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Aug. 30, 2004

With nearly the entire team returning from a 2003 squad that earned Tennessee's best record in 20 seasons, the Lady Vol volleyball squad is not resting on its laurels. After an off-season full of "Commitment" on the court and in the weight room, UT enters 2004 with confidence to compete with, and beat, the best teams in the country.

Last year's mark of 22-9 gave UT its highest winning percentage since the 1983 team went 31-10. Not only does Tennessee return all six starters from that excellent squad, but the Lady Vols also bring back players that accounted for more than 95 percent of last season's kills, assists, service aces, digs and blocks. A committed attitude since the conclusion of the 2003 campaign, which ended with UT just missing out on an NCAA Tournament berth, is giving everyone associated with Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball reason to look upon the upcoming season with a high level of anticipation and excitement.

Michelle Piantadosi

"We've never been more excited for a season," Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "Everybody on the team has put in a tremendous amount of work. We've never had the whole team remain for the summer and work out like they did. Ten out of our 13 returning players stayed for the entire summer, while the other three arrived for the second session of summer school. They were up every morning lifting weights and conditioning, working out hard and it shows. We've had players increase their jumps one-to-two inches just over the four-month summer period, which is an amazing improvement. They've taken it upon themselves to be the best team they can be. This is going to be the most physical and experienced team that I've ever had here.

"They were very upset not being picked for the NCAA Tournament last year and don't want to ever be in that position again. Their goals when they came to Tennessee were to win the SEC (Southeastern Conference) Championship, qualify for the NCAA Tournament and go deep in the NCAA Tournament. They haven't reached those goals yet, which are very important to them."

The 2004 SEC Coaches' Poll shows that others in the conference are also impressed with Tennessee's talent level. Florida, defending national runner-up, was picked first in the conference with nine championship votes, but Tennessee was selected second, receiving two first-place nods. The Gators are coming off their 13th-consecutive SEC regular-season championship and possess a 130-match SEC winning streak dating back to the 1994 campaign.

The 2004 Lady Vol squad is the largest that eighth-year coach Patrick has had in his time at Tennessee.

"In the past, we've never had enough players on our team because of injuries and other things," Patrick said. "We made a decision to have 16 players, more than normal, because you're always going to have somebody have a sprained ankle, the normal aches and pains that happen during a season.

"What's ended up happening is that we have a level of players who are all very good. There's not a huge drop-off between the starters and reserve players. Right now, just about every position is up for grabs, with the exception of junior middle blocker Kristen Andre, junior outside hitter Amy Morris and junior setter Julie Knytych. The other three positions are really up for grabs. It's good that they're pushing each other and competing for spots while at the same time pulling for each other. To have that sort of depth is a great thing."

Knytych, a co-captain enters the 2004 campaign with 2,605 assists, already good enough for sixth place on the all-time list for Lady Vol setters. She had 1,406 last season, the fourth-highest single-season total in UT history.

"Julie has really learned the offense we like to run," Patrick said. "By the end of last season, she was calling about 80 percent of the plays, so she has a good understanding of who to set and what plays to run in various situations. That type of experience is really going to be key, because now a lot of our team's focus will remain on the court.

"I am very impressed in that she already is an excellent setter, one of the best in our conference for sure, but with her tremendous work ethic, she's more athletic and explosive than last year, with increased quickness and a higher vertical leap. She has a great strength base to carry her through the whole season. Julie's put herself in the position to be one of the premier setters not only in the SEC, but also in our region. She was one of the reasons the team hit .252 (the highest percentage for a Lady Vol squad since the 1988 team hit .260)."

Whitney Gifford

Sophomore Cynthia Buggs is the back-up setter, but she also is an excellent back-row player, compiling 2.93 digs/game last season to rank 10th among SEC players as a freshman.

"Cynthia is as athletic as Julie is, maybe more so, but doesn't have the experience that Julie does," Patrick said. "Cynthia spent the entire off-season training and came into the preseason in fantastic shape, quicker than last year. She also has really gotten an understanding of the technical parts of setting. If we need someone to come in and set for Julie or we decide to run a 6-2 offense in certain situations, we feel very comfortable to have Cynthia in there to set and run the team.

