University of Tennessee Athletics
ROCKY TOP REWIND
September 19, 2011 | General
Sept. 19, 2011
Volleyball head coach Rob Patrick earned his 300th and 301st coaching victories to highlight the Tennessee athletics weekend.
Patrick and the Lady Vols swept past Georgia and Auburn without dropping a single game, improving to 9-2 overall and starting their SEC schedule 2-0. UT heads to South Carolina and Florida this weekend for a testing road double.
Soccer kept to its usual ways - another win, another shutout.
The Lady Vols blanked Coastal Carolina 4-0 Friday and improved their record to 7-1. It's the best start to a season in school history, topping the 2002 and 2003 squads that began 6-1.
Football dropped its first game of the season, 33-23 at Florida to open SEC play. The Vols were dealt a serious blow during their opening offensive series when sophomore sensation Justin Hunter injured his knee. Hunter has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Brittany Sheffey was the star of Saturday's Tennessee Invitational. Sheffey covered the Maryville cross country course - site of next month's SEC Championships - in 17:43.46 to claim the women's individual title. Both UT squads dropped the team competitions to Kentucky.
And men's tennis saw its first action in the Tennessee Fall Invitational. Senior Bryan Swartz and freshman Mikelis Libietis both earned their first singles and doubles titles in Sunday action at Barksdale Stadium. Next up, head coach Sam Winterbotham is splitting his squad for a pair of tournaments this weekend in Georgia and California.
Brittany Sheffey led from start to finish Saturday for her first collegiate cross country victory, covering the 5K course that will serve as this year's SEC Championship site in 17:43.46.
Caroline Brown scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season Friday. Five of those goals have been match-winners to lead all of Div. I soccer.
Shealyn Kolosky helped the Lady Vols to Sunday's win against Auburn by leading the team in hitting percentage (.583) and blocks (four).
The Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team opened the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule on a high note and netted head coach Rob Patrick career win number 300, as UT (8-2) defeated Georgia (4-7) 25-19, 25-20, 25-21, on Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in front of 843 fans.
Now in his 15th season at the helm of the volleyball program, Patrick reached the 300 win plateau after three consecutive 20-plus win seasons. The two-time National Coach of the Year also has the team on pace again this season.
"First of all, it means I'm old and I've been doing this a long time," Patrick explained. "It also means that I have had some incredible young ladies play here at the University of Tennessee. They are the ones who have sacrificed, put in the sweat, the time and energy and I can't thank them enough. I've also had some incredible coaches that I have worked with."
Lady Vols 3, Auburn 0
The Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team made it a weekend sweep of its opening SEC slate by downing Auburn, 25-15, 25-16, 25-20 on Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena in front of a crowd of 801.
"It was really important to stay at home and get those wins at home," head coach Rob Patrick said. "This is a really tough league and you have to take care of the matches at home. When you are on the road it is very tough to get wins."
Sophomore Kelsey Robinson led Tennessee (9-2, 2-0) by recording her seventh double-double of the season, registering 10 kills and 11 digs, each of which tied for a team high. Junior DeeDee Harrison also notched double-digits in kills, as the Nashville native had 10 and hit .533 for the match.
Next: Friday at South Carolina, 7 p.m.; Sunday at Florida, 5 p.m. // FULL SCHEDULE
With a commanding 4-0 victory over Coastal Carolina on Friday night in front of 1,017 fans at the Regal Soccer Stadium, the Tennessee soccer team made program history. At 7-1 overall the Lady Vols are now off to the best start in school annals, while the blanking of the Chanticleers marked UT's record fifth-consecutive shutout.
The Big Orange have now held the opposition scoreless over a stretch of 455:38, the second longest such skein in school history, just 1:57 from equaling the program's longest shutout streak of 457:35 that occurred from Sept. 7-21, 2007.
Tennessee out-shot Coastal Carolina by a staggering 27-4 total, including 14-2 in the first half and 13-2 over the second stanza, and tallied a 12-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Next: Friday vs. South Carolina, 7 p.m.; Sunday vs. Florida, 1 p.m. // FULL SCHEDULE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Tennessee's trip to The Swamp turned out to be a real stick in the mud.
