With the 2021-2022 academic and sports year in the rearview mirror, it’s as good of a time as any to take a look back at some of the most memorable accomplishments. Specifically, from the University of Tennessee’s men’s and women’s sports programs that tirelessly competed throughout the year.
As announced earlier in June, Tennessee won the 2022 SEC All-Sports title, signaling the overall dominance of the Volunteers’ programs last season and possibly the emergence of what’s to come. This is the first time that Tennessee has won the award from USA Today Sports.
Tennessee’s men’s teams ranked No. 1 in the SEC while the women’s teams ranked No. 2. Together, the Vols combined for the top ranking among all of the conference teams. Check out the year-in-review highlight video below.
5 SEC team championships.
SEC Overall All-Sports title.
10 Academic All-Americans.
Elite fan support.An incredible year on Rocky Top for our #Vols and #LadyVols. pic.twitter.com/mmbnyL7NvE
— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) June 29, 2022
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Tennessee’s sports include baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, track & field/XC, and volleyball.
Out of all of Tennessee’s seasons, the Vols took home five SEC team championships. Tennessee basketball, baseball, and soccer took home SEC Tournament titles while the baseball team also added in an SEC regular-season title. In addition, the Vols’ women’s swimming & diving team won the SEC Championship meet, which was hosted in Knoxville.
That isn’t even mentioning the countless individual awards that were handed out to Tennessee’s athletes, including All-America and All-SEC selections left and right. It’s also not even mentioning Tennessee’s record-breaking performances, such as Tennessee sprinter Favour Ashe or ‘The Volunteer Fireman’ himself, Ben Joyce.
According to Tennessee Athletics, “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.”
It seems as though there has been a shift in Tennessee Athletics in the last year or so. While Tennessee has boasted successful sports teams in the last decade or so, the Vols haven’t had program-wide success as significant as it is now.
The 2021-2022 year was the first full academic year for Athletic Director Danny White and his staff. And even in the aftermath of Jeremy Pruitt’s investigation at Tennessee, White and his staff have done an excellent job of putting Tennessee Athletics in a position to succeed.
Is Tennessee’s All-Sports title just the beginning of this new era for the Volunteers? The Vols are certainly trending in the right direction and don’t look to be slowing down.
Check out Tennessee’s official Year in Review here.
This right here from new @Vol_Track Head Coach and Director of Track and Field Duane Ross on taking the job. 💯 #GBO🍊 pic.twitter.com/KsTvPSjN7k
— Bill Martin (@Bill_Martin) June 13, 2022
