Tennessee Lady Vols Volleyball 2023

Top ten D1 competitive salary and incentives, minimum.

White and many athletic directors are just cheap with non-revenue coaches--and they are/have been some of our best coaches. I'm actually more of a fan of non-rev sports as they've not been corrupted and badly commercialized like football, though it's also true that football pays all the non-revenue bills! Still, you want to keep good coaches, and pinching pennies isn't the way to do it.

Vols had a great opportunity but also left a big win get away,which is painful.
 
Have to trust @Aladywhovolunteer ’s opinion on this one. She seems to follow the Volleyball team pretty close. No offense to others that I’m sure follow closely.
@chuckiepoo thanks for the shout- out. I do enjoy this game but there are others on the forum that probably know more than me.

First let me address who we are losing.

Morgan Fingall is finishing her fifth year at Tennessee. She is a fantastic player and will be difficult to replace. She is an outside hitter (OH) and had over 20 kills against Texas. Fingall is left handed ( I think) and is listed as a right side hitter which is also called the opposite side hitter (OPP).

Yelianiz Torres is a fifth year player but only spent this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Bowling Green and became the starting libero (L). Torres was injured during the second set against Texas and was unable to continue. Perhaps with Torres available we close out Texas in the 4th set.

Raeven Chase is a fifth year player but only spent this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Eastern Michigan. She is a 6' 5" middle blocker (MB). Chase was not available for the first half of the season but once cleared became the first MB in the rotation.

Jensuisya Moore is a fifth year player but only played this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Ohio State. She is a 6' 0" outside hitter (OH).

There are a couple of additional players on the roster who have expended their eligibility but our significant losses are Fingall, Torres, Chase and Moore.

Now the good news.

Caroline Kerr is a red shirt freshman. She is our setter (S). She was selected SEC freshman of the week several times this season. She made the SEC all freshman team. She is a fantastic player and has three years eligibility remaining.

Erykah Lovett is a junior with one year of eligibility remaining. She is a 5'11" outside hitter and a phenomenal player. She and Moore were the principle left side hitters or other side of Fingall. Lovett is a transfer from Long Beach State ( LBS has three volleyball national championships).

Keondreya Grandberry is a sophmore with two years of eligibility. She is a 6' 3" middle blocker. Grandberry was usually the first rotation for Chase at MB. She is very athletic and very good at sliding to become an outside hitter.

Mackenzie Plante is a 6' 2" freshman outside hitter who replaced Torres as the libero against Texas. She played very well.

Sydney Jaynes is a 6' 0" freshman outside hitter/ libero who was phenomenal last night serving. I don't remember Jaynes with any service errors.

We need a libero and at least one maybe two outside hitters from the portal. Will post 2024 commitments in separate post.
 
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@chuckiepoo thanks for the shout- out. I do enjoy this game but there are others on the forum that probably know more than me.

First let me address who we are losing.

Morgan Fingall is finishing her fifth year at Tennessee. She is a fantastic player and will be difficult to replace. She is an outside hitter (OH) and had over 20 kills against Texas. Fingall is left handed ( I think) and is listed as a right side hitter which is also called the opposite side hitter (OPP).

Yelianiz Torres is a fifth year player but only spent this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Bowling Green and became the starting libero (L). Torres was injured during the second set against Texas and was unable to continue. Perhaps with Torres available we close out Texas in the 4th set.

Raeven Chase is a fifth year player but only spent this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Eastern Michigan. She is a 6' 5" middle blocker (MB). Chase was not available for the first half of the season but once cleared became the first MB in the rotation.

Jensuisya Moore is a fifth year player but only played this year at Tennessee. She transferred from Ohio State. She is a 6' 0" outside hitter (OH).

There are a couple of additional players on the roster who have expended their eligibility but our significant losses are Fingall, Torres, Chase and Moore.

Now the good news.

Caroline Kerr is a red shirt freshman. She is our setter (S). She was selected SEC freshman of the week several times this season. She made the SEC all freshman team. She is a fantastic player and has three years eligibility remaining.

Erykah Lovett is a junior with one year of eligibility remaining. She is a 5'11" outside hitter and a phenomenal player. She and Moore were the principle left side hitters or other side of Fingall. Lovett is a transfer from Long Beach State ( LBS has three volleyball national championships).

Keondreya Grandberry is a sophmore with two years of eligibility. She is a 6' 3" middle blocker. Grandberry was usually the first rotation for Chase at MB. She is very athletic and very good at sliding to become an outside hitter.

Mackenzie Plante is a 6' 2" freshman outside hitter who replaced Torres as the libero against Texas. She played very well.

Sydney Jaynes is a 6' 0" freshman outside hitter/ libero who was phenomenal last night serving. I don't remember Jaynes with any service errors.

We need a libero and at least one maybe two outside hitters from the portal. Will post 2024 commitments in separate post.
Coming through with the goods! Thank you, Ma’am!
 
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Great season....
Future looks very bright in Volleyball...