"She also will have plenty of opportunity to play back row. Her understanding of volleyball, added with her great quickness and athleticism, really lends itself to allow her to be a very successful back-row player and to see a lot of playing time this year."

Also seeing time in the back row will be junior Jasmine Fullove, freshman Lauren LaFlamme and sophomores Ann Mullins and Annie Sadowski.

Fullove, an excellent all-around player, will likely see most of her time on the court as a defensive specialist.

"Jasmine's one of our strongest players, the physically strongest in the weight room, which allows her to do some things on defense that some of our other players are not able to do," Patrick said. "She's pretty fearless in terms of getting in front of a hard-driven ball and getting it up. She reads and knows the game well and puts herself in very good defensive positions. She is one of the leading candidates for our libero position"

LaFlamme is going to bring her extensive club volleyball experience in California to the 2004 Lady Vols. After participating in several sports in high school, including track, softball and basketball, she is now focusing on volleyball.

"Lauren is an excellent athlete who has exceptional hand-eye coordination," Patrick said. "She is a good volleyball player who, as she gains experience, will become an excellent player. She has excellent ball control, hustle and digging ability. For her first year, Lauren will likely play more in the back row as a defensive specialist, along with having an opportunity to get better this year as an outside hitter."

Mullins made an excellent impact on the Lady Vols last season as a freshman as she was named Most Improved by her teammates and compiled 112 digs.

"Ann had a tremendous offseason and has come into the fall in excellent shape," Patrick said. "She is a strong, powerful and quick player who has excellent passing and digging skills and a powerful serving ability. We're very excited about her improvement in all areas of her game. It's exciting to see someone improve so much.

Julie Knytych

"Her weakness before was probably her lack of consistency in passing. She has overcome that now and has put herself in position to be our libero or one of our main defensive specialists."

Sadowski also looks to receive playing time in the back row.

"Annie is probably our best pure passer," Patrick said. "She has continued getting in good shape and increasing her strength. She's extremely consistent in her passing and is working to improve her skills in digging, defense and serving. She's increasing her aggressiveness and is going after the ball more than she has in the past. She is right in the mix for extensive time in the libero or DS position."

The outside hitter position is another one that looks strong as UT heads into the 2004 season.

Senior Whitney Gifford has all-around talent, exemplified by her earning the Coaches' Award for her contributions in 2003. The senior ranked second on the squad in assists (50), third in blocks (76), fourth in digs (282) and fifth in kills (167). Gifford and Knytych were the only two Lady Vols to play in every game last year.

"Whitney can play any position for us, except setter, and play it at a very high level," Patrick said. "She might be one of our most valuable players just because we can change lineups and as long as she's one of the players on the court, we can do it easily because of her flexibility. This year, she's going to see a lot of time at outside hitter and right-side hitter while also playing some back row and libero. She's an excellent blocker who we might put on the best hitter of the other team. Her passing and defensive skills are excellent also.

"It's going to be exciting to have Whitney on the court when things get crazy during tight matches. She's going to be pretty unflappable because she's been through it for four years."

Morris plays spectacular defense. In 2003, she recorded 397 digs, the third most in Tennessee history. Her 3.68 digs/game placed her second in the SEC. The well-rounded player also is excellent when playing offense, completing the 2003 campaign with 3.53 kills/game, the highest average on the squad.

"Amy is one of our most dynamic players," Patrick said. "She's our best digger, defender and passer. She has tremendous hand-eye coordination and can read the game quickly with quick reactions to balls. Also, she is a very aggressive player who hits the ball hard.

Kristen Andre

"In the offseason, Amy worked on a couple different shots for her to become a more effective hitter. She has improved tremendously from last season, digging even more balls and hitting at an improved efficiency, which is impressive because she already was such a good player."

Michelle Piantadosi, a co-captain, returns for her senior campaign.

