STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the fourth time this season, Tennessee earned a sweep, topping Mississippi State (25-14, 25-16, 25-19) on the road on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols (9-5, 2-2 SEC) had the hot hand offensively, finishing with 43 kills on .351 hitting to go along with 41 assists and eight aces. With an average of 14.3 kills per set, the Big Orange attack was spearheaded by the trio of Nina Cajic, Paityn Chapman and Hayden Kubik. Cajic had 10 kills, seven digs and an ace, while Chapman posted 10 kills on .625 hitting.
Kubik narrowly missed the double-double, as she recorded 10 digs and nine kills. With an average of 13 assists per set, redshirt sophomore setter Caroline Kerr had a strong outing, tallying 39 assists, seven digs, three aces, three blocks and two kills.
On the defensive side, Tennessee held the Bulldogs (7-5, 1-2 SEC) to just 33 kills on .184 hitting thanks to 44 digs and six blocks. Mississippi State entered the weekend ranked sixth nationally in kills per set at 14.29 but were held well short Sunday afternoon by the Lady Vol defense.
The first set was dictated at the net thanks to five blocks, while the back row defense enjoyed one of its best outings of the season. Five different Lady Vols recorded at least five digs on the day. Redshirt freshman Eryn Jones had eight digs, while sophomore libero Katie Barrier tallied six. Barrier earned the first start of her career in the match, holding one of the two libero spots.
The Big Orange came out on fire in the contest, using a 10-1 run to open the match and gain the early momentum. UT found success in all areas, posting 11 kills on .500 hitting and two aces, while the defense had five blocks, eight digs and held the Bulldogs to .103 hitting. The offense was spread out with five Lady Vols posting two kills each.
Tennessee kept it rolling in the second stanza, as Cajic heated up with five kills in the frame. As a team, UT 16 kills on .484 hitting to go along with three aces and a block to keep scoring in its favor. The third was more competitive but the Big Orange pulled away in the end to complete the sweep. Despite having eight attacking errors, the Lady Vol back row held strong 21 digs in the final frame to keep State from scoring.
Up next, Tennessee concludes its four-match road streak with at Missouri next Sunday. First serve for that contest will be at 3 p.m. ET and can be streamed on SEC Network+.
The Tennessee Department of Health confirms there have been more “weather-related” fatalities in East Tennessee.
TEMA says there have been twelve deaths in Tennessee as a result of effects of Hurricane Helene; one death in Knox County, one in Johnson County, five in Unicoi County, two in Cocke County, one in Greene County and two in Washington County.
There are 15 people missing in areas impacted by flooding, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. This is down from a peak exceeding 100.
As of Friday, there was one person missing each in Carter, Hawkins and Knox counties, seven in Greene, three in Union, six people in Unicoi County and three people in Washington County.
Dolly Parton and the Dollywood Foundation donating one million dollars each to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Hurricane Helene flood victims.
The donations help jumpstart the efforts of Mountain Ways to provide essential financial resources directly and efficiently to the most affected areas. Mountain Ways also will coordinate other relief efforts, including distributing food, water and other necessary supplies.
Walmart, Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation are donating a total of $10 million to hurricane relief efforts across the affected states.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation with an update on when travelers can expect I-40 to reopen in Cocke County near the North Carolina state line.
Officials say over the next two weeks, they will be working to return traffic to this roadway, one lane in each direction between the Tennessee/North Carolina state line and mile marker 447, Hartford Road.
All that traffic will be pushed over to the westbound lanes. Currently, I-40 is closed at Exit 447 for westbound drivers and Exit 440 for eastbound drivers.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation says I-40 from the state line to mile marker 20 will be closed indefinitely.
An investigation is underway following a north Knoxville house fire which injures a firefighter.
Crews called to the 2000 block of Bradshaw Garden Road yesterday (Sunday) and found a fire on the porch in the rear of the home which had extended into the attic space. Crews quickly put the fire out and the home has suffered moderate smoke, water, and fire damage.
A Knoxville Fire Department firefighter received minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The two occupants, a woman and girl, and their dog escaped without injury.
Investigators have identified skeletal remains found in Knoxville nearly two years ago.
In November 2022, skeletal remains were found by a tree trimming service which were sent to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
Experts determined the person was a man and in December, investigators entered details on the case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System but the case went cold due to a lack of leads.
Last year, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center sent the remains to an out of state lab who identified the remains as 33 year-old Cody Wilhite who had been missing from the Knoxville area since 2020.
Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen says a man is sentenced after he assaulted a woman, begged her not to tell the police, and then claimed she beat herself up.
Knoxville Police Officers went to Tennova North Medical Center for an assault call on Whittle Springs Road in November 2022.
Officers spoke to the victim who says over the course of four hours, Sanders strangled and punched her, knocked her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly before urinating on her.
She was treated for several injuries at the hospital and Sanders reportedly texted her “begging her to not call the police”.
Sanders, who’s been convicted of aggravated assault and domestic assault, was sentenced to three years behind bars.
