KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee senior Rennia Davis has been named Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention, the media organization announced on Wednesday.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 forward from Jacksonville, Fla., received that distinction for the second year in a row.
The Cheryl Miller Award and Senior CLASS Award finalist is averaging 17.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game to pace Tennessee in both categories this season. She shoots 48.6 percent from the field and 83.7 percent at the free-throw line. Her worksheet also includes nine double-doubles and nine games of 20 or more points, leading UT to a 16-7 overall record, a third-place mark of 9-4 in SEC play, a No. 13 AP national ranking and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Even better in SEC play, Davis put up 20.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor and 85.2 at the charity stripe.
Davis is headed for top 10 career statistical finishes at Tennessee in points, points averaged, rebounds, rebounds averaged and free throw percentage. She currently ranks No. 10 on UT’s career scoring list with 1,779 points and is No. 11 in rebounds with 929.
She is sixth in career rebounding average (8.01) and ninth in scoring average (15.3) while sitting in ninth place in career free throw percentage (81.1)
She’ll have a chance to add to those numbers in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee begins play in the NCAA First Round on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (1 CT) vs. Middle Tennessee. The game will be televised by ABC and carried by the Lady Vol Radio Network.
As first reported by our Jimmy Hyams, UT football has paused team activities.
BREAKING NEWS: The Tennessee football program has been shut down due to positive COVID tests and contact tracing. It was shuttered this morning and is set to reopen Monday, if no further outbreak. That includes players and coaches.
Tennessee’s spring practice is set to start March 23, unless there is a further outbreak. The offensive linemen were shut down last week due to testing and contract tracing and forced to work out as a group at 6 a.m. for a week as they were quarantined.
Vols HC Josh Heupel & UT AD Danny White / Credit: UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee football program has temporarily paused all team activities out of an abundance of caution after its recent rounds of COVID-19 surveillance testing revealed multiple positive tests among staff members and student-athletes.
Upon learning of the positive results, the staff members and student-athletes immediately self-isolated and are taking the appropriate safety measures in accordance with university, CDC and local health department guidelines.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Jordan Beck hit a walk-off three-run home run—his second homer of the day—and No. 10 Tennessee defeated in-state foe ETSU in 10 innings Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, 9-6.
Beck came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second base in the bottom of the 10th inning and sent the 2-1 pitch into the night sky, driving in Pete Derkay and Jake Rucker in the process.
Beck’s walk-off marks Tennessee’s first walk-off home run since April 25, 2010 when Blake Forsythe gave the Vols a walk-off win over Vanderbilt with a two-run shot in the 11th inning. It was also the sophomore’s second home run of the day, as he led off the second inning with a solo shot that just cleared the left-field wall.
On the mound for Tennessee (15-3), Sophomore Connor Housley got a career-high three innings of work out of the bullpen—giving up one hit and striking out a career-high seven batters. Junior Camden Sewell started for the Vols, tossing 3.1 innings and striking out three batters.
Kirby Connell (1-0) picked up the win for Tennessee, striking out three batters and giving up just one hit over the final two innings.
With three hits and a career-high five RBIs, Beck was the Vols’ most effective hitter on the night. Derkay and Max Ferguson each had two hits apiece, as well.
Tennessee held a 5-4 lead entering the eighth, but two ETSU runs in the top of the inning gave the Buccaneers (10-6) a one-run lead heading into the inning’s bottom frame. A Drew Gilbert sacrifice fly drove in Christian Scott from third to even the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth.
The Vols had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on third base and only one out, but were unable to capitalize.
Next up, Tennessee is slated to play their first SEC series since 2019 as they travel to face Georgia this weekend in Athens. First pitch for the series opener on Friday is 6 p.m. and all three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
IN-STATE DOMINANCE: Tennessee has now won eight straight games over in-state opponents. The streak includes wins over ETSU, Vanderbilt, Belmont, Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay and Lipscomb.
