Over the last eight seasons, the Lady Volunteer golf program has been a force in the Southeastern Conference and on the national level under head coach Judi Pavon. During her career at Rocky Top, the 2006 SEC Coach of the Year has led the Big Orange to five NCAA Championship appearances, including four straight berths from 2004-07. The Helena, Mont., native holds the Rocky Top coaching records for head-to-head wins (940) and tournament titles (11).

Pavon's charges also have enjoyed individual success both on the golf course and in the classroom. Under Pavon, Lady Vols have been named All-Americans nine times, garnered All-SEC status on 23 occasions and flourished in the classroom, bringing home 17 NGCA Academic All-America citations. Pavon put four on the NGCA All-Academic list last year, including Marci Turner, Nicole Smith, Ginny Brown and Rebecca Watson. The success of the program on both the athletic and academic levels should come as no surprise, as Pavon has an extensive golf background that includes a professional career spanning from 1989-94 with two years on the LPGA Tour.

Now in her ninth season at the helm of the program, Pavon's looks to add to her success as she leads a young, but hungry, Lady Vol squad. This season, Pavon returns four players and welcomes three newcomers to a team looking to improve on last season's conference and NCAA Regional finishes.

The Lady Vols found success early in 2007-08, charting runner-up places at their first two tournaments of the fall season, the Cougar Classic and Lady Tar Heel Invitational. The Big Orange wasn't quite as strong down the stretch, though, as the team battled injuries and played some tournaments shorthanded. Still the Orange and White completed another season with an overall winning record (93-72-2) and finished eighth at the SEC Championships and 16th at the NCAA East Regional.

Highlights from the 2007-08 season included the Lady Vols carding their best-ever first round team score (second-best team score overall) when they shot a six-under 282 on day one of the Las Vegas Showdown. Additionally the team ranked in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin (22), and Golfstat (21) final team rankings. Senior Marci Turner also earned her third straight All-SEC honor.

Turner left the Lady Vols as one of the most accomplished players in the team's history. She became just the third Lady Vol in history to be a two-time National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American and three-time NGCA Academic All-American. As a junior she also won UT's first Edith Cummings Munson Award since 1994, an honor given to the All-American with the highest grade point average. A three-time All-SEC honoree under Pavon's guidance, she captured 16 top-10 finishes in her career and won three tournaments during the 2005-06 season (Cougar Classic, Dr. Donnis Thompson and NCAA East Regional). She wrapped up her career with a 74.20 average, the best all-time in Lady Vol history. She currently participates on the FUTURES Tour and captured her first professional win at the Tennessee Open last July.

Other Lady Vols who played for Pavon now in the professional ranks include Violeta Retamoza and current volunteer coach Young-A Yang on the LPGA Tour, as well as Angela Oh on the FUTURES Tour. Another former player, Jessica Shepley, will join Retamoza and Yang, as she finished seventh on the FUTURES Tour money list in 2008 to earn her LPGA card for the 2009 season.

Senior Nicole Smith and junior Diana Cantú were consistently in the Lady Vols' top four players last season and return to lead the team in 2008-09. Smith's top finish was eighth at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational, and she was third on the team with a 75.30 average. She has nine career top-10 finishes and earned NGCA All-America honors in 2006-07, a season where she won the Golf Daytona Beach Fall Preview with a five-under-par 211 at the LPGA International Legends Course. In addition, her opening round of 67 tied for the lowest opening round and fourth-lowest round by a Lady Vol. Smith earned second-team All-SEC honors during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

Cantú was fourth on the team with a 75.57 average and tied for fifth at back-to-back tournaments in the fall during the 2007-08 season, leading the the Lady Vols at both the Lady Tar Heel Invitational and the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships. Her career scoring average of 76.70 ranks 10th all-time in the Lady Vol record book.

The Lady Vols have been adding to the record books every season since Pavon took over the program in 2000.