"Michelle also brings a tremendous amount of game experience to the court," Patrick said. "It's her senior season and she's finally feeling comfortable in the outside hitter position after moving to that position her sophomore season. She had never played there before and it's taken a couple years for her to get comfortable with the timing, foot work and arm swing, but she's worked extremely hard to get better as an outside hitter.

"I really believe she's going to have a breakout season. She's 6-3 and can touch well above 10 feet, so along with her physical attributes, she can match up with any team in the entire country with what she can do blocking-wise and hitting. She's also increased her array of shots so she can hit cross-court and line along with knowing when to tip the ball for kills. She's somebody who can propel our team to some pretty great heights.

"As a leader, Michelle is a steadying force for our players, especially the younger ones. She knows what they're going through because she's already experienced it."

Freshman Yuliya Stoyanova comes to UT from Sofia, Bulgaria. The freshman brings significant international experience, having played on Bulgarian junior national teams, which have placed third at both the Junior European Championships and the Balkan Championships.

"Yuliya has played volleyball for a very long time at a high level," Patrick said. "She's really going to add a lot to our team because of the style of play she brings. The American style is strength and power and the European style is a little bit more finesse where they block better and, as a hitter, can see around the block better, hitting it down the line, cross court and tipping the ball. She has a very good serve as well. Yuliya is a very consistent athlete who is technically very good as well. She's also our first lefty and true right-side player since I've been at Tennessee."

Redshirt freshman Brittany Zahn, after sitting out the 2003 campaign with a knee injury, looks to garner playing time on the outside in 2004.

"Even though she's not quite at 100 percent, Brittany's really pushing our outside hitters for a starting spot," Patrick said. "She's very consistent and has all the shots in the book. She's a very effective hitter who can tip, hit line and cross-court hard and find all the seams in the block. She's also been a pleasant surprise in terms of how consistent she is passing and playing defense. As she continues to get her legs stronger and into volleyball shape, she's really going to be a force on this team."

Five players look to receive the bulk of the playing time in the middle blocker position: Andre, sophomore Sarah Blum, junior Heather Harrington and freshmen Joselyn Johnson and Carlie Kearney.

Andre had an excellent 2004 campaign, hitting .348, the top hitting percentage on the squad, fifth best in the SEC and sixth highest in UT volleyball history.

"Kristen really had a breakout season last year," Patrick said. "I really think she's going to improve on some of her offensive numbers. She not only might be in the best shape on our team in every way, but she may be one of the most athletic players in our women's athletics department. That really says a lot, considering the type of athletes we have here. She's done a tremendous job in getting even stronger and quicker than she was before. We're really looking for big things from her. Her teammates have a lot of respect for her work ethic and what she's done, and she's earned that.

"Kristen is very quick, which teams find really hard to match up with, especially when she's in transition. She does a great job transitioning off the nets from a block and then getting back up to hit offensively. She has great power. She's also worked on hitting to different areas of the court instead of just one spot. Now if opponents can match up to her speed and she sees a big block in front of her, she has a repertoire of shots to hit.

Amy Morris

"Last year, one of her weaknesses was her blocking, which she's worked on very hard. Technically, she's one of the better blockers that I've seen at her age in all my years of coaching."

Blum hit the Lady Vol court with a bang last season, compiling 152 blocks, the seventh-highest single-season total in UT volleyball history. Her 1.39 blocks/game ranked her third in the SEC and 27th among NCAA Division I players as a freshman. The 6-3 middle blocker also hit .312, seventh highest among SEC players, helping her earn SEC All-Freshman Team accolades.

"Sarah also has been working on adding things offensively to her game," Patrick said. "She keeps getting better technically and moves quickly. She is a very good blocker who also takes up a lot of space at the net. In the offseason, she worked very hard in the weight room, so I don't expect her to wear down like she did a little last season as a freshman. She now has the strength base to play at a more even level throughout the season."

Harrington keeps improving her play in the middle and looks to see some playing time there in 2004.

"Heather brings a lot of excitement and energy to the middle blocker position," Patrick said. "She's technically a very good player who will provide a lot of experience and depth to the position. She is a very good blocker who, if we need a blocking specialist, we can put in the middle or on the right side to try to slow down a very good hitter. After she gets a little stronger, she'll be somebody who will challange for a starting position."

