The Lady Volunteers beat the LSU Tigers70-58 to capture their third straight Southeastern Conference Championship Sunday night in Nashville, Tenn.

“It’s is just an awesome feeling,” co- head coach Holly Warlick said. “I’m so happy for these young ladies and our entire team.”

With another victory, Tennessee now has 16 SEC Titles. Along with winning the SEC title, senior Glory Johnson was named MVP of the tournament.

Just as the first meeting in January in Knoxville, the game was physical. Both teams were diving for ball knowing the game is win or go home with nothing.

LSU’s LaSondra Barrett was taken off the court by a stretcher after taking a knee to the head after trying to stand up after diving for a ball.

The game was a total team effort to secure the win. Meighan Simmons was the only Lady Vols not to score for the Lady Volunteers.

Johnson scored her 35^th double-double of her career leading the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Tennessee came out of the gate firing with a three pointer by Johnson. However lost the lead for the first six minutes while LSU controlled the court scoring on fast breaks.

Tennessee took the lead into halftime 35-30 after a close first half.

As every game in the tournament, Stricklen had little effect in the first half, but came on strong the second half.  She finished the game with 16 points and three rebounds.

“I think I’m just thinking too much to starting the first half,” Stricklen said. “I over think because I want to come out strong.”

Stricklen was named to the All-Tournament Team after the game.

Tennessee never gave up control of the lead in the second half to capture the title for Pat Summit. And afterwards climbed up the ladder to cut down the nets with her team.

With the win, the Lady Vols receive an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament starting next week.

“I am proud of these young ladies,” Warlick said. “I think they’ve put themselves in a great position for the tournament.”

Tennessee will return to Knoxville and have a couple of practices before March Madness begins in full swing.

After a slow start, Tennessee Lady Vols came on strong getting the dominate win over the South Carolina Gamecocks 74-58.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on defense and rebounding,” co-head coach Holly Warlick said. “I thought we did those two things tonight.”

Just as the first game against Vanderbilt, Shekinna Stricklen was held scoreless in the first half, but kept fighting and finished the day strong with 16 points.

However the Lady Vols were carried by senior Glory Johnson who tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds, which puts the Lady Vols in the SEC Championship for three straight years.

“Getting into the championship game is huge,” Johnson said. “I think it means a lot that we can show people what we’ve been working on.”

Tennessee controlled the majority of the game but with small margins only letting South Carolina take the lead twice in the entire game.  Tennessee went on a run later in the half, but South Carolina fought back to make it 28-22 at halftime.

Just as the first game, Tennessee came out firing in the second half and never looked back. Stricklen started it with a layup right out of the gate. Then followed it with a three pointer two minutes later to fire up the mainly Tennessee crowd.

South Carolina offense lived or died by the three pointers.  In tonight’s game, they fired 22 three pointers and converting on seven of them.

With the win, Tennessee is set to face LSU tomorrow at 5 pm in Bridgestone Arena.

This will be the second meeting between the Lady Volunteers and Lady Tigers this season. First meeting took place in Knoxville where a physical game unfolded, but Tennessee was able to hang on for the 65-56 win.

Meeting LSU in the championship game means they will battling head-to-head against Lady Vol alumni Nikki Caldwell.

“She prides herself and her team on defensive rebounding,” Warlick said. “As I love Nikki, she’s not going to be a great friend of mine tomorrow.”

LSU has had a tough road to the championship game, having to knock off Arkansas and top seed Kentucky.

Attendance to the semifinal game was 11,024, fifth-highest in SEC tournament history.

Tennessee prevailed over Vanderbilt with lift from senior Shekinna Stricklen in the SEC Women’s Tournament quarterfinal game after severe weather extended halftime for 30 minutes.

“I was frustrated I didn’t get to play in the first half with 2 fouls,” Stricklen said. “I felt bad that I was letting my teammates down. I stayed focused and knew I had to step up.”

The Lady Vols opened the game streaking to a commanding lead. Meighan Simmons went on to score 11 points in the half.

