Tennessee Vols morning report: Basketball enters postseason

Lots of events in winter and spring sports took place during the first weekend in March for the Tennessee Vols, as they always do. We are now almost approaching the same period from last year in which everything was canceled due to COVID.

This time, things should continue on. Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with the basketball programs entering postseason play again. Women’s basketball already took part in postseason play over the weekend, and men’s basketball closed out the regular season.

Meanwhile, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer and men’s and women’s tennis all had outings for us to recap. Swimming and Diving is in the midst of an ongoing event for us to cover, and a cross country selection also made news. We’ll cover all of that here, starting with our continued recap of the basketball programs.

Rick Barnes, players recap Florida win – Rob Lewis, VolQuest.com

Sunday’s 65-54 win over the Florida Gators on Senior Day clinched the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament with a 17-7 overall record and 10-7 league record. They will play again Friday. Seniors John Fulkerson and Yves Pons recapped the game, as did Rick Barnes. Here’s a bit of what Barnes said about the week ahead.

"This week we’ll probably take two days off. We haven’t really looked at it because I haven’t thought about it. Even when we give these guys days off, they don’t take it. They’re in the gym on their own. I think this time of year, each guy knows what he needs physically with his own body."

Kellie Harper, Jordan Walker recap South Carolina – Maria M. Cornelius, GoVols247

On Saturday, the Tennessee Lady Vols women’s basketball team, ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll, lost to the No. 7 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 67-52 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. At 16-7, they will now await their NCAA Tournament seeding. Kellie Harper and Jordan Walker recapped the loss. Here’s a bit of what Harper said.

"“We couldn’t get clean looks, and when we did get clean looks, we weren’t able to score them, and we, on the other end, were not offensive boarding, so it really came down to execution. Obviously, South Carolina did a really good job getting down and guarding and being very physical, and we’ve got to be able to handle that a little bit better."

Baseball sweeps Georgia State – Jordan Crammer, WATE

In three games over the weekend, the No. 17 ranked Tennessee Vols baseball team allowed a grand total of two runs to the Georgia State Panthers, winning every game and shutting them out on Sunday. UT improved to 11-2 overall, and GSU fell to 4-9.

"Junior Jake Rucker led the charge offensively this weekend recording a homerun and six RBI’s against Georgia State. The junior batted .500 on the weekend extending his hit streak to 9-games.Tennessee used a trio of first-time (this season) weekend starters to get the job done this weekend looking to senior Will Heflin, freshman Blade Tidwell and sophomore Mark McLaughlin to set the tone out the gate this weekend."

Softball sweeps Reveille Classic – SECSports.com

Playing five games in three days at the Reveille Classic, hosted by the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas, did not phase the Tennessee Lady Vols softball team. They won all five games, beating the Campbell Lady Camels twice, the Lamar Cardinals twice and A&M once to improve to 17-1 on the season.

"The Lady Vols return to Sherri Parker Lee for a six-game homestand beginning with a midweek against Austin Peay State on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET. The Orange and White then open up SEC play with No. 12 LSU with a Friday-Sunday series (March 12-14). Game 2 of the series will be broadcast on the SEC Network, while the opening and closing games will be streamed on SECN+."

Volleyball sweeps Mississippi State – Ken Lay, VolsWire.com

After being swept by the Florida Gators the week before, the Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team rebounded with two wins over the Mississippi State Bulldogs this past weekend. The wins improved them to 8-6 on the year.

"UT returns to action when it travels to Arkansas for a series against the Razorbacks March 13-14. Saturday’s match in Fayetteville begins at 3 p.m. EST. Sunday’s contest will start at 3 p.m. EDT."

Soccer shuts out Wake Forest – Thomas Jankowski, UT Daily Beacon

Freshman Jaida Thomas scored both goals for the Tennessee Lady Vols soccer team on Saturday as they shut out the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2-0. The win improved Brian Pensky’s team to 8-4-1 on the season.

"The game opened up with chances for both sides. In the first half, Tennessee was out shot six to four, and was ultimately out possessed for the first 20 minutes of the game.Then the tides started to shift. The Volunteers had better possessions and put together many quality attacks. Some buildups were ended by offsides, and others ended in crosses and corners, but the chances were coming for the Volunteers."

Men’s tennis splits weekend matchups – UTSports

Facing two ranked teams on the road this past weekend, the No. 3 ranked Tennessee Vols men’s tennis team defeated the No. 16 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 4-1 on Friday. They then lost to the No. 10 ranked Florida Gators 5-2 on Sunday.

"The loss was Tennessee’s (15-2, 4-1 SEC) first in SEC play as Florida (10-1, 6-0 SEC) moved into sole possession of the conference’s top spot.In doubles the programs, split sets on courts one and two, with the UT Australian duo of Pat Harper and Adam Walton knocking off the No. 45 team of Sam Riffice and Duarte Vale, 6-4."

Women’s tennis wins both weekend matchups – UTsports

While the men’s tennis team played South Carolina and Florida on the road, the No. 21 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols tennis team hosted both programs over the weekend. They beat USC 4-0 Friday and beat Florida 4-2 Sunday.

"UT (9-4, 3-2 SEC) claimed the doubles point to gain an early advantage over the Gators (5-6, 3-3 SEC).Sophomore Carly Briggs and senior Tenika McGiffin picked up the first doubles win of the day, downing Sara Dahlstrom and Ida Jarlskog 6-2 on court two. The win gives the duo their second-straight triumph and move them to 6-4 on the season."

Cross country junior earns at-large qualifier – NCAA.com

Junior Sidney Seymour with the Tennessee Lady Vols cross country team was named an at-large qualifier for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The event, featuring 31 teams and 38 individuals on the men’s and women’s side each, is scheduled for Monday, March 15.

"Oklahoma State University will host the championships, at the OSU Cross Country Course located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The women’s race will begin at 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by the men’s race at 1:40 p.m. Eastern Time."

Three Vols qualify for men’s swimming and diving championships – DiveMeets

Day One of the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships saw three Tennessee Vols qualify for the Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Will Hallam, Bryden Hattie and Matthew Wade. The Zone B Diving Championships will continue Monday and Tuesday.