for that result and previously was voted as the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year after leading her alma mater, Glenville State, to an NCAA Championship in 2021-22.
The ?????????? ??
— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) April 16, 2024
With the 4th pick in the WNBA Draft, the @LASparks select Rickea Jackson!! pic.twitter.com/WSM5VuEJg6
CROSS COUNTRY
The Lady Vols raced their way to a special season – finishing sixth nationally at the NCAA Championships after qualifying for the NCAA meet for the first time since 2006. The placement was the program’s best since also finishing sixth in 1989 and tied for the second-best finish in Lady Vol cross country history.
The women won the NCAA South Region title for the first time since 2005 as Ashley Jones, Jillian Candelino, Jessie Secor, Rachel Sutliff, Caroline Lyerly and Kayla Gholar took home all-region honors.
At the SEC Cross Country Championships, the Lady Vols placed third with six total All-SEC honors.
On the men’s side, the Vols placed third at the SEC meet with three individuals earning All-SEC accolades. Tennessee defended its NCAA South Region title as it won the championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95. The Vols had five runners finish inside the top 31 with four capturing All-Region accolades.
The region crown punched Tennessee's ticket to the NCAA Championships where it finished No. 26 as a team. Its appearance at the national meet marked the first time UT has made consecutive trips to NCAAs since 2001-02.
Freshman Dean Casey was named the SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year – the first UT athlete to win the award – while head coach Sean Carlson was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.
MEN'S GOLF
The Tennessee men’s golf team opened the season with a team tournament title at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate, shooting 25-under overall with four three Vols finishing inside the top 10.
Just two tournaments later, the Vols picked up another title at the Fighting Irish Classic, winning by seven shots over second place Northwestern.
To conclude the fall season, UT posted a third-place showing at the Cypress Point Classic after picking up match play wins over Illinois and Pepperdine.
Tennessee's 2023-24 season—highlighted by a 10th-place NCAA Championships finish and program-record-tying three team tournament titles—featured eight top-four team finishes.
The team’s NCAA Championships finish was the first top-10 NCAA finish for the program since 1981. Following their dominant season, UT posted a final ranking of No. 7 with an overall record of 143-33-3.
With the Vols' win at the 2024 Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Tournament, Brennan Webb is now tied for third all-time in coaching wins (11) and etched his name in the record book as the first coach in program history to produce three triple-win seasons.
The Tennessee men’s golf trio of Jake Hall, Bryce Lewis and Evan Woosley-Reed were tabbed as All-America Honorable Mentions and also slated to PING’s All-Southeast Region Team.
Following consistent seasons, Lewis and Hall were named Second Team All-SEC as Murphy earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
3?? All-Americans in a single season for the first time in program history ??
— Tennessee Golf (@Vol_Golf) June 6, 2024
Never a doubt…?? pic.twitter.com/VGuPsqPEsC
SOFTBALL – SEC CHAMPION
The 2024 Tennessee softball season saw the Lady Vols make history as they won the SEC regular season title in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. Tennessee displayed its dominance throughout the title run, winning all eight of its SEC series.
Tennessee earned a No. 3 national seed in the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament – the highest seeding in program history. The postseason appearance was its 21st overall and 20th consecutive – advancing to the postseason every year since 2004 and hosting 19 straight regional rounds in Knoxville.
The Big Orange swept through the Knoxville Regional before falling in three games in the Knoxville Super Regional.
Eight Lady Vols and head coach Karen Weekly earned SEC postseason awards. Weekly was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row and for the fourth time during her tenure on Rocky Top.
In the circle, sophomore Karlyn Pickens was tabbed as the league's pitcher of the year – joining Monica Abbott as the only Lady Vols to bring home the honor.
McKenna Gibson, Payton Gottshall, Taylor Pannell, Pickens and Rylie West garnered All-SEC First Team accolades – while Kiki Milloy, Sophia Nugent and Zaida Puni landed second-team recognition.
