Welcome to the first weekend in November. This Friday comes on the heels of another Tennessee Vols football matchup and ahead of the final weekend before the Tennessee Vols men’s and women’s basketball teams officially begin regular season play.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with more coverage of those things on the football and men’s basketball front. We also have news surrounding the investigation into the football program to bring you.
Beyond football and men’s basketball, there’s a recap of UT soccer and volleyball matches to bring you along with a preview of swimming and diving and coverage of a tennis event. Let’s dive in, starting with the football news.
UT concludes internal investigation – Josh Lane, UT Daily Beacon
More than nine months after firing Jeremy Pruitt over NCAA violations that came to light last December, the Tennessee Vols have concluded their internal investigation into the football program. They will not self-impose a bowl ban. Lesser penalties will be imposed, but the details of those weren’t made clear Thursday.
"According to the report, Tennessee believes that the players involved in the violations have since transferred and will likely be in the postseason anyway with their current universities. The removal of the potential postseason ban should help eliminate the speculation still hanging over the program from the investigation."
Josh Heupel talks Kentucky – Jack Foster, SI.com
On the same day the Tennessee Vols football team announced their uniform combination of white jerseys with orange pants for Saturday’s matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats, Josh Heupel held his final press conference of the week. He discussed the benefits the bye week had on the team. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“I think our guys have continued to be better and better every single week. Energy and focus. It’s a group that loves to play at this point. They’ve learned how to continue to do it in a better fashion. When I say that, I’m just talking about the preparation and being more comfortable with the routine the further you get into it as well. It’s been a fun group to coach here at this point.”"
Rick Barnes talks the start of the season – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
With their opener set for Tuesday against the UT Martin Skyhawks, Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes discussed the regular season coming up on Thursday. Here’s a bit of what he said about UT’s 106-62 exhibition win over the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears last Saturday.
"“The biggest takeaway would be that we still have a lot of work to do, especially defensively. This was the first time that we played a team that, oftentimes, felt like we were playing against five guards and having our post players out there as much as they were. Lenoir-Rhyne ran some really good actions. They did a lot of really nice stuff on the offensive end.”"
Olivier Nkamhoua previews basketball season – Ben McKee, VolQuest
Along with Rick Barnes, Tennessee basketball junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua met with media members Thursday to discuss the start of the season and recap last Saturday’s exhibition win. Nkamhoua talked about his development in the offseason. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“I think you can gain a lot of confidence in an offseason just knowing the work that you put in and the time that you put in. The biggest confidence comes when you get in the game and when you see the results play out.”"
Soccer beats Ole Miss – Ken Lay, VolsWire.com
The No. 10 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols soccer team advanced to the SEC Tournament Championship after beating the No. 21 ranked Ole Miss Rebels 3-2 Thursday. UT the No. 2 seed in the tournament, improves to 17-2 overall. Ole Miss, the No. 3 seed, falls to 12-5-3.
"The two-time defending SEC East champions will play top-seeded Arkansas Sunday at 2 p.m. EST at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. The game will be televised by SEC Network."
Volleyball falls to Florida – SECSports
For the third straight time, the No. 22 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team came up short in an SEC matchup. UT fell on the road to the No. 23 ranked Florida Gators Thursday.
"The Gators improve to 15-6 on the year and 9-2 in the league, while Tennessee falls to 16-6 overall and 8-4 in conference play.Tennessee took the first sit 25-22 in a tightly-contested frame, but Florida responded with a 25-17 victory in the second set. The Gators took the third set in a come-from-behind 25-23 win and closed out the match with a 25-16 victory in the fourth frame."
Swimming and Diving to visit Kentucky – UTSports
This afternoon, one day after announcing the signing of Olympian Joaquin Vargas, the Tennessee Vols swimming and diving program will take on the Kentucky Wildcats. The meet is set for 2 p.m. ET in Lexington, Ky. at Lancaster Aquatic Center.
"The seventh-ranked Lady Vols will take on the No. 12 Wildcats, while the 17th-ranked Vols will face the Kentucky men, who received votes in the preseason CSCAA Top 25. The Tennessee men swept UK during both dual meets last season, while the women split matchups."
Lady Vols continue ITA Fall National Championships – WeAreCollegeTennis.com
Senior Rebeka Mertena, one of two tennis players representing the Lady Vols at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Fall National Championships this weekend, won her first match Thursday, defeating Thasaporn Naklo of the Iowa State Cyclones. Lady Vols freshman Elza Tomase lost to Sarah Hamner of the South Carolina Gamecocks. You can see the full brackets here.
"The 2021 ITA National Fall Championships will take place November 4-7, 2021, at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, California. The Championships are the grand finale to the fall collegiate tennis season and feature 64 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (32 men and 32 women) and 64 of the nation’s top collegiate doubles teams (32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams)."