Now someone straighten Lady Vols basketball out...
Their great season is kellie’s average... just saying…

1-1 in non conference ranked games
3-2 in conference ranked games
(Florida and Kentucky down big historically)
Tied for 2nd in SEC might be 3rd bc we lost head to head against Ark. not sure how it works
Sweet sixteen they hosted

Only real difference is they didn’t schedule hard in non con and the SEC powerhouses were down. (They aren’t down in basketball)
 
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Their great season is kellie’s average... just saying…

1-1 in non conference ranked games
3-2 in conference ranked games
(Florida and Kentucky down big historically)
Tied for 2nd in SEC might be 3rd bc we lost head to head against Ark. not sure how it works
Sweet sixteen they hosted

Only real difference is they didn’t schedule hard in non con and the SEC powerhouses were down. (They aren’t down in basketball)
Only two teams in Women's basketball in SEC top level this season...

S.C. and LSU...

Tennessee next, the rest are average at best....
 
Their great season is kellie’s average... just saying…

1-1 in non conference ranked games
3-2 in conference ranked games
(Florida and Kentucky down big historically)
Tied for 2nd in SEC might be 3rd bc we lost head to head against Ark. not sure how it works
Sweet sixteen they hosted

Only real difference is they didn’t schedule hard in non con and the SEC powerhouses were down. (They aren’t down in basketball)

The standard for UT WBB is much higher than volleyball.

Also Kentucky won the SEC and was a 2-seed so not sure what you mean by saying they were down.
 
Both ignorant statements
Standards change. Expectations change. Specifically with regard to one program within an athletic department. We saw an understandable decline in expectations as we all began to understand Pat’s dilemma. Holly did well to continue the tradition but wasn’t up to dealing with outside concerted locker room drama. ADDW has his hands full. At a minimum, Kellie has reestablished the culture. Attitude? She has a way to go with her meat eaters…
 
They better give this VB. Coach a nice raise..like yesterday...don't think she hasn't been contacted!!
 
Standards change. Expectations change.


Mmmm...not for everyone. Regardless, that doesn't mean standards and expectations are going to be the same for every program on campus. Women's basketball has higher standards for success than volleyball and that's the way it should be given the programs' history. And given that, comparing the success of Harper and Rackham Watt is asinine.
 
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Our inability to close out Texas in the 4th set still stings. Texas beat 1 seed Stanford easily 3-1 and advanced to the Final 4. I believe we were 4 points away from a final 4.

SIGH. Is it baseball time yet???
@Volstylexx good post. Just one point. We were actually leading 24 to 23 and serving for match point.

Texas played well when it counted. Madisen Skinner proved to be too much. However, I think it's important to remember in the fourth set Texas used their last challenge to question a Texas touch that went out of bounds. If not reversed we win the fourth set 25 to 22 and win the match.

The two announcers/volleyball analysts showed three different camera angles of the call in question. Their commentary summarized was they didn't see how the call could be reversed. However, it was reversed. Coach Rackman Watt was shocked. I was devastated.

Coach Rackman Watt signed a five year extension in 2022 with a base salary of $215,000. The average salary of a SEC head volleyball coach in 2017 was $165,357. Her husband Gavin, an international volleyball star is on Coach Rackman Watt's staff.

John Cook, head coach at Nebraska is the highest paid NCAA volleyball coach at $600,000 per year. All four coaches of the final four teams make over $400,000.

Tennessee's five year strategic plan calls for each sport to finish in the top 16 once every four years. Coach Rackman Watt met that requirement this year. The plan also calls for each sport to win a conference championship once every five year. That will become more difficult with Texas joining the conference.

Oh by the way, Texas signed the number one recruit in volleyball from the state of Texas recently. Tennessee had a great year. We finished second in the conference. Hopefully, Coach Rackman Watt can keep the momentum going
 
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@Volstylexx good post. Just one point. We were actually leading 24 to 23 and serving for match point.

Texas played well when it counted. Madisen Skinner proved to be too much. However, I think it's important to remember in the fourth set Texas used their last challenge to question a Texas touch that went out of bounds. If not reversed we win the fourth set 25 to 22 and win the match.

The two announcers/volleyball analysts showed three different camera angles of the call in question. Their commentary summarized was they didn't see how the call could be reversed. Well it was reversed. Coach Rackman Watt was shocked. I was devastated.

Coach Rackman Watt signed a five year extension in 2022 with a base salary of $215,000. The average salary of a SEC head volleyball coach in 2017 was $165,357. Her husband Gavin, an international volleyball star is on Coach Rackman Watt's staff.

John Cook, head coach at Nebraska is the highest paid NCAA volleyball coach at $600,000 per year. All four coaches of the final four teams make over $400,000.

Tennessee's five year strategic plan calls for each sport to finish in the top 16 once every four years. Coach Rackman Watt met that requirement this year. The plan also calls for each sport to win a conference championship once every five year. That will become more difficult with Texas joining the conference.

Oh by the way, Texas signed the number one recruit in volleyball from the state of Texas recently. Tennessee had a great year. We finished second in the conference. Hopefully, Coach Rackman Watt can keep the momentum going
Finishing in the top 16 once every 4 years seems pretty pedestrian for LV standards.
 
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I opened up the updated 2024 LV roster. Help me out with this. I don’t see Erykah Lovett listed. What’s up with that? Looks like Kadynce Booth and Kamille Gibson are also missing. I can understand them maybe looking for more PT….But Lovett?
 
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