The Tennessee Lady Volunteers softball team represents the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

(UT) in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I women's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

competition. Coached by

Karen Weekly Karen Weekly is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Tennessee. Weekly has previously been the co-head softball coach at Chattanooga from 1997–2001. She served as an assistant at both Chattanooga (1995–1996) and Pacif ...

, the team has become a consistently top-tier team in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC), appearing in every NCAA tournament since 2004, and qualifying for eight

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

. Along with all other UT women's sports teams, it used the nickname "Lady Volunteers" (or the short form "Lady Vols") until the 2015–16 school year, when the school dropped the "Lady" prefix from the nicknames of all women's teams except in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In September 2017, the "Lady Volunteers" name was reinstated for all women's athletics teams.

Overview

The Lady Vols first fielded a softball team in 1996 with Jim Beitia as head coach. In 2002, Tennessee hired the husband and wife team and former

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

coaches

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

and

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

Weekly as co-head coaches. Since 2004, the team has reached the NCAA Tournament every year and the

eight times. Under the Weekly's, Tennessee has been one of only two programs (the other is

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

) to be an NCAA Top-16 seed every year since the current format was adopted in 2005. One particularly notable season came in 2007 when the Lady Vols managed to make history, finishing 63–8 for the program's best winning percentage of .887. The 2007 season culminated in a third-straight trip to the WCWS where Tennessee became the first SEC program to reach the best-of-three NCAA Championship Series, before falling to champion

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. That year, the team managed two wins over No. 4 Arizona, in addition to other triumphs against No. 6 Northwestern and No. 7 Texas A&M. These results propelled the Lady Vols to a record 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, becoming the first SEC school to reach the top ranking in the league's softball history. Tennessee would again reach the national championship series in 2013 as the No. 7 seed, where they ultimately fell to No. 1 Oklahoma.

Sherri Parker Lee Stadium

The Sherri Parker Lee Stadium is the home venue for the Lady Vols, replacing

Tyson Park The Tennessee Lady Volunteers softball team represents the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I women's college softball, softbal ...

. Opened in 2008, the stadium can seat 1,614 spectators as well as three press boxes, four VIP suites and an observation deck for television crews. In addition to Tennessee home games, Lee Stadium has hosted the

SEC softball tournament The SEC softball tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC tournament) is the conference championship tournament in college softball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination (since 2006) tournament and seeding is bas ...

(in 2009 and 2017) and exhibition games involving the US national team (2008) and the Dutch national team (2011, 2012). SPL Stadium

Situated next to the stadium, the Volunteers clubhouse is approximately and features a team room, whirlpools, training area and conference room. Its other amenities include a kitchen, 30-seat theater, trophy room and a recreation room with a big-screen television, pool table, video games and comfortable furniture for the student-athletes. The locker room is also equipped with full laundry facilities, a mud room, 24 large lockers, shower and bathroom facilities. Also next to the clubhouse is one of the largest batting cage facilities in the nation. It contains four 16-by- cages which are designed to provide plenty of room to walk or film between each. All four cages are covered from the weather and possess high-quality Astroturf. In 2011 the field was recognized as the NFCA/Stabilizer Solutions Field of the Year. In 2017 general admission outfield bleachers were added to the stadium.

Head Coach

Karen Weekly took over as sole head coach in 2021, having previously served as co-head coach alongside her husband Ralph Weekly since 2002. Since Ralph and Karen Weekly took over the Lady Vols they have guided the program from a team struggling to make a name for themselves in the SEC to a team that has garnered world recognition for their success. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has chosen to honor Ralph for his efforts throughout a distinguished, three-decade career, that has spanned from his time in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

through stops at Pacific Lutheran,

and now Tennessee, with a 2011 induction into the

NFCA Hall of Fame The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to recognize coaches who have made extraordinary contributions to the sport of softpitch softball. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association ("NFCA") is a professiona ...

