The Lady Vols finished up an eventful 2022 season with a loss in the District J/K Final at Brewer Gymnasium on November 5th. The loss left the Vols one win short of qualifying for an automatic bid to the NJCAA National Tournament.
Overall, the team finished the season 16-7 (13-3 in the GRAC conference, and 8-2 in NJCAA Region 24 play). The 13-3 record in the GRAC was good enough to place 2nd in the conference behind SWIC who won the championship with a 14-2 record. Although Coach Burnside was satisfied with the conference record overall, the loss of the championship by one game was a bit difficult to accept.
"We ended up losing the conference by one match, and we had the opportunity to beat SWIC here on our home court. Losing that match 19-17 in the fifth set was a heartbreaker. At the time we realized that it would be hard to overcome that loss and win the conference. Although we ran off 8 straight conference wins after that match, it was not enough to catch SWIC for the title."
The Region 24 Title also ended up being just out of reach. The 8-2 regular season region record was good enough to earn the Vols the 2nd seed going into the Region Tournament hosted by #1 Vincennes University. After a close 5-set victory over Lake Land in the semi-final round of the tournament, Logan fell to defending Region Champion Vincennes in the championship match.
"After a nervous match against Lake Land in the semis, I was concerned about how our team would play in the final. Our team came out strong in that match and were very competitive. We had a significant lead in the first and third games of the match, but could not hold on because Vincennes was also playing at a high level. Its unfortunate, but sometimes you just get beat by a team that is playing well. We didn't fall apart or give them anything, they just outplayed us that day," said Coach Burnside.
With second place finishes in the GRAC and NJCAA Region 24 play, the future is looking good for the Lady Vols. With 9 freshmen returning for next season, Coach Burnside has high expectations for 2023.
"I'm definitely excited about the potential for next season. We have an excellent group of freshmen that watched our sophomores do it the right way this season. If they follow that example the way I expect them to, and grow as players this spring, I believe we will be an excellent team next season. There is no reason why we can't build on the successes we had in 2022."