The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines resilience as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.”
Merriam-Webster should consider adding a synonym: Tennessee’s 2022 volleyball team. The 2022 season was one that was filled with injury, misfortune and events that can only be described as unlucky.
No matter what was thrown at them, the Lady Vols came back the next day.
“We’ve had injury after injury set back after setback, and they’ve shown up every day wanting to get better and not getting down, not feeling sorry for themselves, continuing to play for each other,” head coach Eve Rackham Watt said.
Despite the adversity, the Lady Vols managed to get a postseason berth. Although Tennessee was eliminated in the round of 64, just making it that far was a feat.
The story of the Lady Vols’ misfortunes begins before the season ever did. Before Tennessee ever played a set, the Lady Vols lost both of its fifth-year middle blockers.
Ava Bell suffered a shoulder injury, forcing her to medically retire before ever seeing the floor for Tennessee in 2022. Danielle Mahaffey suffered a fracture in her lower leg, sidelining her until November for Tennessee.
Mahaffey and Bell led a defense that topped national leaderboards in 2021. Both middle blockers won several SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2021 and were expected to continue their dominance into the 2022 season.
“I say it’s definitely hard,” Mahaffey said. “It was not planned at all. Just being with these girls and seeing them work hard, it made me wanna work hard to get back to them. Just also maybe learn how to lead from off the court.”
Rackham Watt put together a gauntlet of an out-of-conference schedule assuming she would have her dominant block defense on the floor. The road got a lot tougher in the absence of Mahaffey and Bell.
Tennessee dropped a match to No. 13 Purdue in their opening season tournament. The ranked opponents didn’t stop there.
Tennessee suffered three straight sweeps before beginning SEC play, dropping matches to No. 21 Western Kentucky, No. 12 Pittsburgh, and No. 5 Ohio State.
“I think that’s what has made this group special is that they’ve taken whatever’s been thrown at them and found a way to keep going and keep being competitive and wanting to get better and keep hungry for matches and practice,” Rackham Watt said.
Tennessee bounced back and opened SEC play with a sweep of Missouri. Aside from injuries, Rackham Watt kept a consistent lineup until the Sept. 21 match against the Tigers.
Ashllyn King replaced Paola Laborda at the libero spot. King became Tennessee’s everyday libero and one of the loudest voices on the floor.
King had to learn the position on the fly, but her presence made a difference for Tennessee.
“The way Ashlyn King has kind of grown into the libero position and the way she’s handled the ball for us. We’re just a better team all around than we were at the beginning of the month,” Rackham Watt said about King’s addition.
As for Laborda, she was forced to step away from the team due to undisclosed reasons. She is no longer listed on Tennessee’s roster.
The Lady Vols started the month of October with a 1-3 loss to No. 15 Florida. The match with the Gators, which consisted of a lot of “almosts,” set the tone for the month of October.
Not a lot went the Lady Vols’ way in October, suffering a sweep against Arkansas, and a loss to Auburn.
Finally, October ended. Tennessee finished the month 2-4 and hovered around the No. 60 in the RPI rankings.
“We talked about October when I told them, ‘this is a big month you guys, this is when seasons kind of get made or broken, we gotta fight through October,’” Rackham Watt said. “It’s the fatigue, it gets long, the weather changes, and it’s cold. It’s a tough month for volleyball and we weren’t great but we were okay.”
The end of October gave Tennessee an 11-day break. During that break, the switch flipped for the Lady Vols.
“I really think they could have thrown in the towel a long time ago when things weren’t going well in the beginning of October,” Rackham Watt said. “It was hard, but they just kept grinding.”
Tennessee had a trip to Oxford on Nov. 2, a trip that changed the course of the season for the Lady Vols.
Mahaffey was back, and Tennessee fought out a five-set win. With their backs against the walls, the Lady Vols showed the resilience they had built from the constant battles with injury.
“When Danielle came back into the lineup, it gave the whole team a little bit of a boost,” Rackham Watt said. “Then we went down to Ole Miss and we had our backs against the wall there and found a way to win that match in five. That, for me, was really the turning point.”
Finally, the Lady Vols had its ideal lineup on the floor in November, or as close to it as possible.
“It’s been a hard year because we haven’t had a consistent group to practice with, which means we haven’t had a consistent group to play with,” Rackham Watt said. “It’s been an injury kind of every week, a different person, we’ve kind of had to deal without.”
Tennessee won seven of its nine matches during November, only losing to No. 18 Kentucky in Lexington and Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
The month of November also saw Morgahn Fingall eclipse the 1,000-kill mark as a Lady Vol. The senior from Fairfax, Virginia, cemented her legacy against LSU.
“Morgahn Fingall obviously has had a tremendous year,” Rackham Watt said. “What she’s done for us, can’t really ask her to do that much more.”
Fingall finished the season with 483 kills and averaged 4.39 kills per set. Both marks place Fingall second among Lady Vols in the 25-point rally-scoring era. She also sat atop the SEC in offensive rankings.
The outside hitter picked up a variety of accolades following the season, including being named to the AVCA Southeast All-Region team, being named to the All-SEC team, and receiving SEC Player of the Week honors several times.
The senior was chosen as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the year. She is just the second Lady Vols to receive the honor. Fingall has also been on the Dean’s List at Tennessee five times and was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
Her career isn’t over yet as she announced she will be returning to Rocky Top for her last year of eligibility in the 2023 season.
“Morgahn Fingall to me is like the epitome of what it’s supposed to look like,” Rackham Watt said. “She came in and she had a hard freshman year and she didn’t play a lot. She had moments where she wasn’t sure if she was gonna be able to do it or be good enough. You look at her now, that’s what it looks like when you just keep showing up and you keep working hard. To me, she’s all the right things.”
After Tennessee’s dominant November performance, the Lady Vols were in the conversation for a postseason berth. Tennessee had climbed its way to No. 39 in the RPI.
Finally, Tennessee saw its name called on Nov. 25. The Lady Vols were headed to Louisville to face Purdue in the first round. The pure emotion, as seen in a video viewed by over 38 thousand people, was a culmination of a season no one expected.
“I just wanted it so badly for the team, so much for our seniors, so much for our leadership group,” Rackham Watt said. “We’ve just, we’ve had so much adversity this year and they’ve been able to hold it together and just never get down. It’s just the culture of this group, the culture of this team, the unselfishness of this group.”
Unfortunately, Tennessee ran into a buzzsaw, and the Lady Vols’ season concluded with a 3-2 loss to Purdue.
The conclusion of the season also saw the conclusion of setter Natalie Hayward’s career as a Lady Vol.
Hayward ran Tennessee’s offense for the whole season, and she was widely considered one of the top setters in the SEC. She leaves big shoes to fill next season.
“I will forever be indebted to this place for what it has done for me,” Hayward said following the match against Purdue. “Our coaches work tirelessly to give us everything that we need, so the way I’m wired is why would I not give everything I have? And I think as I’ve learned about the Lady Vol legacy, that’s what you do and that’s how you go about your days.“
Rackham Watt now rolls into her sixth year at the helm, returning her duo of offensive weapons. The coach has brought Tennessee to the postseason three times. 2022 was the first year Rackham Watt didn’t advance to the second round as a head coach.
Despite the injuries and lineup turnover, Rackham Watt coached Tennessee to a 17-13 record. It’s safe to say she has the program headed in the right direction.
“That’s been so important to us is building this program the right way, with the right people,” Rackham Watt said. “I really feel like when you get the right people in and you get the right kids who want to play for the team and understand it’s about the team first and are more concerned about the team than they are themselves, I just think that’s when you find true success”