“I was just being patient with what the defense was giving me,” junior Meighen Simmons said. “Also being mentally focused on what I needed to do.”

After taking a 32-16 lead, Vanderbilt went on a run to bring the game to 35-27 heading into halftime.

Coming out after halftime Tennessee started warming up, but was sent to the locker room as severe weather pounded downtown Nashville and Bridgestone Arena.

After the 30 minute interruption, teams were on the court ready to start the second half.

The weather break affected the Lady Vols, while Vandy took the momentum for most of the half. Vanderbilt kept the game close, but could never take the lead from the Lady Vols.

With 10:42 remained in the game, Stricklen knocked down a big three to give the Vols a four point lead

Stricklen was the major factor in the Tennessee win scoring all of her 18 points in the second half.

One major advantage the Lady Vols have is playing in the state of Tennessee with fans that travel to games very well.”

“I feel like we are at home,” Stricklen said. “I feel like we have another player on our team out there.”

Senior Glory Johnson also scored 15 points and nine rebounds.

Tennessee will play tomorrow in the semifinal game at 5 p.m. against the winner of South Carolina and Georgia which tips off tonight at 9p.m. local time.

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers will travel to Nashville, Tenn. Mar. 1-4 to compete in the SEC Women’s Basketball Championship.

The SEC Tournament is being held at Bridgestone Arena for the second consecutive year where the Lady Vols will be going for their third straight championship.

“I feel great about it,” said senior Shikinna Stricklen. “Feel like we had the home court advantage with our fans. “

After a grueling SEC season, all 12 teams meet in the tournament to battle for the championship. The winner gets an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament in mid March.

With Tennessee more than likely securing a first round bye, they will play on Friday against a winner from day one.

Travelling to a city for a tournament style bracket can be exciting for teams, and sometimes look focus on the real goal. Tennessee co-head coach Holly Warlick stated them keep their team isolated and focused on the games.

Bridgestone Arena is home to the Nashville Predators, but will be converted into a basketball gym for fifth time in its history. The arena holds up to 20,000 fans in basketball events.

“It’s always fun to come out when they have that many people watching,” Warlick said. “I know our players and coaches appreciate it and a fun atmosphere great for a SEC tournament.”

The SEC tournament brings many challenges to the Lady Vols. They potentially could face up to three straight games in three days.

“You first couple games you understand the importance of substitution and a strong bench,” Warlick said.

The Lady Vols wrapped up SEC regular season play Sunday with a home win against Florida. The Vols will play at 3:30 ET in Nashville against the winner of Vanderbilt and Mississippi St.

The No.7 Lady Vols Softball won one game in weekend tournament after rain cancels majority of the games supposed to be played.

“It was unfortunate to have three of our games rained out,” said co-head coach Karen Weekly. “We should have had played five games but only got to play two.”

After the rain moved out, the Vols lost to No. 13 Texas Longhorns 3-2 in nine innings on Sunday after the game was rescheduled from the Saturday rainout.

Tennessee took a one run lead going into the bottom of the ninth. With international rules in place, which places a runner on second base at the beginning on the inning, Texas belted a two run inside the park homerun to win the game with two outs.

Tennessee took the lead when Lauren Gibson drove in a run in the top of the fifth.  Senior Ashley Andrews finished 3-4 with a clutch RBI in the top of the ninth give the Big Orange a 2-1 lead.

The game was a pitching duel that had to be decided in extra innings. Sophomore Ellen Renfroe pitched eight innings give up one run.  Junior Ivy Renfore suffered the loss giving up the one hit in the final inning.

“It was a tough loss,” said Karen Weekly. “We were in the position to win the game, and we told them we were really proud of how hard they fought. We can’t just look at the last pitch to evaluate the whole game.”

With the tournament brackets being re arrange all weekend, new schedules were released each day to the changing weather. The Lady Vols were scheduled to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers, but was also cancelled due to rain.

