Today On Rocky Top: Lady Vols To Open Season Against UNC & More

Mar 2, 2012, Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols players celebrate after defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Lady Vols beat the Commodores 68-57. Mandatory credit: Don McPeak-US Presswire.

From WBIR

"The Tennessee Lady Vols will be one of four women’s college basketball teams to be featured during the ESPN Tip-Off Marathon on Nov. 11, with a road matchup against North Carolina.The college basketball season will begin with 24 consecutive hours of games on the ESPN family of networks. The Lady Vols will face the Tar Heels on ESPN2 following a 6 p.m. matchup between Stanford and UConn."

From Fox News

"Tennessee coach Butch Jones realizes that returning a storied Volunteers program to Southeastern Conference contention is going to be a gradual process.Jones is trying to rebuild a program that has posted three straight losing seasons, the first time that’s happened at Tennessee since 1909-11. An unforgiving early-season schedule will make it tough to end that streak. Five of Tennessee’s first eight games are against teams ranked ninth or higher in last year’s final Top 25."

From the Times Free Press

"Tennessee’s young group of wide receivers hit its first wall of preseason training camp last week.After a two-practice Monday kicked off a stretch of 10 practices in eight days, the Volunteers know another wall might be just around the corner.And Zach Azzanni is navigating the receivers through those obstacles.“We run, and we run a lot,” the receivers coach said after Monday morning’s practice. “I know that, and I try and pull back as much as I can, but at the same time it’s a fine line. I also need them to play. They hit a little bit of a wall, but I’ve got to push them through it. They’ve got to love the grind."

From Bleacher Report

"The Tennessee Volunteers haven’t made the SEC Championship since 2007. Since then, the team has been stuck in a downward spiral, failing to ever make progress in its goal of rebuilding.Last season may have been the biggest disappointment for the struggling program. Tennessee fielded its worst defense in program history, ranking 107th overall in total defense and points allowed (35.7 points per game)."

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