. Voted in by his coaching peers and with the organization consisting of just 49 previous inclusions, Ralph Weekly will join

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

head coach Deb Pallozzi in ceremonies to be held at the annual NFCA Convention. Ralph and Karen have taken the Vols to their first Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships as well as the team's first

appearance. Their overall record at Tennessee is 465–150–2 and, in 2005, they recorded the programs most wins in a season with 67, an NCAA record at the time.. Ralph and Karen have also authored a book, ''High-Scoring Softball.''

Year-by-year results

Sources

NCAA Tournament seeding history

National seeding began in 2005. The Tennessee Volunteers are one of only two teams to have a national seed every year, along with

Awards and honors

All-Americans

The Tennessee Volunteers softball program has garnered 36 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American honors. *

Monica Abbott Monica Cecilia Abbott (born July 28, 1985) is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan S ...

– 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 NFCA All-American *Tonya Callahan – 2006, 2007, and 2008 NFCA All-American *Raven Chavanne – 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 NFCA All-American *India Chiles – 2007 NFCA All-American *Kat Dotson – 2010 NFCA All-American *Kristi Durant – 2005 and 2006 NFCA All-American *Sarah Fekete – 2005 and 2006 NFCA All-American *Rainey Gaffin – 2015, 2016 NFCA All-American *

Lauren Gibson Lauren Ashley Gibson (born August 19, 1991) is an American softball player. Personal life Gibson's hometown is Pasadena, Maryland. Her parents are Steve and Lorrie Gibson, and she has an older sister named Danielle. Amateur softball caree ...

– 2011, 2012 and 2013 NFCA All-American *Payton Gottshall – 2024 *Meghan Gregg – 2017 and 2018 NFCA All-American *Tiffany Huff – 2009 NFCA All-American *Aubrey Leach – 2018 NFCA All-American *

Karlyn Pickens Karlyn Pickens (born January 9, 2004) is an American college softball pitcher for Tennessee. She holds the NCAA softball record for fastest pitch ever thrown at . High school career Pickens attended North Buncombe High School in Weaverville, N ...

– 2024 * Ellen Renfroe – 2011 and 2012 NFCA All-American *Lindsay Schutzler – 2005, 2006, and 2007 NFCA All-American *Madison Shipman – 2012, 2013, and 2014 NFCA All-American *Payton Gottshall - 2024 NFCA All-American

National awards

;

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...

*Monica Abbott – 2007 ;

NFCA National Pitcher of the Year The NFCA National Player of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

*Ashley Rogers – 2023 ;

NFCA National Freshman of the Year The NFCA National Freshman of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

*Annie Aldrete – 2014 ; Softball America Pitcher of the Year *

– 2025 ;

NFCA Golden Shoe Award The NFCA Golden Shoe Award is an award given by New Balance to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softb ...

*Raven Chavanne – 2013 ;

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

*Monica Abbott – 2007 *Madison Shipman – 2014 ;

Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

*Madison Shipman – 2014

Conference awards

;

SEC Player of the Year Southeastern Conference Player of the Year refers to the most outstanding player for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in a given sport for a given season. For lists of individual sport SEC Players of the Year by year: *Southeastern Conference Bas ...

*India Chiles – 2007 *Tonya Callahan – 2008 *

– 2013 *Madison Shipman – 2014 *Meghan Gregg – 2017 ; SEC Pitcher of the Year *Monica Abbott – 2004, 2005, 2007 *

– 2024, 2025 ; SEC Freshman of the Year *Monica Abbott – 2004 *Kat Dotson – 2010 *Ellen Renfroe – 2011 *Caylan Arnold – 2017 *

– 2023 ; SEC Coach of the Year *

Ralph Weekly Ralph Weekly is an American softball coach who, along with his wife Karen, was the co-head coach at Tennessee from 2002 until his retirement in 2021. Early life and education Weekly graduated from Arizona State University in 1973. He earned hi ...

– 2004, 2007 *

– 2004, 2007, 2023, 2024

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennessee Lady Volunteers Softball