EXTRA-INNING SUCCESS: With Tuesday’s win, the Vols improved to 3-0 in extra innings this season and have won four straight extra-inning games dating back to 2019.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dominant offensive showings and two shutouts in the circle, propelled the No. 21 Tennessee softball team past Bellarmine on Tuesday afternoon at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The Lady Vols (20-3) gave Bellarmine (4-13) its largest margin of defeat in program history with a resounding, 19-0 victory in game one.
In the afternoon’s opener sophomore pitchers Callie Turner and Anna Hazlewood stifled the Knights offense, combining for a five-inning no-hitter. It is Tennessee’s third no-no this season and the second thrown by Turner in 2021.
It is the first time since 2012 that the Lady Vols have tossed three no-hitters in one season, when Ivy Renfroe tossed no-hitters against Murray State and Ole Miss and Ellen Renfroe earned a no-no versus Furman. It is also the first combined no-hitter since Matty Moss and Ashley Rogers tossed a five-inning no-no against ETSU on April 16, 2019.
UT continued to pile it on the Knights in game two, ending the afternoon with a second consecutive run-rule victory, this time to the tune of an 8-0 score line.
GAME 1 – Tennessee 19 Bellarmine 0
UT jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a Bellarmine error that allowed Amanda Ayala to score, which was followed up by a 3-run blast from Ivy Davis. The homer is Davis’ eighth of the season.
In the second, Tennessee scored eight runs on six hits to blow open the lead at 12-0.
Ashley Morgan continued the offensive firepower for UT in the third inning, smacking a two-run homer over the right field wall, increasing the lead to 14-0. The long ball was her third of the season and her first since returning to the Lady Vol lineup from injury.
Tennessee added three more runs in the third and two runs in the fourth to give it the final margin of victory, 19-0.
The 19-run win was both the most runs Bellarmine has ever given up, and the worst loss in school history.
Ally Shipman found her groove against the Knights, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored. Morgan was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to go along with her two-run home run and Chelsea Seggern went 1-for-3 with three RBI and three walks.
Left fielder Cailin Hannon was also 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored.
GAME 2 – Tennessee 8 Bellarmine 0
Freshman Bailey McCachren tossed a five-inning shutout, yielding just two hits and a pair of walks in her stellar outing.
The Lady Vols got off to a bit of a slow start, scoring just once in the opening two innings, before exploding for a four-spot in the third and a three-spot in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead heading into the top of the fifth.
Sophomore Kiki Milloy was stellar in game two, going 2-for-3 at the dish with a pair of RBIs and another stolen base, upping her season total to 15.
Shipman was big again in the afternoon’s second contest, tacking on two more RBIs and like Milloy, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Shipman finished the day 4-for-6 with five RBIs and five runs scored across 10 innings played.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to SEC play with a weekend series with Alabama, March 19-21. Friday and Sunday’s games can be seen on ESPNU, while Saturday’s contest can be streamed on SEC Network+.
Gabby Barrett‘s new EP, Live From The Goldmine, is available now!
Gabby says, “I’m so happy to share this live EP with y’all.”
Touring hasn’t been an option she put out her Goldmine album last year, so Gabby is trying to give fans a “live” experience when it comes to her music. Live From the Goldmine features 7 tracks that were captured during a launch event for her album last summer.
Gabby shared, “Until we can get back on the road safely, I’m hoping these re-imagined versions keep that concert experience alive. I cannot wait to see you again soon, hope you love it!”
The seven songs fans can look for on the new EP include…
“Footprints On The Moon”
“Rose Needs A Jack”
“Jesus & My Mama”
“Thank God”
“The Good Ones”
“I Hope”
“Goldmine”
As her EP arrives, her song “The Good Ones” — which is featured on Goldmine, and Live From the Goldmine — jumps inside the Top-10 on the country music airplay chart. You can check it out right here…
Trisha Yearwood is back in the full swing of things after her brush with COVID.
She recently revealed the cover of her upcoming cookbook, Trisha’s Kitchen – Easy Comfort Food for Friends and Family.