It was a strange week across all of college football, with four teams ranked in the top 11 losing to unranked opponents, including the Tennessee Vols.
It’s led to quite a shakeup in the latest AP Poll rankings, Tennessee dropped four spots to number 8 in the country after enduring a 19-14 loss to unranked Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Alabama suffered a head-scratching 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt, dropping them from No. 1 down to No. 7.
The Vols take on the Gators on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Neyland Stadium. You can listen on our sister stations WIVK or WNML. You can watch on ESPN.
Smokey taking a run down the field during a Vols football game.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 4/4 Tennessee fell to Arkansas, 19-14, in a low-scoring affair on the road at DWR Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Saturday night.
After falling behind 14-3 in the third quarter, the Razorbacks scored the final 16 points of the game to pull out the victory and hand the Volunteers their first loss of the season, snapping a six-game winning streak in the process.
A last-ditch effort on the final drive came up just short as the Volunteers were stopped on fourth-and-5 from the 21-yard line on the final play of the game.
UT’s defense put forth another solid effort but came up one stop short as Arkansas scored on their final possession of the game to pull ahead for the first time in the second half. The Vols racked up seven tackles for loss, led by James Pearce Jr. (2.0) and Arion Carter (1.5), who were two of nine different players to post at least half a tackle for loss.
Despite the offensive struggles overall, Dylan Sampson was a bright spot once again. The junior running back recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the year and the eighth of his career, finishing with a career-high 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Sampson led a third-quarter offensive surge with a pair of touchdowns on UT’s first two possessions of the half. In those two drives, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native carried the ball six times for 77 yards before plunging into the end zone to finish off both possessions.
His two rushing touchdowns increased his total to 12 on the year, which ties eight other players for the 10th most in program history in a single season. His 25 career rushing scores is tied for 10th in UT history with Jay Graham (1993-96) and Jimmy Streater (1976-79).
The Big Orange nearly matched their entire offensive yardage output in the first half on the opening drive of the second half, when they marched 75 yards on seven plays before Sampson punched it in from four yards out to put the Vols ahead 7-3 following the extra point.
Sampson’s 53-yard scamper on third-and-4 one play prior set up Tennessee’s first score. His second rushing touchdown also came from four yards out and gave the Vols a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter, but that was all they could muster points wise for the remainder of the contest.
The Vols were held scoreless in the first half for the first time under Heupel, but thanks to a gritty effort from the defense, only trailed 3-0 entering the half.
The Hogs opened the game with a 20-yard field goal after a 16-play, 74-yard drive that ate up 9:12 of clock, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the half, thanks in large part to a pair of fourth down stops by UT’s defense inside of its own 35-yard line.
Tennessee racked up four tackles for loss and had three players post season highs in tackles in the opening 30 minutes as Keenan Pili led the way with seven, followed closely by Will Brooks (six) and Pearce Jr. (five).
Three Vols finished with career highs in tackles in Brooks (10), Pearce Jr. (nine) and Carter (eight), while Pili led all players with a game-high 14 stops, the most in a game during his UT career.
After jumping ahead 14-3 midway through the third quarter, the Vols failed to score on their final five possessions after recording back-to-back touchdowns to start the second half.
Tennessee will look to bounce back when it returns to Knoxville to kick off a four-game homestand next Saturday night against Florida at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised by ESPN.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Jaida Thomas tallied her 40th career goal in her first start of the year Friday night against Missouri to give the Lady Vols a 1-0 win.
Thomas is only one of two Volunteers to bag 40 goals in her collegiate career and currently sits second all-time in program history behind Kylee Rossi (43).
The Dallas, Texas, native also recorded her 12th career game-winner and is currently fourth-all time in school history in career game-winning goals.
Tennessee (7-1-3), also tallied their seventh clean sheet on the year, which extends UT’s current unbeaten streak to 10 matches and home unbeaten streak to eight.
The Big Orange also controlled most of the game with a 72 percent possession rate and held Missouri (3-7-2) to just seven total shots.
The Lady Vols got off to a hot start offensively, registering seven corners and five shots in the first half.
In the 21st minute, UT found a breakthrough off a corner, after a ball that found Ally Brown. Brown poked the ball across goal to give Thomas a tap-in for her first goal of the season.
The second half was the standard defensive onslaught the Lady Vols have produced a majority of the season, holding the Tigers to only three shots while also allowing only one corner kick.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 4/4 Tennessee will look to extend its winning streak to seven consecutive games when it hits the road for another primetime night clash this Saturday against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Volunteers are off to a 4-0 start following a 25-15 road victory over then ranked No. 15 Oklahoma to open SEC play two weeks ago and should be well-rested after coming off the first of two open weeks this season.
BROADCAST INFO
For the third time this season, the ABC primetime crew of Chris Fowler (PxP), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) will have the call for Saturday’s game. Kickoff is slated for 7:44 p.m. ET.
