Kevin Hudson is returning to the Lee University volleyball program as the chief assistant for his wife, Andrea Hudson, while Jesse Elliott is leaving the staff to be the lead worship pastor at Shiloh Ranch Cowboy Church in Powell Butte, Ore.After one year away from the program, Kevin Hudson is returning to assist his wife, Andrea, in coaching Lee University volleyball. With Milica Krsmanovic taking a teaching and coaching job in Arkansas and fellow 2014-15 assistant Jesse Elliott leaving to become the lead worship pastor at a church in Oregon, Kevin is stepping back in at least for this year. “Kevin does a great job of teaching the game the way we want it played,” Andrea Hudson said in a release as she prepares for her 25th season as head coach. His technical knowledge and teaching ability were big parts of the program’s rise to the NAIA elite before Lee’s move to NCAA Division II. Lee also has added Kajetan Borecki as a graduate assistant. He played for the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Golf
* Defending champion Brendon Caballero will face qualifying leader and fellow UT-Martin golfer Hunter Richardson in the semifinals this morning of the Tennessee Match Play Championship at The Grove at College Grove, and Lipscomb teammates Hunter Howell and Stoney Crouch will meet for the other spot in the afternoon final. Caballero defeated former Ooltewah resident Nick Blakely of Nashville 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals. Blakely beat Knoxville’s Jack Smith 1 up in the round of 16, when Lee University’s Peyton Sliger lost 2 and 1 to Crouch and Polk County’s Keoni Vidrine fell to Nashville’s Chris Lanning in 20 holes. In the Senior Match Play, Tim Jackson of Germantown twice won 7 and 6 on Friday and will take on 2013 champion Buzz Fly of Memphis while Mike Freels of Chuckey faces Doug Harris of Franklin. Freels edged Signal Mountain’s Tom Baird 2 and 1 in the seniors’ round of 16.
* Recent East Hamilton graduate Tucker Venable has decided to continue his golf career at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, which finished third in the NJCAA Division III national tournament this year. Venable will strengthen a lineup that returns two first-team All-Americans (Chase Cole and Jordan Estes) and one (Lanier Guest) who missed All-America honorable mention by a stroke. “It’s a cool feeling to know that I’m going to get to play college-level golf and compete against college players,” Venable said in a GNTC release. “Tucker is a great kid who had a great career at East Hamilton,” Bobcats coach Jared Willerson said. “He won two District 5-AAA titles in a row, finished second in the Tennessee state tournament as a sophomore and was named by the Times Free Press to the Best of Preps (third team) this past year. He’s just a great ball-striker who works hard on his game.” Grant Allen, another returning GNTC golfer, is a good friend of Venable and talked him in to checking out the two-year school’s program. “I came down here and talked to Coach Willerson, whom I really like, and I really liked the school,” the new recruit said.
Soccer