Karen Weekley arrived at the clubhouse Saturday morning for a meeting with the coaching staff.
The Lady Vols had just lost to LSU in the SEC Tournament, and the University of Tennessee coaches talked about the loss for two hours. After the meeting, Weakley saw players entering the clubhouse well before practice.
“Players stood in line while coaches finished their games,” the Weekly reported. “I started seeing them in their practice clothes and I was like, 'What are you guys doing?'
The players scheduled a team meeting at 11:30 a.m., 90 minutes before practice began. The team then conducted additional drills prior to practice.
The meeting took place naturally, without input from the coaching staff. Tennessee's leaders can take responsibility and take care of themselves after a loss.
“What we're doing, the books we're reading, the meetings we're having, the lessons we're trying to teach, that's just as important to me as those things,” Us Weekly said. “I learn as I go, they learn as they go, and we learn together. But to be really, really successful, we need to make sure that they don't have to rely on the coach for everything. I think it needs to be.”
That was after the Lady Vols' safety in Auburn, Alabama. Carlin Pickens and Peyton Gotschall combined to allow just two points, but Tennessee couldn't get its offense going. The Lady Vols were eliminated from the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinal stage after entering as the No. 1 seed.
There are benefits to ending your event early. Tennessee will enter the NCAA Tournament with two more days of rest and fewer innings pitched. Still, the Lady Vols didn't want their SEC eligibility to end this way.
Even after the loss, there's still a lot to play for. The Lady Vols are five wins away from a return to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series. Still, there are lessons to be learned from Thursday's loss as Tennessee prepares for the next stage of the postseason.
“I think we just continue to be ourselves instead of dwelling on each game,” Pickens said. “We just have to approach each game as it is, a new game. We know we're capable, so we shouldn't focus on the negatives.”
Tennessee cannot afford to overlook the Knoxville area. In both 2021 and 2022, the Lady Vols were eliminated in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament with losses at home to James Madison and Oregon State.
Kiki Milloy and Riley West were part of the Tennessee team that never made it out of their home area. With this year's team heading to another region at home, leaders will need to pass on what they've learned to their teammates.
“It's probably still early on in their minds,” the Weekly said. “When they think about those years and the loss of local teams in this field, I think there's probably some bitterness building up inside them quickly.”
Weekly knows what it feels like to be in the NCAA Tournament as a mid-major program. She took command of Chattanooga in 2000 and she qualified for the 2001 event.
When the team entered the tournament, there was no pressure on their shoulders. Meanwhile, their power conference partners faced pressure to move forward.
“They almost always just won a championship,” the Weekly said. “There aren't a lot of at-large bids in these conferences. … I think they're riding that wave of momentum into regionals. They have nothing to lose.”
The Lady Vols will have to battle that momentum in the Knoxville Regional Tournament. They enter the NCAA Tournament off a loss and elimination in the conference tournament. Meanwhile, Miami and Dayton, Ohio State come to Shelley Parker Lee Stadium after winning the league tournament. The Flyers are making their first appearance in program history and enter the region with something to prove.
After Thursday's loss, the University of Tennessee felt defeated. You just need to avoid that feeling again.
“I think that was definitely a big motivation for us,” Pickens said. “It's about giving our all to the next game and keeping our heads down and continuing to work and knowing we have what it takes.”