Johnson is a freshman who looks to grab some quality court time.

"Joselyn is an incredibly athletic and quick player who gets off the floor extremely fast and gets up very high," Patrick said. "She is really pushing for some significant playing time because she's so athletic. She may not have the experience of our other middles, but she makes up for it athletically because of her quickness. She's working hard on getting technically better. Even though she's 5-10, she can match up with middles who are much bigger than she is because she can get up so quickly. She also transitions well off the net from the block to provide our setter with another offensive outlet in transitioning our offense."

Kearney is a well-rounded student-athlete who is putting her focus on volleyball at Tennessee. At Palm Harbor University High School, she played varsity soccer and softball, along with volleyball.

"Carlie is a very good athlete who hasn't reached her potential in volleyball yet," Patrick said. "She is working on the technical areas of her game. Once she gets those down, she's going to be a very good player and her real athleticism will come out. It's great for her to play against the middles we already have in our program, which will really accelerate her development. She has a very good attitude and is picking things up quickly. We see her providing a lot of depth for us this coming year."

The 2004 schedule will challenge the Lady Vols with six matches against five 2003 NCAA Tournament squads (Loyola Marymount, Michigan, Louisville, Pittsburgh and two versus national runner-up Florida). Four of the matches come against squads ranked in the USA Today/CSTV preseason poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association: No. 4 Florida (at home on Oct. 22; in Gainesville, Fla., on Nov. 14), No. 18 Loyola Marymount (at the LMU Four Points Sheraton Volleyball Classic on Sept. 4) and No. 20 Louisville (home match on Sept. 22).

"Our schedule is about as perfect a schedule as we can come up with," Patrick said. "We have some top-20 teams we get to play and also some very talented teams from strong conferences.

Rob Patrick

"We open the season at the Loyola Marymount tourney (at the LMU Four Points Sheraton Volleyball Classic from Sept. 3-4) and face LMU, a top-20 team every year, Villanova and Duke, a strong team that's had some good recruiting classes."

Purdue, Tennessee-Martin and Wake Forest come to Knoxville for the Domino's Pizza Lady Vol Classic from Sept. 10-11.

"Purdue, from the Big 10, one of the strongest conferences in the country, is an up-and-coming team that is going to be very strong," Patrick said. "Wake Forest, also a team on the rise, has a lot of returning players. Those two teams have a chance to be in the top 20 this year."

After playing host to a non-conference match versus Lipscomb, the Lady Vols head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Michigan/Nike Invitational to take on Western Michigan, Virginia Tech and the host Wolverines.

"Western Michigan is out of the MAC (Mid-American Conference), a very underrated volleyball conference," Patrick said. "The Broncos are a physical team and if we're not ready to play them, we're going to have problems. Michigan is a quality team who is in or near the top 20 every year."

Prior to starting SEC play, Tennessee plays host to Louisville for a non-conference match.

"Louisville is a very good team that is in the top 20 every year and in the NCAAs just about every year (13 of the past 14)," Patrick said.

"Our preseason schedule is really going to prepare us for SEC play and show us where we are at and where we need to improve," Patrick said. "It's going to be a very competitive preseason.

"The SEC season is grinding. This league has improved every year since I started coaching in it and every team has improved. In the Eastern Division, you've got Florida in the national finals and South Carolina beating top-20 teams and finishing fourth. Georgia, a strong, physical volleyball team, returns basically everybody. Kentucky is excited about its players; it also has very athletic players coming in."

"In the Western Division, Arkansas repeatedly makes the NCAA Tournament and LSU, a young athletic team from last year, returns nearly its entire roster. I really believe there are going to be four or five teams that are going to make the NCAA Tournament, which is great for our conference."

Tennessee also plays at Appalachian State and versus Pittsburgh in Louisville, Ky., in a pair of non-conference matches following the commencement of SEC play.

Following an off-season of intense training and hard work, the Lady Vols look to reap the benefits of their "Commitment" and continue their drive toward and into the elite level of college volleyball.