Tennessee took on Illinois on Friday winning the offensive battle 10-7 over the Fighting Illini. Tennessee notched 12 hits during a constant drizzle which led to sloppy playing conditions.

“Today was a tough day weather-wise for all the pitchers in this game with cold temperatures and a near constant drizzle falling,” said Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly.

Leading the charge for the Lady Vols was junior Lauren Gibson going 3-3 hitting her second career grand slam and five RBIs.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, Illinois scored four unanswered runs. But the Vols fought back and controlled the lead for the rest of the game.

“It’s a credit to our young team for fighting through the adversity and coming out with a win,” said Ralph Weekly.

Ivy Renfroe (1-1) got the win, coming in as a reliever getting her first win of the season striking out five in three innings.  Madison Shipman went 2-3 RBI and a solo homerun.

Tennessee has been playing on the road since February 9^th, starting in Arizona, then continuing around the United States.

“We do it every year,” said Karen Weekly. Our seniors are handling it very well. It’s a challenge for our freshman, getting into the routine. It’s a necessity with the weather we have in February.”

Along with playing on the road, playing in the hostile environments prepares the team for the tough SEC play that lies ahead for the Lady Volunteers.

The Lady Vols make one more tournament appearance in Clearwater, Fla this weekend, the return for their season home opener at the end of February.

The No. 19 Tennessee Lady Vols tennis dominated play this weekend in the ITA Kick-Off held in Knoxville.

Tennessee beat No. 58 UC Davis on Friday by a score of 5-0. The victory was number 600 in the programs history. Then followed up the first win of the season with a win over No.22 Tulsa. The tournament win punches the Vols a trip to the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship Feb. 10-13 at the University of Virginia.

“We are really excited to be moving on to Charlottesville,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said. “Our kids played great and I am really proud of them. We want to keep improving every day. We have a young enough team that the little goals like learning how to handle pressure situations, staying aggressive and playing hard are the little things that need to happen on a daily basis.”

One of the main reasons for the success of the Lady Vols was the addition back into the singles lineup of senior Natalie Pluskota. Pluskota has not been able to compete in the singles matches to open the season due to recovering from a stress fracture injury.

“I am pumped to be back out there to help us win and compete,” Pluskota said. “It’s always nerve racking that first match but ready to get back into it.”

Tennessee opened the weekend tournament against UC Davis. Pluskota and freshman Caitlyn Williams took their match 8-0, while freshman Sarah Toti and sophomore Brynn Boren won 8-1. These victories gave the Lady Vols the doubles point.

Lady Vols continued that dominance over into the singles competition. Pluskota also took a 4-0 lead to start the match, but dropped two straight to bring the match close.

“I had to re focus myself and slow down a little bit,” Pluskota said. “I started continue to look for more forward hands to work the opponent off the court.

Natalie took the singles match 6-2, 6-1. Toti, Boren, and freshman Joanna Henderson all won their singles matches to send the Lady Vols to victory.

On Saturday, the Lady Vols were challenged with Tulsa. But continuing to play with the same mindset as Friday, the Lady Vols once again had no problem in the win column.

Pluskota and Williams wrapped up another doubles win 8-4, while Boren and Toti finished shortly after them notching the doubles point. Although in the lead for the second straight day, junior Kata Szelkey and Henderson’s match was unfinished due to already securing the doubles point.

Boren took her singles match 6-3, 6-2. Toti won with a score of 6-4, 6-3 and Henderson 6-2, 6-3 giving the Vols the championship sending them to nationals.

“With her (Pluskota) back in there gives everyone a lot more confidence,” Patrick said. “It pushes everyone in the line up to a spot where they are more comfortable and get more experience.”

The Lady Vols return to action on Friday when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at home in Goodfriend Tennis Center.

The Lady Vols tennis team travelled to New York City to open up their spring season play.

The big story coming into the weekend was the fact due to injuries, they had to play a man down, forfeiting one match each day. Despite the fact, they Lady Vols stayed competitive throughout the weekend.