Pickens was tabbed a consensus first-team All-American by the NFCA, D1Softball and Softball America. Gottshall earned first-team All-America accolades from the NFCA, while garnering second-team recognition from D1Softball and Softball America. Milloy was named a second-team All-American by Softball America.
WOMEN'S GOLF
The Lady Vols posted their lowest team round average (289.40) in program history. Their 74 rounds of par or better was also a program record, led by sophomore Manassanan Chotikabhukkana whose 19 par rounds now top the individual leaderboard.
Bailey Davis' 8-under (64) in the first round of the NCAA Regionals was the lowest postseason round in Tennessee history. The junior, under the direction of head coach Diana Cantu, finished the tournament 8-under (208), qualifying her to compete individually in the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, California.
SOCCER
In head coach Joe Kirt’s second season at the helm, Tennessee advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round after taking down No. 17 Xavier 1-0 in double overtime.
The victory over the fourth-seeded Musketeers marked the program’s first win when opening the NCAA Tournament on a seeded opponent’s home turf. Goalkeeper Ally Zazzara’s 15-save performance against Xavier tied a program record and earned her College Soccer News National Player of the Week honors.
Overall, Tennessee soccer finished the 2023 season with a 9-7-4 record and was No. 31 in the RPI.
Soccer player Kate Runyon made an immediate impact in her first season on Rocky Top which earned her SEC All-Freshman Team honors. The Westminster, Colorado, native appeared in 15 matches and while starting in nine before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Runyon concluded the season with four goals and one assist.
In her final collegiate season, Sizzy Lawton was named Second Team All-SEC after appearing in all 20 contests and starting 11 matches. Lawton concluded the 2023 season with seven goals and two assists.
Sizzy with the game winner ?? pic.twitter.com/bDRRnkqAiN
— Tennessee Soccer (@Vol_Soccer) November 12, 2023
SWIMMING & DIVING
For the second season in a row, Tennessee swimming & diving enjoyed historic success between both programs, as the Vols and Lady Vols finished inside the top six nationally for the first time in school history. UT combined to win eight gold medals at the SEC Championships, brought home five NCAA runner-up performances and saw 21 individuals garner All-America status.
The Lady Vols tallied their second-best finish in program history at NCAAs, placing fourth along with taking second at SECs. Josephine Fuller and Mona McSharry led the way for UT along with Camille Spink having a breakout freshman season. McSharry, under the tutelage of head coach Matt Kredich, earned two silver medals in the 100 and 200 breast at NCAAs, along with Fuller claiming bronze in the 200 IM. Fuller would go on to be the highest point scorer at the national meet for the Big Orange with three top-5 finishes in her events. At the SEC Championships, Spink earned two golds in the 50 and 100 free in her first SEC meet, along with veteran McSharry winning titles in the 100 and 200 breast.
Coming off one of the best seasons in program history, the 2023-24 Vols earned their highest finish at the NCAA Championships since 2001, placing sixth overall. The squad was led once again by the duo of Jordan Crooks and Bryden Hattie, with Martin Espernberger and Gui Caribe also having breakout sophomore seasons. At the NCAA Championships, UT brought home two silver medals with Crooks in the 50 free and Caribe in the 100 free, while Hattie also claimed a bronze medal on platform. During the SEC Championships, the Vols placed fifth and three earned conference titles during the meet. Crooks took gold in the 50 free for the third straight year. Espernberger won the first gold of his career in the 200 fly along with Hattie claiming his third career SEC title on platform.
Hattie earned SEC Male Diver of the Year for the second season in a row following his successful senior campaign, while Dave Parrington won his 12th SEC Men's Diving Coach of the Year honor in his career.
????????-????-???????? ??
— Tennessee Swimming & Diving (@Vol_SwimDive) April 17, 2024
Bryden Hattie is the fifth diver in league history to win back-to-back SEC Men's Diver of the Year honors!