During the 2006-07 season, Turner and Smith nabbed NGCA All-America and All-SEC honors, while Oh picked up second-team All-SEC accolades as well as Golfweek Magazine honorable mention All-America honors. The Lady Vols also won their home tournament, the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships, for the first-time ever in 2006-07 as Oh's birdie on the playoff hole gave UT the victory over No. 1-ranked Georgia. UT finished with a 134-55-3 record and placed in the top eight in 11 of 12 tournaments while playing a program-high 36 rounds.

Numerous records were toppled in 2005-06, including the previous lowest season stroke average. After setting a new best in 2004-05, Pavon's squad eclipsed their 297.59 mark by 1.69 strokes when it ended the season shooting 295.9. The Orange and White collected three tournament wins and tied for the most wins in a season with the 1996-97 and 2002-03 squads, earning Pavon the SEC Coach of the Year title. At the prestigious Dr. Donnis Thompson Invite in Honolulu, Hawaii, Pavon's pupils made Lady Vol history by firing a school-record-setting 855 and a four-under-par 280 in round three at the par-71 Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course. Lady Vols grabbed first through fourth places, led by Turner with a then-career best total, 210. The number sits as the second-lowest total in UT history behind Turner's own 2006 SEC Championship total of 209. In the final round of the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invite, Turner set the standard for the lowest 18 holes in UT annals when she carded a seven-below-par 64. For its efforts, Tennessee received its first Golfweek Magazine National Team of the Week award, and Turner collected her second of three National Player of the Week honors.

After receiving medalist honors at the 2005 Cougar Classic, 2006 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invite and 2006 NCAA East Regional, Turner held the record for top honors in a single season and tied former teammate Violeta Retamoza for most career titles. Turner also captured first-team All-SEC honors with teammates Golda Johansson and Smith on the second team. All six Lady Vols continued the tradition of excellence in the classroom by being named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. As a team, the Lady Vols ranked ninth in academics, according to the NGCA, with a cumulative GPA of 3.592 during the season.

During the 2004-05 season, Tennessee tied for sixth place at the NCAA Championships, marking the second top-10 showing at the event in Pavon's tenure. The squad fired a four-day total of 1187, which bested the school standard for the second straight campaign.

UT had advanced to the championships by way of winning the NCAA West Regional with a three-day total of 887. That mark toppled the school record at the tournament until 2006, when the team's total at the NCAA East Regional, 864, became the second-lowest 54-hole total in UT history.

Tennessee's team stroke average in 34 rounds of golf during 11 events in 2004-05 was a blistering 297.59, then the lowest in program history. The mark shattered UT's previous record (301.00) by more than three shots. Overall, the squad turned in nine top-five finishes, including the win at the NCAA West Regional, and a pair of runner-up showings (Cougar Classic and Mercedes-Benz) en route to an impressive head-to-head record of 125-29-5.

Individuals continued to thrive under the guidance of Pavon. Violeta Retamoza finished her junior campaign with the second-lowest single-season scoring average in program history and earned NGCA first-team All-America status. Other accolades bestowed upon Retamoza that year included being named both the SEC Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Retamoza graduated from Rocky Top in 2006 as the program's record-holder for rounds under par in a season (16).

Jessica Shepley, Pavon's first recruit, wrapped up an outstanding career at Rocky Top with four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the SEC Championships, to pace the Big Orange to a tie for fourth place.

Turner, in just her first year at Tennessee, connected immediately with Pavon, and the left-hander blossomed under her watch. She played in every tournament for the Orange and White, bringing home three top-25 showings with a scoring average of 75.38.

Additionally, all seven of the eligible student-athletes earned a spot on the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll. Overall, the team achieved a cumulative 3.32 GPA.

In 2003-04, Pavon guided the Lady Vols back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000 campaign. At the championships, the squad finished in 11th place with what was then a four-day school-record total of 1193, topping the previous best of 1197, set in 1997. At the NCAA East Regional, UT shot a team total of 918 to finish in seventh place.

