After two dominant trips to Clearwater, Fla., Tennessee softball emerged as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. After another 4-0 weekend away from home, the Lady Vols remain in the position on all four major polls.
Softball America, D1Softball, National Fastpitch Coaches Association and ESPN/USA Softball all listed Tennessee as the top team. Texas Tech and Texas were the two teams jockeying for position behind the Lady Vols.
This past weekend, Tennessee flew by Missouri State, UAB, Mercer and Southern Illinois. While none of these foes were ranked, the Lady Vols already hold wins over No. 21 Liberty, No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 23 Florida Atlantic, No. 6 UCLA and then No. 7 Florida State.
More From RTI: Everything Top-Ranked Tennessee Softball HC Karen Weekly Said to Preview Home Debut
Despite the success, head coach Karen Weekly didn’t love how her team performed during their two wins on Friday. However, she thought they got back to ‘dominating the process’ in the wins on Saturday and Sunday.
“Friday, probably a C- or a D on dominating,” Weekly said. “And, you know, the good thing Friday is they felt it, too. Even though we won two ball games and only gave up one run, they weren’t happy with their performance, and they knew it wasn’t the standard that they’ve set for themselves. And I’d say Saturday and Sunday A’s. And I love the way we bounce back and rebounded from Friday’s, kind of complacent, I think, lethargic performance.
“And the real test as a coach is you want to see, how do they bounce back? And not only did they bounce back well on the scoreboard, but what’s more important to us is, how are we going about doing it? And they know when it feels right in the dugout, and we’re focused on the right things. And Saturday and Sunday, we did that. And I think what’s really encouraging is Saturday, we put up 17 runs late at night. We sat around all day long, been delayed, and they were completely focused. And then Sunday to come out and play with a lot of focus, again, not letting Saturday’s result lull us back into complacency.”
Next, Tennessee will hold its 2026 home debut on Friday. The Lady Vols will play Appalachian State twice, Penn State twice and North Carolina Central over the weekend.
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