When the No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers step onto the court for their first three home matchups of the season, they will do so without some of their key players.
Before Tuesday’s practice, Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick announced she’s suspended redshirt sophomore guard Andraya Carter and senior guard Ariel Massengale for one regular season game and senior guard Cierra Burdick and redshirt freshmen guard Jannah Tucker for two games. All four will also be held out of Sunday’s exhibition game against Carson-Newman.
Warlick cited violation of academic rules as the principal reason for these suspensions.
“We don’t have a lot of rules, but the ones we do have, we take very seriously,” Warlick said. “We had a couple of young ladies not live up to our academic standards and academic standpoints.”
Warlick explained that these academic standards have always been in place at Tennessee.
“Every year, we have had to discipline kids with rules,” Warlick said. “Like I said, we don’t have a lot of rules, (you) can’t miss a class. If you miss a class, you miss a game. You got to sit in the first three rows. You can’t be late. It is pretty black and white and simple, and those are our rules. And if you don’t abide by them, the consequences are right there. So it is not really a decision by me.”
The suspensions leave Tennessee with only eight players for its exhibition game and first regular season game, placing pressure on the Lady Vols freshmen to immediately make an impact on the court.
Enter the heralded freshmen duo Alex Middleton and Jaime Nared.
“I was telling Jaime the other day, ‘I can’t believe (the season) is already here, we are so close,’ Middleton said. “I am just excited to run out for the first time and just be in the atmosphere with all the fans that are going to be here.”
When asked about her role for the team, Middleton said she hopes to be a player to “fill in the gaps.”
“I need to be able to do whatever needs to be done,” Middleton said. “If I need to drive in the lane, make a pass for someone to score, if I need to hit a three, or sit down and play defense, I just want to be able to do whatever needs to be done at that moment.”
Nared is also prepared to play a role to help her team win as a freshman.
“I think we all want to win as freshmen,” Nared said. “We all want to win a national championship. So coming in, we are going to do anything (Warlick) needs us to do to win.”
The Lady Vols will need each member of their team to play a role after the four suspensions, and Warlick believes that the freshmen will perform fine in their first college game despite the added pressure of having additional minutes.
“I think they really fit in, and I think they are picking up our system,” Warlick said. “They are going to be nervous, I would be too, I mean you are freshmen coming in. But once the nerves go away, I think they will jump right in. They have done a great job and I have a lot of confidence in them. They will get a lot of playing time.”