The senior owned the two best finishes by an SEC diver during the NCAA Championships, highlighted by a bronze medal performance on platform! pic.twitter.com/DlHUY5vl1m
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The women’s tennis program soared to new heights under the direction of eighth-year head coach Alison Ojeda, as the team embarked on one of the most monumental seasons in program history. The Lady Vols achieved a 22-8 record (9-4 SEC), reaching the highest number of victories during the Ojeda era for the second consecutive year. The Lady Vols have now produced back-to-back seasons of at least 21 victories for the first time since 2002-03. It is the winningest two-year stretch for the program since those two years.
This season, the team triumphed over 12 ranked opponents, including seven in the top 25, notably snapping No. 1 Oklahoma State’s 29-match winning streak. The Big Orange clinched a 4-2 win, propelling them to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2010. Furthermore, they secured a 4-3 victory against No. 8 UCLA, earning a spot in the Final Four for only the second time in program history. Tennessee was the lowest seed to ever reach the semifinals since the berth of the 64-team era in 1999.
Ojeda was named the National ITA Wilson Coach of the Year and the ITA Ohio Valley Region Coach of the Year, first-year associate head coach Matias Marin was selected as the ITA Ohio Valley Region Assistant Coach of the Year, while Sofia Cabezas and Elza Tomase earned ITA All-American honors. The trio of Cabezas, Tomase and Catherine Aulia garnered All-SEC selections. Esther Adeshina earned the ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award.
VOLLEYBALL
The Big Orange enjoyed one of the best campaigns in program history, advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2005, hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and earning the program's best-ever national seed at No. 10.
The Lady Vols finished second in the SEC, which produced a conference-high eight NCAA Tournament teams, with a 15-3 record, and they defeated five ranked opponents throughout the season. The team reached as high as eighth in the AVCA rankings, which marked the highest regular season ranking and second-best ranking ever in program history.
In her sixth year at the helm, Eve Rackham Watt was named SEC Co-Coach of the Year. Tennessee swept 19 opponents in 31 matches, marking the second-highest total for a single season in program history and the most since having 20 in 1983. UT boasted one of the country's elite offenses, ranking inside the top five nationally and leading the SEC in kills per set (2nd/14.75), assists per set (3rd/13.60) and hitting percentage (4th/.304). Defensively, the Lady Vols paced the SEC in kills per set allowed (11.39) and assists per set allowed (10.78), while ranking second in the conference in both opposing hitting percentage (.194) and aces per set allowed (0.82).
Right side Morgahn Fingall, the 2023 AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was tabbed to the AVCA All-America First Team after finishing with 457 kills on .321 hitting, 193 digs, 84 blocks and 30 aces. She joined Beverly Robinson (1982) as the only Lady Vols in program history to achieve this feat. Setter Caroline Kerr, outside hitter Jenaisya Moore and libero Yelianiz Torres also earned All-America recognition.
MEN'S TENNIS
The men’s tennis program advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships under the direction of head coach Chris Woodruff and was one of four programs to be ranked in the top 10 nationally for the entirety of the season. Johannus Monday was tabbed the SEC Player of the Year for the second straight year and earned First Team All-SEC honors alongside Shunsuke Mitsui.
Monday garnered an ITA Singles All-America accolade for the fourth consecutive season after a 25-3 dual singles record. He posted a 24-3 (10-0 SEC) mark at the No. 1 singles spot while also going 19-2 against ranked opponents. His 28-3 overall singles record on the season (.903) is tied for the second-best winning percentage in a season in program history.
Mitsui captured an ITA Singles All-America accolade after advancing to the NCAA Singles Round of 16. The rising senior went 23-6 in dual singles on the year primarily playing on the No. 2 court, including nine ranked victories and a 10-2 record in SEC play.
Angel Diaz and Monday gained All-America doubles status as a doubles pair. The duo was never ranked outside of the top 10 nationally for the entire season, and they finished the year at eighth overall. They earned a 17-7 dual doubles mark together, including 11 victories against ranked foes. In SEC play, they tallied a 9-3 record and were placed as high as fourth in the national ITA doubles rankings.
the moment ??#GBO ???? pic.twitter.com/GFqVtm7cS4
— Tennessee Tennis (@Vol_Tennis) May 11, 2024
TRACK & FIELD
In Tennessee’s second season under head coach and director of track & field Duane Ross, the Vols and Lady Vols totaled 17 school records, 39 All-America honors and 12 SEC medals over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons. The women’s squad was ranked as high as No. 6 nationally during the regular indoor season, while the men ascended to No. 11 during the outdoor campaign.
