It is no secret the Tennessee women’s volleyball team had a rough 2013 season.
Last year, the squad finished, 9-23, overall and secured victory in only one of their 17 SEC matches.
After six players left the program following the 2012 season, last year’s team was forced to rely on young players in frequently unfamiliar positions.
“The season was what it was,” head coach Rob Patrick said. “It wasn’t a true indication of our program. It was an aberration.”
Patrick, however, was quick to point out the benefits of last year’s disappointing season. The team now has young players who have a full season’s experience under their belt.
“You know, I’m a glass half full guy,” he said. “I’m sitting here saying, ‘gosh, we have all these young players that have 30 matches under their belt that maybe they wouldn’t have had that before.’ You can’t replace that.”
The team will still be young, adding eight new players to the roster — six freshmen and two transfers.
The lone senior and one of three upperclassmen on the team, Shealyn Kolosky, is ready to lead the team to winning matches.
“We’ve definitely been working really hard and just coming together more as a team,” the middle back from Wheaton, Illinois, said. “(The upperclassmen) have done a really good job of making sure that people are involved and know what’s going on. A lot of us are just trying to lead by example and being really vocal leaders this year.”
Patrick, a 17th-year head coach, is proud of how his returning players have competed in practice, as they look to rebound this season.
“Our returners have worked their tails off,” Patrick said. “They knew what type of year we had and they knew that’s not Tennessee volleyball and that isn’t why they came to Tennessee. I’ve been really happy, excited and proud about how those returners have worked. They just want to build this program back to where it deserves to be.”
The eight new players have been able to add to and enhance the team’s depth.
“The freshmen have come in and have provided a huge amount of depth where we can now play and make changes,” Patrick said. “We can have a person that is injured or have a person that is not playing well. We can put another person in and our team doesn’t change very much. It’s real exciting to see that.”
A starting lineup and rotation for the Lady Vols has yet to be determined and will probably be an ever-changing process throughout the year.
“What’s great about this team now is there’s a lot of competition for every spot,” Patrick said. “Every position has competition and it’s really made our team better.”
The team plays their first matches this weekend at the Appalachian Invitational in Boone, North Carolina. Over three days, the Lady Vols will play Tennessee Tech, Cleveland State and Appalachian State.
“We’re going to have to play,” Patrick said. “They’re not going to give us points. Those are the toughest teams to play. It’s easy to play a team that gives you points, but these are teams that are well coached, organized, play great defense and they don’t give you any points.
“So we have to really play consistently at a certain level to be successful and that’s our challenge. That’s something we didn’t do last year.”
Tennessee’s first home match will be against Austin Peay inside Thompson Boling Arena Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.