One player who stood out to coach Patrick this weekend was junior Kata Szekely. Szekely won both of her singles and doubles matches this weekend.

“It was a really successful weekend for me,” said Szekely. “ I just stayed with the game plan and it worked.

They open play taking on ninth-ranked Virginia on Saturday afternoon. Natalie Pluskota continued to battle an injury did not compete in singles, but competed in doubles.

With having to forfeit the first match, the Vols even the score up with a win by Caitlyn Williams in straight sets. After dropping three straight matches, Kata Szekely got the Vols another match win, but it was too late. Virginia won the singles.

However , in the doubles match up the Lady Vols corrected their mistakes and took the doubles matches with Brynn Boren/Sarah Toti taking one , and Szekely/ Joanna Henderson winning the other.

Virginia took the overall victory by a score of 4-3.

“We knew we were talented,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said. “To handle the adversity of not having a full squad, it was a tough way to go against a great team. We competed well and fought hard on every court. Virginia is a quality opponent. If that’s where we’re at right now, I think we can compete with a lot of teams, especially come March.”

With optimism coming into the second day, the Lady Vols could not get a win against fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. Falling to the Heels 4-2, set Tennessee to a 0-2 start to their spring season.

Once again the Lady Vols had to play singles a man down due to injuries, did not give them a chance. Controlling the doubles point for a second straight day wasn’t enough to overcome the lack of a player.

Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams grabbed a doubles victory 8-4. Followed by two more wins from Boren/Toti8-5 and an 8-2 win by Henderson/Szekely.

Kata Szekely got another dominating win over a ranked opponent beating them in straight sets, (6-3, 6-2), no other Lady Vols could get into the win column during singles.

“We have talent, we just have to get tougher,” said Patrick. “The team we played today showed its experience and they took it to us. Hopefully, we can get Natalie back and that will help quite a bit.”

The Lady Vols have a week off to prepare for next weekend where they take on UC Davis Friday at 2pm. Depending on the outcome will determine time and opponent for Saturday’s match.

#9 Virginia 4, #18 Tennessee 3

Singles

1. #29 Emily Fraser (UVa) def. #27 Brynn Boren (UT) 6-4, 6-1

2. #59 Kata Szekely (UT) def. #30 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)

3. Li Xi (UVa) def. Sarah Toti (UT) 6-3, 6-4

4. #85 Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) def. Joanna Henderson (UT) 6-4, 6-3

5. Caitlyn Williams (UT) def. #75 Erin Vierra (UVa) 6-1, 6-4

6. Caryssa Peretz (UVa) by forfeit

Doubles

1. Emily Fraser/Li Xi (UVa) def. Natalie Pluskota/Caitlyn Williams (UT) 8-6

2. #18 Brynn Boren/Sarah Toti (UT) def. Lindsey Hardenbergh/Erin Vierra (UVa) 8-6

3. Kata Szekely/Joanna Henderson (UT) def. Maria Fuccillo/Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) 8-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (5, 1, 4, 3, 2)

#4 North Carolina 4, #18 Tennessee 2
Singles
1. #44 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. #27 Brynn Boren (UT) 6-3, 6-1
2. #59 Kata Szekely (UT) def. #16 Lauren McHale (UNC) 6-3, 6-2
3. #55 Carolina Price (UNC) def. Sarah Toti (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
4. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Joanna Henderson (UT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Caitlyn Williams (UT) vs. Gina Suarez-Malaguti 4-6, 3-1, unfinished
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) by forfeit

Doubles
1. Natalie Pluskota/Caitlyn Williams (UT) def. Shinann Featherston/Lauren McHale (UNC) 8-4
2. #18 Brynn Boren/Sarah Toti (UT) def. #43 Zoe De Bruycker/Laura Slater (UNC) 8-5
3. Joanna Henderson/Kata Szekely (UT) def. Tessa Lyons/Carolina Price (UNC) 8-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (1, 2, 4, 3, 5)