Playing nearly the entire game without wide receiver Justin Hunter, Tennessee fell behind early and couldn't catch back up as No. 16 Florida claimed its seventh consecutive victory over the Vols, 33-23, on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Next: Oct. 1 vs. Buffalo, TBA // FULL SCHEDULE
MARYVILLE -- Vol Chris Bodary posted his second runner-up finish this season and Lady Vol Brittany Sheffey captured her first career victory, as the Big Orange cross country teams competed here Saturday morning in the Tennessee Invitational at Lambert Acres Golf Club.
Kentucky prevailed in the team races, winning with the men's 8000-meter competition with a score of 23 points to 36 for the UT men. The UK women, meanwhile, picked up a first-place outcome with 26 points to the Lady Vols' 33 on the 5000-meter women's layout.
Bodary, a senior from Downingtown, Pa., was thwarted from winning a men's individual crown for the second straight meet by Kentucky's Luis Orta, who prevailed in 25:07.34 on a course that will be used later this season for the SEC Championships. A runner-up to Orta at the Belmont-VU Opener on Sept. 2, Bodary grabbed second this time at the Tennessee Invitational in 25:24.52.
Next: Brooks Paul Short Run, Bethlehem, Pa. // FULL SCHEDULE
MARYVILLE -- Lady Vol Brittany Sheffey captured her first career victory and Vol Chris Bodary posted his second runner-up finish this season, as the Big Orange cross country teams competed here Saturday morning in the Tennessee Invitational at Lambert Acres Golf Club.
Kentucky prevailed in the team races, winning with the men's 8000-meter competition with a score of 23 points to 36 for the UT men. The UK women, meanwhile, picked up a first-place outcome with 26 points to the Lady Vols' 33 on the 5000-meter women's layout.
Sheffey, a senior from Bellport, N.Y., led from start to finish en route to her first collegiate cross country win, paced the team for the second time this season and contributed to UT's scoring tally for the 20th-consecutive race in her career. She did so with a readout of 17 minutes, 43.46 seconds that ranks as the fifth-fastest registered by a Lady Vol on the 5K course at Lambert Acres. That mark propelled her across the finish line nearly 30 seconds ahead of the runner-up time of 18:13.22, registered by Kentucky junior Chelsea Oswald.
Next: Brooks Paul Short Run, Bethlehem, Pa. // FULL SCHEDULE
Playing on their home courts and at nearby Tyson Park, the Tennessee Volunteers rolled out to a nearly undefeated season-opening day at the Tennessee Fall Invitational on Friday.
The nine Vols combined for a 16-2 singles record in the tournament, and the team's four freshmen each advanced two rounds into Saturday's quarterfinals in their collegiate debuts.
Tennessee had a perfect 5-0 mark in doubles as well, with 8-1 victories by the teams of Edward Jones and Hunter Reese as well as Bryan Swartz and Brandon Fickey.
Tennessee Fall Invitational (Day 2)
After Saturday's competition at the Tennessee Fall Invitational, one thing is already certain: a Vol will walk away with his first tournament title.
Tennessee freshmen Brandon Fickey and Mikelis Libietis each won two matches at Barksdale Stadium to advance to the finals of the top singles draw in their collegiate debuts.
"No one likes playing their friends but it all counts toward your fall record," said Fickey, who defeated teammate Jarryd Chaplin 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. "You just go out there, have fun and try to make it a good match."
Fickey and Libietis aren't the only Vols playing for a trophy, however. Senior Bryan Swartz earned his way into his first career final with two wins, finishing the day with a three-hour 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over ETSU's Robin Akser in the semifinals.
Tennessee Fall Invitational (Day 3)
One Tennessee Volunteer just started his career while another was beginning his final lap, but freshman Mikelis Libietis and senior Bryan Swartz shared one thing in common Sunday.
Both Vols earned their first collegiate singles and doubles titles at Barksdale Stadium.
Libietis defeated fellow freshmen Brandon Fickey 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the final round of the top draw. Nearly an hour later, senior Bryan Swartz celebrated with teammates after coming back from a break down in the third set to beat East Tennessee State's Rogerio Ribeiro 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1) in the second flight.
Next: Friday-Sunday at Land Rover Napa Valley Tennis Classic, St. Helena, Calif.; Friday-Sunday at Southern Intercollegiate Championships, Athens, Ga. (split squads) // FULL SCHEDULE
Players Mentioned
