Lady Vols Earn NCAA Tournament Bid, Hosting for First Time Since 2011

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After enjoying one of the best regular seasons in program history, the eighth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and were selected as the No. 10 national seed.
 
Competing as the No. 3 seed in the Stanford quarter of the bracket, Tennessee opens with the 23-7 High Point, the champions of the Big South, for a 6:30 p.m. ET first serve on Friday at Food City Center. The Lady Vols will also play host to No. 6 seed Western Kentucky and Coastal Carolina, who also face off Friday at 4:30 p.m. Fans can purchase all-session passes now at AllVols.com for $10. Parking will be free for all matches.
 
This is the 18th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Big Orange’s seeding marks the highest in UT history, and it’s the first time the Lady Vols have hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament since 2011, when Tennessee was the No. 11 seed—the previous program-best seeding.

This is the third consecutive trip to the dance for UT and the fourth under head coach Eve Rackham Watt (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023). The Orange & White head into the tournament 24-4 overall and 15-3 in SEC play. The Lady Vols finished second in the league, the conference with a tournament-best eight bids. 

 

In Tennessee’s previous appearances under Rackham Watt, it advanced to the second round of the tournament after first-round wins over Colorado State (2018) and North Carolina (2021). Last year, the Lady Vols fell short in a five-set battle to Purdue in the first round.

 

For Rackham Watt, this is her 12th postseason appearance as a coach–fourth as head coach. She made the NCAA Tournament eight times as an assistant at North Carolina. Rackham Watt also made four postseason trips as a player. 

 

Tennessee NCAA Tournament Notes

• The Lady Vols boast 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and own a 15-17 record.
• The Big Orange’s No. 10 national seed marks the highest in program history, beating the previous record of No. 11 in 2011.
• UT has been a host school in the tournament nine times (1982, 1984, 1993, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2023).
• The furthest Tennessee has ever advanced in the NCAA Tournament is the semifinals in 2005, when the Lady Vols finished with a 25-9 record after earning the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance.
• The Lady Vols are 11-6 in first round matchups all time, 2-9 in the second round, 1-1 in the round of 16, 1-0 in the quarterfinals and 0-1 in…