The Lady Vols fell on Senior Day, losing to the Auburn Tigers, 3-2. After a loss to Arkansas last Thursday, Tennessee is on a two-game skid nearing the end of the season.
Emotions ran high for the Lady Vols (7-3-3, 2-2-2 SEC) as they celebrated their five seniors ahead of the matchup with Auburn (12-1-2, 4-1-2 SEC).
“We were excited to get out here in an SEC game,” Jenna Stayart said. “It was a tough game but we were definitely excited to come play for our seniors.”
Here’s a look at the seniors Tennessee celebrated on Sunday afternoon.
Nolyn Bartholomew
Bartholomew, a Brentwood native, has been a four-year player for the Lady Vols. In her four seasons, she’s contributed two goals on eight shots. The most memorable moment of her career came last season against Florida Atlantic when she netted the game-winner in a 2-0 victory.
Bartholomew has also made the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2022 and 2023.
Sarah Bridenstine
Bridenstine has made the most of her lone season in Knoxville. She’s been a key for the Lady Vols, starting all 13 games this season after transferring from Michigan in the off-season. At Michigan, she received the Lloyd Carr Award, which is given to student-athletes at the University of Michigan who best represent Michigan’s ideals.
Although she’s primarily a defender, she’s logged two assists this year.The second came on Sunday afternoon when she set Reese Mattern up to tie the score at 2-2 against Auburn.
Hayley Howard
Howard played her first three seasons at Louisville but finished it with the Lady Vols. She attended Brentwood and helped lead them to the state championship in high school. This season she logged action in 11 games and tallied four shots.
Jaida Thomas
Thomas is one of the most storied players in Lady Vols history. A native of Fort Worth, she spent her first season with Tennessee in 2019. Although her career was plagued by injuries, she remained resilient. She became the second Lady Vols to score 40 goals in her career, only behind Kylee Rossi for the all-time goal leader.
She opened the 2023 campaign on the SEC Preseason Watchlist and the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch list. In 2022, she also made the All-SEC First Team. This season, Thomas has appeared in all 13 games, adding a game-winning goal over Missouri and an assist against Lipscomb.
Sammi Woods
Woods, a grad transfer from Michigan, has had the biggest impact of anyone on offense this year. She’s started 12 of the Lady Vols’ 13 games, totaling 10 points this season on four goals and an assist.
Woods made an impact on Sunday afternoon, adding an assist to Jenna Stayart to tie the game 1-1 in the first half. Woods joined Thomas on the SEC Preseason Watchlist before the 2024 season.
Up next
Although Tennessee fell, the Lady Vols are still in the running for the postseason.
“It’s about competitiveness and willingness to win duels,” Tennessee head coach Joe Kirt said. “I think we were better in that today. Our team did a really good job in the competitiveness side of it, especially in the second half.”
Tennessee will hit the road at the end of the week and travel to Athens to play the Bulldogs in a crucial SEC game.
