Lady Vols, facing challenging open, set sights on Oklahoma City

honors, she is more excited to perform in the upcoming campaign.

“It’s crazy that the season is starting already,” Milloy said. “It’s nice having those preseason (awards), but preseason doesn’t mean much to me.”

Led by second-team preseason All-Americans Kiki Milloy and Ashley Rogers, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers will look to qualify for this year’s Women’s College World Series in June.

A year ago, Tennessee finished third in the Southeastern Conference and hosted a regional tournament but were defeated by Oregon State.

High expectations are not unusual for head coach Karen Weekly, who has reached the final stage of the tournament seven times, including a runner-up finish. Weekly, who has been the coach of the Lady Vols since 2002, also has two SEC Tournament championships to her name.

“Every year our goal is to be in Oklahoma City,” Weekly said. “Every year we feel like we have a team that can get there, and then things happen through the course of the year that derail you.”

Weekly cited pitching injuries as a major problem for the Lady Vols but also admitted there was work to do in the locker room.

“We’ve talked a lot about being a stronger, more together team that can withstand adverse situations when they do happen,” Weekly said.

In an interview after an open practice on Sunday, Weekly spoke extremely highly of Milloy and Rogers, as well as their potential impact on the 2023 season.

“They both have made All-American in their careers, so they understand what it is like to work in order to achieve those awards,” Weekly said.

“They are both big-time competitors. They just want to win. You could take away every award they have and as long as they are fighting for a championship in Oklahoma City, they are going to be happy.”

Although preseason All-SEC and second team All-American Kiki Milloy was appreciative of her

Starting all 59 games a year ago, Milloy led the Lady Vols with a .362 batting average, 15 home runs and 53 runs batted in. She also stole 31 bases to bring her into a tie for eighth in career stolen base history for Tennessee. Milloy’s performance will be pivotal to the overall trajectory of the 2023 season for her team.

The Lady Volunteers will open their 2023 season at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, playing five games in three days. Among their opponents are No. 7 Northwestern and No. 14 Texas, two participants in last year’s Women’s College World Series. Weekly was complimentary of all of Tennessee’s opponents.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge,” Weekly said. “On the first day, we’ve got two teams that were in regionals in Howard and Illinois. It’s going to be a great tournament. It’s going to be a good opportunity for us to get all of our pitchers out there at some point of time and get their feet wet in that kind of competition.”

The schedule does not get easier as the Lady Vols move forward through the season, as Tennessee will face five preseason top 10 teams and three Women’s College World Series competitors.