Now Trisha is sharing with fans the unboxing of her new kitchen collection, “It’s finally here! Introducing my tabletop collection with Williams Sonoma! Since it feels like Christmas, I decided to do my first unboxing so you can all unwrap it with me! I love the entire collection, my mama would love it too.”
Mickey recently shared a video montage of the events leading up to her Grammy performance, with the caption, “I have sat here and tried to find the words to write up the perfect caption for this video but the only thing I could come up with is how grateful I am. This moment would not be possible without so many people. It really took a village. I do not take this moment for granted and I will continue to stand up for what is right and for what is good. I love you guys so much. Thank you for believing and if there is anything to take away from this is to never EVER give up on yourself.”
If you missed it — you can check out Mickey Guyton’s performance of “Black Like Me” from this year’s Grammy Awards right here…
The debut EP from Joey Hendricks, Between the Clouds, is available now!
Featuring 5 songs, including his single “Hollywood,” Joey shares the story behind the project’s title, “I named the EP ‘Between The Clouds’ because writing these songs have been little moments of clarity and light in between a lot of confusion and anxiety that I’ve dealt with over the years.”
Raised in Washington state, Joey credits his early influences of Neil Young and James Taylor for instilling in him a love of the singer/songwriter. Exposed to classic rock by his dad, with music from The Doors, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin among others, and then being inspired to start playing the guitar by John Mayer – it wasn’t until his junior of High School when he discovered country music through the songs of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.
With that eclectic mix of musical genres in his background, Joey wondered if he’d find a place in Music City…but that’s when Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, and Brothers Osborne gave him hope.
Joey says, “At the same time that I was kind of going through the whole Willie Nelson catalog, and Johnny Cash and whatnot, I remember that’s when Kacey Musgraves’ first record came out, Same Trailer, Different Park, and that was game changing for me. I was like this is a new version of the old stuff, that I’m listening to right now. Then Chris Stapleton’s Traveler came out, and Brother’s Osborne’s first album came out…and just like a lot of that stuff, and I remember just falling in love with this new kind of sound that was coming out of Nashville, and it kind of made me feel like maybe this kids from the Pacific North-West could go to Nashville and actually fit in there.”
It was a few years after graduating from High School that Joey made the jump from Anacortes, Washington to Nashville, Tennessee with the thought of being a songwriter. It wasn’t long before he started lending his own vocals to the lyrics he wrote.
After getting signed to a record deal last summer, now his debut EP, Between The Clouds, is out.
One of the five tracks on the project is his current single, Joey shares the story behind the song, “‘Hollywood’ is a song that I wrote with my good buddies Michael Whitworth and Danny Ross. We had written a bunch of songs for the project and as I was going through them I realized that I didn’t really have a love song and I remember Michael had this title in his phone called ‘All the Drugs in Hollywood’ and it just kinda turned into this fun challenge of how to turn that into a love song.”
Joey adds, “I hope these songs bring some of the same joy they’ve brought me, to others. I’m so excited to finally get to share it with people.”
You can listen to the Between the Clouds EP HERE — and you can also check out the music video for “Hollywood” from Joey Hendricks…
With over 90 million streams, including his new single “Would Have Loved Her,” fans know Chris Bandi through his music.
Now, he’s letting everyone get a little closer look by taking them on a video tour of some of the pivotal spots from his younger days.
On his Hometown Tour of St. Louis, Chris takes you from his favorite fishing spot, to the first place he played live music, and even to his old High School where he was a 3 sport star (Football, Hockey, Lacrosse).
The video culminates in a hometown show at Ballpark Village where you get to see the Missouri native wearing his hometown Cardinals baseball jersey performing in front of a packed house.
Check out Chris Bandi’s Hometown Tour video right here…
Tennessee Lady Vols center Kasiyahna Kushkituah spoke to the media to preview the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio where UT is the 3-seed and will play the 14-seed in Middle Tennessee on Sunday at 2pm ET in the 1st Round.
Kasiyahna Kushkituah – Lady Vols C / Credit: UT Athletics
