Tennessee Vols morning report: 2021 SEC Tournament coverage

Happy Friday! We head into the second weekend of March with postseason play beginning for the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball program, and that’s obviously going to be a major part of our focus at least through the next week.

Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with their Friday opponent in the SEC Tournament, which was determined by games on Thursday. However, they aren’t the only team in postseason play this week. Indoor track and field also has postseason news.

Meanwhile, softball begins SEC play, baseball and rowing continue regular season play, men’s tennis continues SEC play and two other sports have postponements, which we’ll get to. Let’s start with the basketball news.

Florida earns rematch with Vols in SEC Tournament – APNews

On Thursday, the No. 5 seed Florida Gators survived an upset against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the men’s basketball SEC Tournament. With a 69-63 win, they will now face the No. 4 seed Tennessee Vols Friday. UT just beat Florida by 11 this past Sunday, but that was without Tre Mann playing in the game, and he scored 22 points Thursday.

"Florida appeared ready to cruise to a sixth straight win in this series up 34-22 at halftime after the Gators scored the final eight of the half.Thomas keyed an 11-0 spurt with three consecutive 3s for Vanderbilt, the last giving the Commodores their first lead since the opening minutes at 55-54 with 8:39 remaining."

Baseball to host UNC Greensboro – Wes Rucker, GoVols247

Coming off a 9-0 midweek loss to the Charlotte 49ers to fall to 11-3 on the year, the No. 14 ranked Tennessee Vols baseball team will host the 10-2 UNC Greensboro Spartans for a three-game series this weekend. Junior ace Chad Dallas is back. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET Friday. Tony Vitello previewed the series Thursday. Here’s a bit of what he said about his team.

"“What you’ve seen so far is we’ve played well, because we’ve competed as a group, but if you break down a lot of individual efforts, there’s plenty of guys that are a shell of themselves. And, you know, some of them are trying to do well enough to, you know, buy Rick Ross’ house that was in Coming 2 America in one at-bat and or one-inning pitched, and we don’t need that. We just need them to be who they are.”"

Softball begins SEC play Friday – Rhiannon Potkey, Knoxville News Sentinel

After the cancelation of a midweek game against the Austin Peay Governors, the No. 22 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols softball team begins SEC play this weekend with a three-game series against the No. 12 ranked LSU Tigers at home. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET Friday. UT comes into the series with a 17-1 record and on a 12-game winning streak.

"The Lady Vols have thrown two no-hitters, recorded four double-digit strikeout performances and belted 32 home runs.But there remains an air of mystery about just how good the Lady Vols are because of their weak non conference schedule.Tennessee hasn’t played a ranked team, and has only played one opponent from a Power 5 conference."

Volleyball to visit Arkansas – Ethan Stone, UT Daily Beacon

With an 8-6 record thanks to two wins over the Mississippi State Bulldogs last week, the Tennessee Lady Vols will visit the Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. This is the first road trip for UT in 2021, as trips to the Texas A&M Aggies and Ole Miss Rebels in were postponed due to COVID-19 and bad weather.

"The Lady Vols only played two road series in the fall season, losing both their series at No. 3 Kentucky and later sweeping Auburn in both matches. Arkansas, conversely, is 6-2 at home with some of its best performances coming in its own arena."

Men’s tennis to visit Auburn – UTSports

This weekend, the Tennessee Vosl men’s tennis team will visit both Alabama schools in the SEC. At 15-2 and ranked No. 4 in the nation, UT will visit the Auburn Tigers Friday. They will then visit the Alabama Crimson Tide Sunday.

"Last time out the Vols dropped their first SEC match of the dual season, falling at Florida, 5-2. After a tough dropping of the doubles point, Florida, earned victories on courts six, four and five to clinch match point at 4-0."

Women’s tennis at Texas A&M postponed – SECSports

Friday’s matchup for the Tennessee Lady Vols at the Texas A&M Aggies was one of multiple A&M games postponed. At 9-4 and 3-2 in the SEC, UT will next visit the LSU Tigers Sunday.

"Due to a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Texas A&M women’s tennis program, the March 12 Tennessee at Texas A&M and March 14 Georgia at Texas A&M matches have been postponed, consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 management requirements.The SEC’s COVID-19 management requirements, as developed by the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force, are available on SECsports.com."

Soccer vs. UNC postponed – Ken Lay, VolsWire.com

Saturday’s scheduled soccer matchup between the Tennessee Lady Vols and the North Carolina Tar Heels schedule has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns within the UT program. At 8-4-1 and 4-3-1 in SEC play, UT will next visit the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday, March 21.

"A positive test was recorded among Tennessee’s tier 1 personnel. The Lady Vols and Tar Heels are working to come up with a makeup date for the match."

NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships begin – NCAA.com

The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships feature 21 members of the Tennessee Vols. Six individuals, three men and three women, qualified along with three relay groups.

"The championships are March 11-13 at Randal Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. University of Arkansas serves as host."

Rowing to compete in Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite – Oak Ridge Rowing Association

In an event hosted by the Louisville Cardinals, the Tennessee Lady Vols rowing program will be among 12 teams competing in the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite in Oak Ridge, Tenn. this weekend. Live results can be found by clicking here.

"The Cardinal Invitational provides early-season clashes of powerhouse Women’s rowing programs in an invitation-only format. Many of these elite college teams spend the week in Oak Ridge as part of their Spring Training, and cap it with the two-day Invitational, on March 13 and 14 in 2021."