UT fans can listen to Tennessee’s official radio broadcast on the Vol Network (Local: WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) over 65 stations across the state of Tennessee and the southeast, SiriusXM (Ch. 84) and the SiriusXM app (Ch. 84), as well as the Varsity App. A live audio stream of the broadcast will also be available on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App. Fans attending the game are encouraged to listen to the radio broadcast via the Vol Network Stadiumcast on 100.3 FM.
Bob Kesling (PxP), VFL Pat Ryan (analyst) and Brent Hubbs (analyst) will call the action, with VFL Jayson Swain handling sideline duties for the Vol Network radio broadcast. The Big Orange Countdown pregame show begins two hours prior to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. The pregame show is hosted by John Wilkerson, Brent Hubbs, VFL Jayson Swain and a rotating VFL special guest each week. The Vol Network celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024.
The Spanish broadcast is available locally on WNML-AM 990 with Carlos Lopez (play-by-play) and VFL Fuad Reveiz on the call. That version is also available on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics app.
NEED TO KNOW
Open Week Success Under Heupel Josh Heupel owns an 8-1 record in games played after an open week in his six previous seasons as a head coach, including a 3-0 mark at Tennessee and a 5-1 record at UCF. The Vols are 85-49-9 all-time after open dates and 51-35-2 after open weeks in league play. UT has outscored opponents 105-68 under Heupel following open dates with wins at No. 18 Kentucky (2021), at No. 25 LSU (2022) and versus Texas A&M (2023).
Vols on the Road Again Looking to Continue Fast Start Tennessee will play its second straight SEC road game in primetime when it squares off with the Razorbacks at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Vols are off to a 4-0 start for the second time in three seasons under Heupel and have won six straight games dating back to last season’s Nov. 25 contest against Vanderbilt. That is the fourth-longest current streak in the nation behind Missouri (8), Army (8) and Duke (7). All six wins have come by double-digits. UT is seeking its first 5-0 start since 2022, Heupel’s second year.
Ranking Among the Nation’s Best Tennessee heads into this weekend’s game ranked in the top five nationally in 11 major categories: scoring offense (1st – 54.0), total defense (1st – 176.0), yards per play allowed (1st – 3.13), third-down defense (1st – 17.0), first down defense (1st – 11.0), scoring defense (2nd – 7.0), rushing defense (2nd – 50.8), total offense (3rd – 565.8), kickoff return defense (3rd – 5.0), pass defense (4th – 125.3) and rushing offense (4th – 290.0).
The Vols are the only team in the country boasting a top five scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense. The Big Orange have surrendered the fewest offensive touchdowns in the country this season (2), and both came in the fourth quarter at Oklahoma – 2-yard pass and 1-yard rush. The other touchdown scored on UT this year was an 87-yard interception return by NC State. Opponents have failed to score an offensive touchdown in 19 out of the last 20 quarters played against Tennessee.
Playing with the Lead UT is one of four FBS programs who have not trailed this season, joining Texas, Indiana and Army. The Vols have not trailed in 24 straight quarters dating back to last season’s Vanderbilt game. The last time Tennessee trailed was when it lost to top-ranked Georgia on Nov. 18, 2023. The Vols have led for 202 minutes and 53 seconds of game action this season and are outscoring opponents 216-28. That plus-188 point differential is currently the best in the nation and the seventh-best by an FBS team through four games since 2000. Tennessee is also outscoring opponents 149-6 in the first half this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Tennessee leads series, 13-6 Tennessee and Arkansas are meeting for the 20th time and the first time in Fayetteville since the COVID-shortened season of 2020. The Vols lead the all-time series 13-6, but the Razorbacks have captured the last three meetings.
The Big Orange will be looking for their first win over Arkansas since a 34-13 victory in Knoxville in 2007. UT’s last road win in the series was a 13-3 triumph in 2001.
ABOUT ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks are led by fifth year head coach Sam Pittman, who owns a 26-27 overall record during his tenure in Fayetteville. Arkansas enters the game ranked fourth in the SEC in total offense (495.0 ypg) and also boasts a stout rushing defense that is limiting opponents to just 93.0 yards per game on the ground. The Hogs have also been opportunistic with six interceptions this season, which is tied for third most in the conference.
Redshirt junior quarterback Taylen Green has been the catalyst for the Razorbacks’ offense, ranking fifth in the SEC in passing yards per game (247.2) while also entering the contest as the team’s second-leading rusher with 331 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Boise State transfer has thrown five touchdown passes but has also been intercepted five times and is completing just 54.3 percent of his pass attempts. Utah transfer running back Ja’Quinden Jackson has been a key playmaker, as well, having already found the end zone nine times while ranking third in the league in rushing yards per game (101.8).
Veteran linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. leads the defense with a team-high 32 total tackles and four tackles for loss, including a sack. Sophomore safety TJ Metcalf is tied for the SEC lead and third in the FBS with three interceptions and is the Razorbacks’ second-leading tackler with 29 stops on the year.
