Tennessee Vols morning report: First football scrimmage, Admiral Schofield letter
The Tennessee Vols first football scrimmage and a letter from Admiral Schofield lead our Volunteers news for Monday, April 1, 2019.
Happy April Fool’s Day. It does seem like a cruel April Fool’s joke for the Tennessee Vols basketball program since the Final Four is set, and they never got a chance to compete for a spot. However, it’s time for the athletic program to move on anyway. And that’s the case for today.
Our morning update on Rocky Top goes back to the engine that drives the train: football. The first football scrimmage was Saturday, and we have quotes from both coordinators to bring you. However, there’s still a bit of reflection for men’s basketball from one player, and we’ll discuss that as well.
Then we have numerous recaps from weekend events to bring you, including baseball, softball, track and field, swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis. So there are tons of stories. Let’s start with football.
Derrick Ansley on Vols’ first scrimmage – The Nation, WNML
The Tennessee Vols football program held its first scrimmage of spring practice Saturday evening. New defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley discussed how his side of the ball performed. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“Obviously we didn’t do everything the right way. Like I told them at the end of the scrimmage when I called them up, we’ve got to start faster. We didn’t start as fast as we needed to, and in an SEC elite defense you’ve got to get off the bus ready to go play and ready to go get stops.”"
Jim Chaney talks about returning to Knoxville – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
After Tennessee football’s first week of practice back from spring break, the Vols held their first spring practice Saturday. New offensive coordinator Jim Chaney talked a bit about the team, including Jarrett Guarantano to Jonathan Crompton. However, he also talked about the decision to leave the Georgia Bulldogs for the Vols. Here’s a bit of what he said on that front.
"“I think any time you’re having to relocate your family, there’s a lot of serious discussions to go into that. We had a wonderful three years at the University of Georgia. When Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt had called me, my wife and I have always enjoyed Knoxville. It’s a place that we could always see ourselves living for a long time.”"
Admiral Schofield’s message to fans– Phil Kaplan, Knoxville News Sentinel
Tennessee Vols basketball senior Admiral Schofield played his final game last Thursday against the Purdue Boilermakers. A four-year player, he sent a message to UT fans in the Knoxville News Sentinel Sunday about the standard for the program. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“I think from here on out there’s no reason why the Tennessee Volunteers shouldn’t be in the conversations to win championships in every sport. I’m appreciative to be a Vol, and things are only going to get better at Tennessee.”"
Tennessee baseball loses two of three to Vanderbilt – Wes Rucker, GoVols247
The No. 23 ranked Tennessee Vols baseball team avoided a sweep at the hands of the No. 4 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores by winning Sunday 7-6. Before that, however, they had lost three straight, including two to Vanderbilt and one in an upset last week to the ETSU Bucs. With Sunday’s win, they moved to 21-8 and 3-6 in the SEC.
"Tennessee returns to Knoxville and will kick off a nine-game homestand on Tuesday against Belmont. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network."
Tennessee softball splits doubleheader – Colin O’Brien, Newstribune.com
The No. 5/6 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols softball team split a doubleheader with the Missouri Tigers on the road Sunday. On Monday at 7 p.m., these two teams will face off in a rubber match.
"The Tigers (17-13, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) won the first game 5-4, while the Volunteers (27-6, 5-3) took the nightcap 2-1. Missouri scored first in both games."
Track and Field successful at Stanford Invitational – GoStanford.com
The Tennessee Vols track and field program had seven podium finishes at the weekend’s Stanford Invitational. Stamatia Scarvelis won an individual victory for the discus throw, and Jalen Tate won for the triple jump.
Men’s tennis hits four-game winning streak – UTSports
The No. 15 ranked Tennessee Vols men’s tennis team won a doubleheader Sunday in Knoxville, beating the No. 20 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 4-1 and then the Mercer Bears 7-0. On Friday, they beat the Auburn Tigers. As a result, they now are on a four-game winning streak and three-game SEC winning streak with a 15-6 overall record and 5-4 SEC record.
"The Vols close out their home matches on Friday, April 5, with a doubleheader against Arkansas at 1 p.m. and Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m."
Women’s tennis hits four-game winning streak – UTSports
The No. 18 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols tennis team defeated the No. 49 ranked Auburn Tigers 4-2 Friday and the No. 39 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 4-1 Sunday, both on the road. With those two wins, they extended their winning streak to four games, all against SEC teams, and they have moved to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.
"In addition to Tennessee’s four-match SEC winning streak and two-match road winning streak, the Lady Vols already have their most SEC wins in a season since 2014 with four regular season matches still remaining. Sunday’s victory gave UT six SEC wins this season, doubling last season’s year-end total of three."
Swimming and Diving finishes 11th at NCAAs – Andrew Mering, SwimSwam.com
The Tennessee Swimming and Diving program came in at No. 11 at the NCAA Championships with 19 All-American honors among 10 performers. They were the third highest SEC team, behind the Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators, and the Cal Golden Bears finished first.
"Cal was really really good this weekend. As the cliche goes: Texas didn’t lose the meet, Cal won it. The Texas men scored 475 points, 26 points more than they scored to win the meet last year. Cal scored 560, the 9th most points any men’s team has ever scored at NCAA’s and the most by any team at this meet since 2004. There have only been 4 previous instances of a team scoring at least 475 points and failing to win the title."
Track and Field successful at Stanford Invitational – GoStanford.com
The Tennessee Vols track and field program had seven podium finishes at the weekend’s Stanford Invitational. Stamatia Scarvelis won an individual victory for the discus throw, and Jalen Tate won for the triple jump.