The Tennessee Vols winning in men’s and women’s basketball and preferred walk-ons arriving lead our Volunteers news for Monday, Jan. 28, 2019.
Happy Monday. The Tennessee Vols had numerous sporting events take place over the weekend, and they kept their winning ways in the two main sports. On top of that, though, UT was successful in smaller sports as well.
Our updates on Rocky Top will look back on all of those things that happened over the weekend as we get set for the final few days in January of 2019. With the Super Bowl coming up and National Signing Day less than two weeks away, there are a ton of big things set to happen.
Speaking of Signing Day, we also have a few personnel stories in football to bring you, and since those are new updates, we’ll actually start with them. The recaps involving men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis and swimming and diving will follow.
Tennessee football adds three preferred walk-ons – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
Over the weekend, VolsWire reported separately of three commits to the Tennessee Vols football team as preferred walk-ons. The first was on Saturday, when 6’2″ 210-pound linebacker Devon Dillehay of Clarksville announced his commitment. Following that came two more. Conyers, Ga. hybrid linebacker Kwauze Garland, who is 6’2″ 190 pounds, and Hazel Green, Ala. outside linebacker Deontae Beauchamp, who is 6’1″ 228 pounds, both committed to Rocky Top as well.
"“What I respected most about Coach Pruitt and the staff was their honesty with me about the whole walk-on process and told me how they didn’t want me to commit anywhere else unless it was Tennessee,” Dillehay said.…Garland’s brother, Kurott, signed with Tennessee last year and appeared in four games during the 2018 season.…“I am a preferred walk-on, and I am playing inside linebacker,” Beauchamp told Vols Wire. “I think I will be arriving at UT in June.”"
Rick Barnes discusses win over West Virginia – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes talked about his No. 1 ranked team’s 83-66 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers after the game Saturday. With the win, UT moved to 18-1 overall while remaining 6-0 in the SEC. Here’s a bit of what he said, specifically about the decision to start Lamonte Turner.
"“I’ve just got so much respect for Coach (Bob) Huggins, and they went back and drew some press. We felt like they might start the game trying to take Jordan Bone out to where we couldn’t get the ball to him, and we didn’t want to put the pressure on Admiral and Yves trying to think they had to handle the ball. That’s the only reason we did it.”"
Lady Vols end losing streak – Steve MeGargee, Associated Press
The Tennessee women’s basketball team finally ended its six-game losing streak on Sunday with a 74-65 win over the LSU Tigers. Rennia Davis led the team in scoring with 24 points, and they improved to 13-7 and 2-5 in the SEC.
"Davis shot 8 of 15 from the floor and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line to match her highest scoring total of the season.Although she is Tennessee’s second-leading scorer this season, Davis had shot a combined 8 of 43 from the floor in the four games leading up to this one. The 6-foot-2 sophomore had averaged just 5.3 points during that stretch."
Men’s tennis splits ITA Kick-Off Weekend – UTSports
The No. 18 ranked Tennessee Vols men’s tennis team lost its first match 4-2 to the Tulane Green Wave at the 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Tallahassee Saturday. However, they rebounded Sunday to improve to 3-1 with a 4-2 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
"Tennessee returns home for a Sunday doubleheader Feb. 3, taking on Wichita State at noon, followed by The Citadel at 4:30 p.m. at Goodfriend Tennis Center."
Women’s tennis splits ITA Kick-Off Weekend – UTSports
The Tennessee Lady Vols lost their first match of the season Saturday 4-1 to the LSU Tigers at the ITA Kick-Off Tallahassee Regional championship to fall to 3-1 on the year. That followed a 4-3 Friday over the Florida State Seminoles at the same event.
"Tennessee returns home for a match against Old Dominion on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 11 a.m. That match will be the first of 11 consecutive home matches for the Lady Vols, spanning all the way until March 10."
Swimming and diving sweeps Georgia – Robert Gibbs, SwimSwam.com
The Tennessee men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday for a sweep on Senior Day. The No. 13 ranked Lady Vols finished the day with 170 points to No. 12 ranked Georgia’s 130, and the No. 9 ranked men’s team finished with 156 points to the No. 12 ranked Bulldogs’ 144 points.
"Both the men and women rounded out the day with team victories in the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay. The Vols finished with a 2:56.25 time, while the Lady Vols notched a time of 3:18.31."