Happy Friday. We’ve reached the first weekend since August in which the Tennessee Vols football regular season is not in session and only the second without the program having a game. The first was obviously their bye.
Still, there’s plenty of news to get to, particularly with upcoming basketball matchups. Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with a press conference involving the men’s basketball team as they get set for two key Power Five matchups.
Beyond men’s basketball, volleyball has a key event for us to cover on Friday as well. We’ll close with awards in women’s soccer. It’s not as heavy as Fridays usually are in the Fall, but there are still plenty of Tennessee Vols for us to cover.
Rick Barnes, Olivier Nkamhoua talk Power Five matchups – Ben McKee, VolQuest
On Saturday, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team will visit the Colorado Buffaloes. They will then take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday. Rick Barnes and Olivier previewed both matchups Thursday. Barnes talked working on his rotations. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“I think we’re still, as we’re going through this, learning good rotations that we feel comfortable with when guys are out there. We try to keep some older guys out there sometimes earlier in the year, but now that we’ve got some experience with most of these young guys in general, we can sort of do what we do in practice every day where we’re not really concerned with the lineups that we have.”"
Nkamhoua, meanwhile, talked about where he has improved the most over last year. Here is a bit of what he said on that front.
"“My shot feels more fluid. I know the offense better than I have in the past years. Defensively, I’ve started to pick up on some things.”"
Volleyball begins NCAA Tournament – UTSports
The Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels Friday in the first round of the volleyball NCAA Tournament. UT comes in at 19-9 overall, while UNC comes in at 21-8. The match is set for 5 p.m. ET in Columbus, Ohio. This is UT’s 16th NCAA Tournament.
"When Tennessee and North Carolina meet on the court Friday night, it will be (Eve) Rackham Watt’s first time facing her alma mater as the head coach of the Lady Vols. Rackham Watt played at UNC from 1999-2002 and then coached in Chapel Hill from 2009-17. She was hired as Tennessee’s head coach in January 2018."
Soccer standouts earn All-American honors – UnitedSoccerCoaches.org
Redshirt sophomore Jaida Thomas and senior Wrenne French of the Tennessee Lady Vols soccer team were named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches. While Thomas earned Second Team, French earned Third-Team. There were 47 players to earn All-American honors overall this year.
"This year’s All-Americans will be formally acknowledged for their accomplishments at the United Soccer Coaches All-America Ceremony & Reception on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 at the Kansas City Convention Center in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention."