The Lady Vols softball team began their preparation for this weekend’s NCAA Regionals with a team sing-off following their loss to Kentucky in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
“It was pretty rowdy,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “I’m glad the bus driver kept the bus on the road. There was some real wailing and rapping and all the other stuff going on.”
SEC Player of the Year Madison Shipman said she wanted to get the team back on track after their early exit in the SEC Tournament.
“Nobody wants to lose, but at the same time, you can’t dwell on it,” Shipman said. “We put it in the past. We had this fun competition thing on the way back just to get us all together again.”
Along with freshman Annie Aldrete and sophomore Haley Tobler, Shipman ended up winning the impromptu sing-off.
Shipman’s swan song to the home fans will likely be this weekend since the winner of Knoxville’s Regional will to travel to Oklahoma if the No. 7 seed Sooners advance from their region.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” Shipman said. “I like to go out there with the mentality that this could be my last day. You never know, with injuries, anything could possibly happen. Every time I step on the field, I try to have that in the back of my mind, so this weekend is no different.”
Weekly gave his team a day off on Sunday to help get their mentality where it needs to be for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee was selected as the No. 10 seed and will host Lipscomb (39-13), Virginia Tech (35-21) and Charleston Southern (27-31-1) in the NCAA Regional starting on Friday.
Shipman, who will be participating in her fourth NCAA Tournament, is prepared to take on the responsibility of leading the younger players in the postseason.
“A lot of it is mental toughness at this point,” Shipman said. “We’re all great softball teams, but it’s who can tough it out the longest. We’re going to be playing top pitching for the rest of the season, so of course you’re not going to be hitting five home runs a game, but just keep your mentality up and positive all the way through the end.”
With four freshmen in the starting lineup, Shipman believes age is not something to worry about on their team.
“We made it our goal this year that if people looked on the field, they wouldn’t be able to tell, ‘Oh, she’s a freshman. Oh, she’s a senior,'” Shipman said. “We all have that distinction that age isn’t a big factor. I think we’ve done a really good job of that this year so far.”
Weekly has spoken for much of the season about the inconsistency that comes along with having a young team. However, with no room for error in the NCAA Tournament, he believes his team is experienced enough currently to make a run.
“After playing the season that we’ve played, they’ve played 52 games, they’re not young,” Weekly said. “I think they’re pretty motivated, I really do. I didn’t see anybody drop their head, or looking sad, or anything like that. I think they’re ready to go, but time will tell.”
