Karen Weekly seems to have the hang of this softball thing, whether as a co-coach or going it alone.
In her 22nd season coaching at Tennessee but just her second without sharing the responsibility with her husband, Weekly has guided the Lady Vols to a history-making spring. Tennessee has been among the sport’s most consistent programs over the past two decades, but this year’s squad recently swept the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season and tournament championships for the first time in school history.
As a result, the 44-8 Lady Vols are the No. 4 overall seed in the 64-team NCAA tournament that starts Friday, which is their highest seed ever.
Weekly is happy to discuss the present state of the program, which has plenty of on-field leadership with the veteran likes of starting pitcher Ashley Rogers and center fielder Kiki Milloy, but she is also incredibly appreciative of the past.
“I love this university,” Weekly said in a news conference that followed last Saturday’s 3-1 topping of South Carolina for the SEC tournament title in Fayetteville, Arkansas. “When Ralph and I came here 22 years ago, we came here because it was a special place that believed in women and valued women long before it was mandatory or cool.