Tennessee in 2021-22 claimed its first SEC Overall All-Sports title, presented by USA Today Network, and the Vols also captured the program's first SEC Men’s All-Sports title since 2007-08. In the SEC Women’s All-Sports standings, Tennessee finished second behind Florida.

Tennessee was one of only seven Division I programs in the country to make a football bowl game and also qualify for the NCAA Championships in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball and baseball (joining Arkansas, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, UCLA and Virginia Tech). 

Across the nine sports for which the SEC tracks head-to-head win/loss records (and at least 13 teams compete), Tennessee owned the league’s best intraconference win percentage in 2021-22 at .672. The next-best win percentage was .595 (Florida). Those nine sports are football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, soccer and volleyball.

Eight Tennessee teams (four men’s and four women’s) finished in the top 16 or advanced to at least the round of 16 in their respective NCAA Championships.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS

Tennessee soccer posted its first-ever 20-win season while capturing a second straight SEC Eastern Division crown, an SEC Tournament title and advancing to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. Redshirt-sophomore Jaida Thomas and senior Wrenne French earned All-America honors.

The soccer team opened the 2021 campaign with seven straight shutouts to set a program record for longest shutout streak (633:53). The squad also amassed a program-best 13 shutouts.

Football head coach Josh Heupel produced the most regular season victories (7) of any first-year “Power Five” head coach with new programs in 2021.

Heupel’s Volunteers averaged a stellar 38.8 points per game, a mark that ranked top 10 nationally and second in modern school history, en route to a TransPerfect Music City Bowl berth. The Volunteers shattered eight team single-season records in Heupel’s debut season. 

Volleyball posted a 20-win season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships.

Karl Thiessen and Sydney Seymour represented the Vols and Lady Vols at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, with Seymour becoming the first Lady Vol to make back-to-back appearances at the national meet since 2014 and 2015.

WINTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Lady Vols swimming & diving team won its second SEC championship in three years and earned their fourth straight top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships. Ellen Walshe was named SEC co-Swimmer of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year, while Matt Kredich was selected as the SEC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year.

The men’s swimming & diving team finished tied for second at the SEC Championships, which marked their best finish since 2001.

Overall, the swimming & diving programs had 20 student-athletes earn a combined 45 All-America honors during the 2022 season.

Lady Vol basketball’s 18-1 start in 2021-22 was its finest since 2007-08, its overall (25-9) and SEC (11-5) records the best since 2017-18 and its NCAA Sweet Sixteen berth its 35th all-time but first since 2015-16. 

Women’s basketball, which rose to No. 4 in the AP Poll, also defeated five ranked teams in a season for the most since 2017-18.

For the second time under head coach Rick Barnes, men’s basketball spent the entire season ranked in the AP Top 25, ascending to a season-high of No. 5 in the final poll.

The Vols basketball team defeated four top-10 opponents (tying a program record) and posted a perfect 16-0 home record at Thompson-Boling Arena. 

The Vols and Lady Vols basketball teams combined to go 32-2 (.914) at Thompson-Boling Arena in 2021-22.

Men’s tennis advanced to the final at the ITA Indoor National Championships in February, defeating third-ranked Baylor in the semifinals to set up a title match with fourth-ranked TCU.

The men’s track & field team posted its highest finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 2016 with a third-place showing that was fueled by a first- and second-place of the long jump by Wayne Pinnock (7.92m) and Carey McLeod (7.91m).   

SPRING HIGHLIGHTS

Tennessee rowing’s varsity eight (1V8) opened its Spring schedule by winning three consecutive Big 12 Boat of the Week awards. The team added a fourth Boat of the Week award later in the season.

The men’s tennis team—which spent part of the season ranked No. 1 in the country—advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Adam Walton and Johannus Monday earned All-America honors for singles play, while Walton and Pat Harper were doubles All-Americans.

The women’s tennis team made its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships and advanced to the second round. In the NCAA doubles championships, Tennessee’s pairing of Tenika McGiffin and Daria Kuczer advanced to the Round of 16.

