Tennessee earned the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Softball Tournament on Sunday and will host the Knoxville Regional beginning Friday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said the Lady Vols were excited to secure a top-eight seed and the opportunity to host through the super regional round.
“We’re just super excited and proud of our girls for doing the work they needed to do this year to earn that top-eight seed,” Weekly said. “There’s always so much anticipation when you go into tonight because you might have an idea who you’re going to get because of geography, but there’s so many unknowns.”
Weekly said Tennessee is prepared for a challenging regional field.
“It’s a tough regional, but Knoxville always gets a tough regional because of the number of really good programs that can drive here,” she said. “Like I told the team, it’s a brand new season. Nothing we’ve done to this point matters.”
The Lady Vols are hosting an NCAA Regional for the 21st straight season, continuing one of the nation’s most consistent softball programs.
“When you reflect on that, it’s really just a lot of years of outstanding players who are now incredible alums of this program,” Weekly said. “It truly takes a village to build something special.”
Weekly also praised Tennessee’s home crowd and expects another strong postseason atmosphere at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
“Every year gets better,” Weekly said. “I know it’s going to be a really tough ticket. I know the Lady Vol fans are going to be out there loud and proud, and believe me, that’s going to make a difference for our girls.”
The Lady Vols open postseason play against Northern Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The second game of the regional features Indiana and Virginia at 8 p.m.
