Tennessee volleyball to play North Carolina in first round of NCAA Tournament

After being one of the bubble teams that didn't make the NCAA Tournament with the reduced field last season, Tennessee volleyball was rewarded Sunday.

Coach Eve Rackham Watt said that the Lady Vols came in more prepared this season and understood that every match had NCAA implications.

"I thought we started the year just really focused, and I think a lot of that stemmed from from last year and being so close," Rackham Watt said Monday. "As the year went on, I felt like we stayed just really mentally determined, and whether we were playing well or not playing well, obviously, we've had some ups and downs. It's just the goal remained the same for this group, and they were able to kind of rally around that throughout the season."

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Rackham Watt will also meet her past when the Lady Vols open the NCAA Tournament.

UT (19-9) will play North Carolina (21-8) in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at 5 p.m. The Tar Heels were 10-8 in ACC play. No. 9 seed Ohio State (25-5) plays Howard (18-12) in the other half of the bracket. The winners would play in the second round at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Rackham Watt was a four-year starting setter at North Carolina and part of the winningest class in school history (110-27). She spent nine years as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels before being hired by UT in 2018.

"To me, it's a good team that we're playing in the tournament, and I knew we were going to play a good team, no matter who we were going against," Rackham Watt said of UNC. "It is what it is, and that's the team we've got in front of us. So that's the most important match of our season."

Rackham Watt's husband, recruiting coordinator Gavin Watt, came to Tennessee after spending one season at North Carolina as a volunteer assistant.

Meanwhile, setter Natalie Hayward and outside hitter Breana Runnels were named to All-SEC Team.

"I was really happy that the the coaches in the league recognized how big of a contributor and how much of an impact (Runnels) had on our season," Rackham Watt said. "Then you've got Natalie, who, I don't know that a year ago people were thinking about her being one of the best setters in the league.

"The work that she's put in, the investment she's had in herself and in the team to be as good as she could possibly can be – I was so happy for her that she was recognized as well."

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee volleyball to play North Carolina in first round of NCAA Tournament