Location Knoxville, TN Colors UT Orange and White Home ground Sherri Parker Lee Stadium | Nickname Volunteers Conference Southeastern Conference | |
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University University of Tennessee Head coach Ralph and Karen Weekly (15th year) Home stadium Sherri Parker Lee Stadium (Capacity: 1,622) | ||
The Tennessee Volunteers softball team represents the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA Division I women's softball competition. Coached by husband and wife Ralph and Karen Weekly, the team has become a consistently top tier team in the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
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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.
Overview
The then-Lady Vols first fielded a softball team in 1996 with Jim Beitia as head coach. In 2002, Tennessee brought in the husband and
wife team of Ralph and Karen Weekly as co-head coaches. Since 2004, the team has reached the NCAA Tournament every year and the Women's College World Series five times. In 2007 the Lady Vols managed to make history and set the benchmark by which all future Lady Vol teams will be compared as the squad finished 63–8 for the programs best winning percentage of .887. A third-straight trip to the WCWS ended with Tennessee becoming the first SEC program to reach the best-of-three NCAA Championship Series, before falling to champion Arizona. That year the team managed two wins over No. 4 Arizona and triumphs against No. 6 Northwestern and No. 7 Texas A&M which led to Tennessee spending a record 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, becoming the first SEC school to reach the lofty top ranking in the league's softball history.
Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
The Sherri Parker Lee Stadium is the home venue for the Vols. 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 (in 2009) and exhibition games involving the US national team (2008) and the Dutch national team (2011).
Situated next to the stadium, the Volunteers clubhouse is approximately 7,000 square feet (650 m2) 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-60-foot (18 m) 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.
Head coaches
Since Ralph and Karen Weekly took over the then-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 through stops at Pacific Lutheran, Chattanooga and now Tennessee, with a 2011 induction into the NFCA Hall of Fame. Voted in by his coaching peers and with the organization consisting of just 49 previous inclusions, Weekly will join Ithaca 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 Women's College World Series appearance. Their over-all record at Tennessee is 465–150–2 and they have recorded the programs most wins in a season with 67, a then national record in the NCAA. Ralph and Karen have also authored a book, High-Scoring Softball.
All-Americans
The Tennessee Volunteers softball program has garnered 25 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American honors.