Individual achievements continued as well, with Shepley earning honorable mention NGCA All-America laurels. She paced UT at the NCAA Championships with a program-best mark in championship history, a 286 effort (75-73-71-69) en route to a fifth-place finish.

Retamoza finished in a tie for first place at the SEC Championships and posted two other top-10 placements on the year. She was named to the first-team All-SEC squad for the second straight year. Academics remained a priority during the campaign, with the squad posting a cumulative 3.3 grade point average. Ash, Johansson, Retamoza and Shepley all were named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll while on a national level, Ash and Retamoza earned NGCA Academic All-America laurels.

UT completed the 2002-03 school year ranked 12th in the nation in the Golfweek/Sagarin poll. The squad tied the 1996-97 squad's record of three titles (Lady Kat Invitational, Derby and Lady Boilermaker Invitational). Pavon also eclipsed Lori Brock's coaching record of five career team championships with her sixth win at the Lady Boilermaker.

Several Lady Vols also were successful individually during the 2002-03 season. Retamoza took the college scene by storm, becoming UT's initial rookie to achieve second-team All-America status and was the Big Orange's third SEC Freshman of the Year recipient. The Aguascalientes, Mexico, native took runner-up status at the conference championships with a one-over 217 to claim first-team All-SEC honors. Shepley joined Retamoza as a first-team member with a string of nine consecutive top-15 showings.

In her second year as head coach, Pavon maintained UT's national prominence, leading the team to a No. 8 showing in the Golfweek/Sagarin final ranking. The squad captured a tournament title for the second straight season, as the Lady Vols won the Alabama Capstone Intercollegiate. Additionally, UT set new squad standards at the SEC Championships by firing its then-best 18-hole (282), 36-hole (577) and 54-hole (866) totals in school history.

Yang became the first Lady Vol to earn All-America status all four years of her career in 2001-02 while Tina Schneeberger captured second-team All-SEC honors and Shepley received All-SEC honorable mention.

During her first year as head coach, Pavon enjoyed remarkable success. Her team achieved a final ranking of eighth in the MasterCard Coaches' poll and 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin poll. The Lady Vols claimed seven top-five showings, including back-to-back victories in the spring. The wins at the Green Wave Women's Golf Classic and the Betsy Rawls Intercollegiate were the program's first titles since 1997.

The 2000-01 season featured great individual success as well. Yang earned a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships with rounds of 75-73-71-69. She ended the campaign as the nation's fourth-ranked golfer and earned first-team All-America honors. In total, Pavon's players recorded 21 top-15 finishes. Four Lady Vols earned All-SEC honors, including Yang, Schneeberger, Carrie Cole and Erin Simmons. The LPGA tabbed Pavon as the 2000 Southeast Section Coach of the Year for her work throughout the season.

As a professional player, Pavon competed in five major championships on the LPGA Tour: the LPGA Championships in 1992 and 1997, the U.S. Women's Open in 1991 and 1993, and in the 1992 duMaurier Championship. Pavon captured the LPGA Southeast Section Championship title in 1997 and vied for individual honors in 50 events as an LPGA Tour player. Pavon (formerly Schneider) graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alabama in 1989. At The Capstone, she was an NGCA All-American as a senior and a three-time NGCA Academic All-American. The SEC also tabbed Pavon as a first-team all-conference selection in 1989. She claimed two individual titles and qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships in 1989. Moreover, she was honored with the prestigious Paul "Bear" Bryant Student-Athlete of the Year award. As a team, the Crimson Tide finished ninth at the 1987 NCAA Championships, Alabama's first appearance ever. She led the club in stroke average her junior and senior seasons.

Pavon was the 1986 and 1989 Women's State Amateur Champion and was inducted into the Montana State Women's Golf Hall of Fame in 1996 and to the Helena Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. She also captured the 1984 and 1985 Montana State High School titles. She resides in Knoxville with her husband, Luis, a former UA golfer, and their two daughters, Alexa and Maya.