By Stephen Mason
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When Head Coach Eve Rackham Watt spoke with the media before her team boarded the bus to make the trip to Tempe, Arizona, to take on the Utah State Aggies in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, her message about her expectation for the tournament was clear after the Lady Vols made their fifth consecutive tournament.
“When it becomes that sort of an expectation, it is now about advancing in the tournament and not just being happy to be there,” Rackham Watt said.
This expectation was not met, as the Lady Vols fell in a five-set heartbreaker to a red-hot Utah State team that entered the tournament on a 21-game winning streak and a Mountain West championship.
It could have been the long trip across the country, or the 10-day interval between their last game in the SEC tournament and the first round of the NCAA tournament. But in the first two sets against the Aggies, the Lady Vols looked nothing like the team that was playing their best volleyball of the year in Savannah, dropping the sets 25-19 and 25-15. However, the Lady Vols were not going away without a fight.
“We are competitors; we don’t give up ever,” senior middle blocker Klaudia Pawlik said.
Tennessee came back and took the third and fourth sets, 25-20 and 25-18. This comeback was powered by a strong offensive showing by Starr Williams, who ended the night with a team-high 15 kills. Going into the fifth set, it looked like the Lady Vols had all the momentum on their side; however, the Aggies regrouped and took the fifth set 15-11.
“They were the better team today. I’m proud of our group for battling, for putting ourselves in a position to win the match, being down 0-2,” Rackham Watt said. “We could have given up, but this group has been resilient all year long and found a way to get ourselves back in the match, so proud of us for battling.”
Putting expectations aside, the loss on Thursday night was not only a disappointment to the team, but it also felt like a setback for the program as a whole. The roster that Rackham Watt put together this year is arguably one of her best during her time at Tennessee.
Two-time All-American setter Caroline Kerr was a solid foundation for the Lady Vols’ offense to build off of going into the year. Hayden Kubik went from earning a place in the rotation at the beginning of the year to becoming the star of the offense. And libero, Gulce Gutztekin, proved to be one of the best additions from the transfer portal in the country, bringing the Lady Vols’ defense to the next level.
“Gigi (Gulce Guctekin) brought in so much high-level experience and was a huge part of the reason why we were successful this year,” Rackham Watt said.
For Pawlik, Guctekin, and Kubik, the loss to Utah State will be their last game in Lady Vol colors; however, for returning players like Kerr, it will be a source of motivation going into the offseason.
“This team will come back and outwork every day and outwork ourselves,” Kerr said. “That’s what I will take. It’s hard to get to where we get to, and it’s not something to take for granted, so we need to come back and work again.”
Rackham Watt hopes that this will be a learning experience for her returning players.
“You have to learn how to play in the postseason starting in the first-round match,” Rackham Watt said. “The players that are back will have this experience from this season, and it should drive us.”
Throughout the season, the Lady Vols proved they could compete with some of the best teams in the country; however, they never came away with a win in any of these matches. When they played their best volleyball of the year in the SEC tournament, the NCAA tournament looked like an opportunity to get a marquee win. However, somewhere between Savannah, Knoxville, and Tempe, the train lost some steam, at least for the first two sets against the Aggies.
The postseason streak was kept alive this year, but once again, a playoff run evaded the Lady Vols. Their last appearance in the final four was in 2005. Going into the offseason, Rackham Watt will have to fill some significant holes in her roster, which the departing seniors are leaving behind. But for those returning players, the first-round disappointment this year will serve as motivation for next year.