Following an undefeated stretch in the Knoxville regional, Tennessee's softball team is now hosting a super regional.
The Lady Vols will welcome Texas for a three-game series that will decide who will advance to the Women's College World Series.
For Tennessee, this marks the program's first time making the Super Regional stage since 2019. It is the first time it has hosted this round since 2017 and marks the 12th total appearance, as well.
Although there has been a noticeable gap in Super Regional appearances, it hasn't been due to a lack of good teams.
The Lady Vols lost in the Regional final to Oregon State last year after a successful regular season. The year prior, it was Liberty who finished the team's season at the Regional stage.
This poor showing in the postseason has motivated the team this time around.
"I think they're probably a little bit more focused on the bitterness of the last two years and not advancing," said coach Karen Weekly. "Now, we're in a position to do it. They've had goals all year and this weekend was one of them. And moving on from this weekend."
In order for the team to keep the run alive and advance to their first Women's College World Series since 2015 and the eighth in program history, Weekly says the team must keep the same approach.
This process has led to 47-8 record and SEC titles in the regular season and conference tournament.
If the Lady Vols can stay steady in its preparation and not play outside of itself, Weekly thinks the scoreboard will be taken care of.
"We've talked from day one in the fall about trusting the process," said Weekly. "If we focus on what we do and committing to a good process, the scoreboard takes care of itself. It doesn't mean you're always going to win, but I think you're going to give yourself a whole lot better chance at victory if you don't get caught up in things outside of who you are and what you do. Obviously, it helps that we've had success in doing that so they believe in it."
This starts in practice.
Tennessee has had time to focus on itself and recover before the series with the Longhorns.
During this period, the squad has improved each day in preparation for the big weekend.
"I thought we looked good (at practice)," said Weekly. "I think we've gotten a little bit better each day this week. We've had a good week of practice. We're not doing anything different. Just do what we've been doing all year."
Standing in the Lady Vols' way of keeping the season alive is a solid Texas team.
The Longhorns were given the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament giving them the right to host a regional. In the event, they took down Seton Hall and Texas A&M to punch their ticket to Knoxville.
During the regular season, Texas finished with a 45-13-1 record — good for second in the Big12.
Its style of play features speed and a deep pitching staff.
"Texas is a really good team," said Weekly. "Offensively, they're fast. They do a lot of things to try to get you to speed up. When you watch them, that's what they've done to people. They play really good defense. They have four pitchers, who I think the least number of innings is like 60. You're going to see a lot of different looks. Rarely are you going to see the same pitcher for an entire game. We're going to have to adjust quickly."
Game one of the series will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The second match will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. Details of a possible third game will be announced at a later date if necessary.
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