Tennessee will kick off its 2022 season Aug. 18 at North Carolina.
Kickoff is slated for 7 pm EDT between the Lady Vols and Tar Heels.
Tennessee defeated Notre Dame, 3-0, in an exhibition match Aug. 9. The contest was played in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Lady Vols will host Dayton in an exhibition match Saturday at Regal Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. EDT.
Tennessee’s first regular season home game will take place Aug. 21 against SMU.
Lady Vols defeat Notre Dame in exhibition match
Ahead of Saturday’s match against Dayton and prior to the 2022 season, first-year head coach Joe Kirt met with the media and previewed the upcoming campaign.
A transcript of Kirt’s preview provided by the University of Tennessee is below.
On which players have stood out in fall camp
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
“I think we have had a lot of players stand out in different areas. Jaida (Thomas) is obviously, a handful up top. In the midfield, the combination of Abbey (Burdette), Jordan (Fusco), and Taylor (Huff) is one of the best midfields in the country. We have three starting backs and a goalkeeper back there that are pretty darn impressive. We have players in all three lines that have been performing well. Right now, we’ve been inconsistent in our ability to execute. I think the biggest thing right now is getting them all on the same page and executing at a high speed.”
On the new field at Regal Stadium
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
“We couldn’t be more excited for what the administration has done, getting us a new surface and bringing fans closer to the field with the two berms on the far side is going to be huge and just create a stronger home-field advantage for our team and our players… It’s a great surface, and they’ve worked hard all summer getting it ready for this weekend. We couldn’t be more excited to get out there and play.”
On how he is promoting a player-first mentality
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
“I think it’s about managing their workload – physically, mentally, and emotionally. We talked the first day about giving them a ton of information. After training sessions, they all fill out a questionnaire that says, ‘How difficult was it physically, how difficult was it mentally, and overall how hard was the day?’. And that gives us an idea of where their stress is. We have to stress unload them in different ways, but we also have to make sure they’re rested and ready to go. That’s been the biggest balance. It’s just making sure they’re fresh during a really congested time, both physically and mentally. Yesterday, we went on a little trip away to give them a break, and they had a blast. So it’s finding the balance on the field, in the classroom, in the video room, and then just having fun with each other.”
On the new Summitt Blue uniforms
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
“Incredible. Obviously, (it’s) honoring the legacy of not only what we’ve built here at Tennessee, and certainly, ‘we’ being Coach Summitt and Joan (Cronan), but also what other women have done across the country since Title IX. The opportunities that our players now have because of them, it’s just a way we can honor what’s been done before them. We couldn’t be more excited to wear that this fall.”
On how the freshmen are adjusting
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
“They’re great. We’re just throwing a lot of information at them. With the compressed preseason we have – and we all talk about it as coaches – but the amount of information they get thrown at them is just a lot. So trying to get them to process all of that and understand it and then do it at speed is hard, but they’ve been amazing. They’ve been great. They continue to get better each time we get on the field, and they’re certainly more comfortable being around us and their team.”
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