Women's golf senior Mikayla Bardwell broke the Tennessee program record and SEC Championship record for lowest round with a 9-under 63 at the SEC Championships, where she finished third. As a team, the Lady Vols advanced to match play at the SEC Championships for the first time in program history.

Bardwell’s round of 9-under (63) tied for the ninth-best round in relation to par in NCAA women’s golf history.

Coming off its first NCAA Championships appearance since 2013 last spring, Tennessee men’s golf sustained its success during the 2021-22 season—racking up five top-four team finishes and 12 individual top-10 finishes. Tennessee’s season-long team stroke average of 282.60 is the best single-season team stroke average in program history.

First-team All-SEC performer Spencer Cross concluded the 2021-22 season with a 69.33 stroke average—the lowest single-season stroke average in program history—and also shot 22 rounds of par or better, which stands as the second-most in a season in program history.

Tennessee’s softball program earned the No. 11 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting an NCAA Regional for the 17th consecutive season.

Powered by first-place performances by Wayne Pinnock (long jump), Jordan West (shot put) and Favour Ashe (100m), Tennessee’s men’s track & field squad finished third at the SEC Championships in Oxford, Mississippi. 

The men's track & field squad was outstanding at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, finishing third nationally at both meets. Wayne Pinnock swept the NCAA long jump titles at both NCAA meets, while Carey McLeod finished second at NCAA indoors and fourth at NCAA outdoors.

In total, 15 men's and women's Tennessee track & field student-athletes combined to earn 34 All-America honors.

HISTORIC BASEBALL SEASON

In dominant fashion, Tennessee (57-9, 25-5 SEC) captured the outright SEC regular-season baseball championship—clinching the outright title with four regular-season league games left to play.

Tennessee also won the SEC Tournament championship and never trailed during its four wins in Hoover, Alabama.

Tennessee baseball set a single-season program record for wins with 57. 

The Vols’ 158 home runs in 2022 also were a program record and were the fourth-most ever hit by a Division I team.

Tennessee baseball authored a school-record 23-game win streak, during which the Vols rose to become the unanimous top-ranked team in the country.

The baseball team also became the first squad in SEC baseball history to start SEC play 12-0.

Head coach Tony Vitello was named SEC Coach of the Year, Chase Dollander earned SEC Pitcher of the Year acclaim and pitcher Drew Beam earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors. In total, six UT players racked up nine overall selections on the All-SEC first and second teams, as well as the SEC All-Freshman team and SEC All-Defensive team. 

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS

Combining the Fall and Spring commencement ceremonies, 102 total student-athletes graduated this academic year, including 15 who earned master’s degrees.

Tennessee produced a school-record 10 Academic All-Americans during 2021-22: volleyball player Ava Bell (Political Science), football players Paxton Brooks (pursuing master’s degree in Kinesiology) and Matthew Butler (pursuing master’s degree in Political Science), softball players Kiki Milloy (Neuroscience) and Ashley Rogers (pursuing master’s degree in kinesiology), baseball players Luc Lipcius (pursuing a master’s degree in Engineering) and Evan Russell (pursuing a master’s degree in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication), women’s tennis player Tenika McGiffin (pursuing a master’s degree in Sport Management) and women’s diver Kara Holt (Neuroscience) and women’s pole vaulter Hannah Jefcoat (pursuing a master’s degree in Agricultural, Leadership, Education and Communication).

Tennessee’s previous school record for Academic All-Americans in a single academic year was nine in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Tennessee’s 57 student-athletes on the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll was a school-record.

In the 2022 Spring semester, Tennessee student-athletes posted an all-time best combined GPA of 3.27—the 19th consecutive semester with a combined 3.00 or higher for the student-athlete population.

Also during the 2022 Spring Semester, 60 student-athletes earned a 4.00 GPA and eight different teams tied or improved their highest-ever Spring team GPA.

Tennessee Athletics salutes the decades-spanning contributions of the following retiring staff members with 20 or more years of service to the university: Football Administrative Specialist Kim Milligan (37 years), IT Specialist Ken Duncan (28 years), Associate Athletics Director Dara Worrell (28 years), Accounting Specialist Linda Chatham (26 years) and Administrative Specialist Beverly Dunkin (23 years).