Senior sprint star Jacious Sears headlined the 2023-24 indoor season for Tennessee individually, taking silver in the SEC 60-meter final and earning a pair of top-five finishes in the 60-meter (4th) and 200-meter (5th) at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston. Adding in the Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay squad’s fifth-place finish in a school-record 3:29.79, UT tied for No. 17 in the women’s standings for their second-consecutive top-20 finish at the indoor national meet – breaking that threshold in each of the last three years for the first time since 2009-11.
Sears carried momentum into the outdoor season with one of the fastest sprinting displays in NCAA history at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on April 13. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, product threw down a blistering time of 10.77 seconds in the 100-meter dash, the second-fastest performance in collegiate history behind reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson’s record of 10.75 set in 2019. With a legal tailwind of +1.6 m/s, Sears' performance shattered her own school record and currently ranks No. 15 on the world all-time list and No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list.
At the SEC Outdoor Championships, the Lady Vol relay squads asserted their dominance with a pair of conference titles in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter finals. Sears, Dennisha Page, DaJour Miles and Joella Lloyd got the baton around the oval in 42.42 seconds for Tennessee’s first SEC gold in the women’s 4x100 since 1984, while the 4x400 quartet of Javonya Valcourt, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard, Miles and Brianna White capped the meet with a winning mark of 3:24.44. Both performances were school records and collegiate leading marks at the time of the event, and UT became the first school since 2014 to sweep relay titles at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
The Lady Vols’ 2024 campaign wrapped up in Eugene, Oregon, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 4x400-meter relay broke their own school record once again, taking second in the NCAA Outdoor Championship final with a time of 3:23.32, and White earned First Team All-America honors in the 400-meter dash with an eighth-place finish in 50.79 seconds.
On the men’s side, sophomore standout T’Mars McCallum held the fastest time in the country in the 100-meter dash up until the final weekend of the outdoor season. His mark of 9.94 seconds was the No. 2 mark in school history behind VFL Christian Coleman and he became just the sixth sophomore in collegiate history to run 9.95 or faster with a legal tailwind (+2.0 m/s).
Tennessee also touted a trio of remarkable 400-meter hurdlers in Clement Ducos, Rasheeme Griffith and Ja’Kwan Hale – who each rounded out their collegiate careers during the 2024 campaign. Ducos went out with the UT school record in the event at 48.26 seconds, while Griffith and Hale each secured medals at the conference meet with their second- and third- place finishes. All three were tabbed USTFCCCA All-Americans in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, with Hale leading the way as he took seventh in the final.
The men’s 4x400-meter relay was notably strong during the 2023-24 indoor and outdoor seasons, earning First Team All-America status at both NCAA Championship finals. In the last race of the campaign, Emmanuel Bynum, Christian Parker, Hale and Griffith completed the relay in a school record time of 3:01.22 to place fifth in the nation.
Under the direction of Ross and cross country head coach Sean Carlson, the Vols and Lady Vols finished 16th and 10th, respectively, in the 2023-24 NCAA Division I Program of the Year standings, which are calculated by combining postseason results from each national championship event in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. This year marks the first time UT has placed in the top-20 on both sides since the award’s inception in 2008-09.
back where it all started ??
— Tennessee Track & Field (@Vol_Track) May 16, 2024
Appreciate the wisdom + advice from VFL @justingatlin as we head into NCAA Championship season!#VFL pic.twitter.com/4ScAgMiWjP
Tennessee Athletics is proud to recognize and salute its two 2023-24 retirees, turf specialist Jeffrey Wolfenbarger and T-Club director Joy Bowling. UT thanks Jeffrey and Joy for their many contributions over a combined 58 years working on Rocky Top and wishes them well moving forward!
Gallery: 2023-2024 Academic Year in Photos
