Caroline Kerr was surrounded by veterans last season on the University of Tennessee women’s volleyball team. This season, the redshirt sophomore setter is a veteran.
Coming off one of the most successful runs in program history, the Lady Vols are retooling this year with a roster filled with younger players and new faces.
“I think we’ve really embraced it. I think it’s nothing to shy away from and try to act like it’s not a real thing,” Kerr says. “I think we do have to grow as an experience, but I think we’ve embraced it in a way that’s like we’re going to use it to our advantage, that we’re young, we’re eager, we’re ready to go.”
The Lady Vols were one point away from reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season. They lost to two two-time defending national champion Texas in five sets in the regional semifinal.
Only Kerr and junior middle blocker Kiki Granberry return in their starting roles from last season’s squad. Tennessee has added nine players as freshmen or transfers, including Nebraska’s Hayden Kubik and Towson’s Nina Cajic. They will be tasked with trying to replace the offensive output of All-Americans Morghan Fingall and Jenaisya Moore, who both graduated.
“Every year is different, so we try to not mention last year as much as we possibly can,” UT head coach Eve Rackham Watt says. “You want to use it as a learning tool for players who are returning, who maybe were on that team. But there’s so many new players this season, so many new roles, that it’s really irrelevant to talk to this group about last season. It’s really about this group and what this group is going to do.”
Immediate challenges
Despite the unknowns, the No. 15 Lady Vols didn’t ease into the season. They hosted No. 7 Penn State and traveled to play No. 6 Louisville to open the season last week. Tennessee lost to Penn State in four sets in front of a record crowd of 6,193 that nearly doubled the previous record. They were swept by the Cardinals on the road.
Tennessee (0-2) returns to Food City Center Thursday night to host UCLA, which beat No. 14 Georgia Tech to open the season.
Rackham Watt is hoping to use the early-season matches to settle into a lineup and figure out what system to run. The Lady Vols need to identify a primary passer, primary server, and who can score points.
“I hope to just learn that we’re going to be in those tough moments and then we’re not going to back down from them,” says Kerr of the early-season tests. “I think winning is hard at this level, and so being able just to persevere in those moments instead of shying away from it is what I’m hoping to see, and I know what we can do. To be able to hopefully again compete for championships in December, we got to start strong … so just being able to persevere and be tough in those moments, I think, will be really important for us.”
Tennessee got an early start on creating some chemistry by traveling to Italy and Poland in May and June to play five matches on a European tour. That gave the Lady Vols 10 extra practice sessions as well.
On the right side, freshman Paityn Chapman, who arrived in Knoxville in January, has flashed her ability to contribute immediately. On the left side, Cajic and Kubik will be the main targets.
“I just think in terms of not comparing it to last year; it’s we have to win differently this year and not look at last season as the blueprint of every way to be successful,” Rackham Watt says. “This year is going to look different for us.”
Transfers hope to make a difference
Cajic, a graduate transfer, was the 2023 Colonial Athletic Conference Player of the Year at Towson. Kubik, a junior, is a former top-ranked recruit who saw limited time while playing for the powerhouse Huskers.
“I think beyond Hayden’s physical talent, obviously, she has a big arm, but I think she’s a great person. I think she’s a calm presence on the court,” says Kerr, a preseason All-SEC selection who ranked third nationally and led all freshmen in assists per set (11.75) last season. “And I turned to Hayden, I’m like, ‘OK, we got someone with us who’s ready to go.’ And so I really enjoy being a teammate of Hayden’s beyond just the physical skill. And I think that goes a long way having that balance when you got the competitiveness, the calmness, you have it all working together.”
Although Tennessee may be in a more youthful reloading phase, the Lady Vols haven’t changed their expectations. They expect to be one of the best programs in the nation on an annual basis and want to contend for titles no matter who’s on the floor.
“I think last year’s run was somewhere that none of us had been. And I think whether you played or you didn’t play, you figured out what it took to get there,” Kerr says. “And so we use everything we can, while trying to also separate it from last year. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t last year’s team, but we try to use as much as we have from that to get us back there and hopefully further.”