Karen Weekly arrived at the clubhouse on Saturday morning for a meeting with her coaching staff.
The Lady Vols had just lost to LSU in the SEC Tournament, and the Tennessee coaches discussed the loss for two hours. After the meeting, Weekly saw his players enter the clubhouse well before practice.
“As the coaches were finishing, the players were coming in,” Weekly said. “I started seeing them rehearsing. I was like, ‘What are you guys doing?'”
The players scheduled a team meeting for 11:30 a.m., 90 minutes before practice began. Then, the team went to do some extra training, getting ahead of training.
The meeting took place organically, without any contribution from the technical committee. Tennessee leaders are able to take responsibility after a loss and resolve the issue themselves.
“The things we do, the books we read, the meetings we have, the lessons we try to teach, are as much for me as they are for them,” Weekly said. “I learn as we go and they learn as we go, and we learn together. But I think in order to be really, really successful, there has to come a point where they’re not going to turn to the coach for everything.”
That time came after the Lady Vols finished in Auburn, Alabama. Karlyn Pickens and Payton Gottshall combined to allow just two runs, but Tennessee was unable to get its offense going. Lady Vols exited the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinals after entering as the No. 1 seed.
There are benefits to leaving the event early. Tennessee enters the NCAA tournament with two extra days of rest and fewer cumulative innings from its pitchers. Still, the Lady Vols didn’t want to close out their SEC slate the way they did.
After the defeat, there is still much more to play for. The Lady Vols are five wins away from a return trip to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series. Still, there are lessons to be learned from Thursday’s loss that could help Tennessee prepare for the next round of the postseason.
“I think just keep being us, not thinking about every game,” Pickens said. “Just take each game as it is: a new game. We know we are capable and we shouldn’t focus on the negative aspects.”
Tennessee knows better than to ignore the Knoxville Regional. In 2021 and 2022, the Lady Vols were eliminated at home in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, losing to James Madison and Oregon State.
Kiki Milloy and Rylie West were part of the Tennessee teams that failed to leave their home region. As this year’s team seeks another regional at home, these leaders need to pass on what they’ve learned to their teammates.
“That’s probably still when they think about it,” Weekly said. “When they think about those years and the loss of regionals here on this field, I think bitterness can probably build up within them very quickly.”
Weekly knows what it’s like to enter the NCAA Tournament as a mid-major program. She did so at the helm of Chattanooga, qualifying for the 2000 and 2001 events.
When the team entered the tournament, there was no pressure on their shoulders. Meanwhile, their opponents in the power conference faced pressure to move forward.
“They just won a championship for the most part,” Weekly said. “There aren’t many at-large applications at these conferences. … I think they ride that wave of momentum into regionals, and you have nothing to lose.”
In the Knoxville Regional, the Lady Vols have to fight that momentum. They enter the NCAA Tournament coming off a loss and elimination from the conference tournament. Meanwhile, Miami of Ohio and Dayton will arrive at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium after victories in their league tournaments. The Flyers will make their first appearance in program history, entering the regional with something to prove.
After Thursday’s loss, Tennessee felt defeated. Just avoid that feeling again.
“I think it was definitely a big motivation for us,” Pickens said. “Just to come out of the next game with everything we have and keep our head down, keep working and know we have what it takes.”
