Karlyn Pickens gave her all for Tennessee in Oklahoma City.

After Tennessee’s season came to an end in the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series, the All-American pitcher fielded a question about when she could go to any college, what is it about Tennessee that she loves.

“Is everything an answer?” Pickens replied. “I adore everything about being a Lady Vol, everything it stands for, the community, the place it’s at. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Vol for life.”

While Pickens’ devotion to Tennessee has never been in doubt, in the era of the transfer portal and coaches poaching other team’s players, Pickens’ answer is exactly what Lady Vol fans want to hear.

The junior led her team from the circle all season, and coach Karen Weekly doesn’t field a question about Pickens without first talking about what a good person she is and how she was raised right by her parents.

Weekly’s post-game presser with Pickens, McKenna Gibson and Laura Mealer can be watched HERE.

Tennessee finished the season with a 47-17 record and as one of the last four teams still playing in 2025. Monday’s 2-0 loss to Texas, which will play in the national title series against Texas Tech starting June 5, came on the heels of a team that showed its grit by emerging from the losers’ bracket with a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma to open the WCWS last week to get to the semifinals.

“Just very special group of girls, coaches, everything,” Pickens said. “I think this year was so much fun. We all love each other so much, just wanted another day together.”

Pickens also picked up her 300th strikeout of the 2025 season against Texas and now has 630 for her career.

Tennessee’s seniors played their last college game and arrived in Knoxville from high school or the transfer portal. One of them was Gibson, who is from Santa Clarita, California, and played four years at Tennessee with trips to the WCWS in 2023 and 2025.

She fielded a question about what advice she would give the young players who will return in 2026.

“I’d say enjoy it,” Gibson said. “It was a great opportunity for us to be here, one of the eight teams standing in the season. You see so many people at home watching. That was our thing this week was enjoy the moment, embrace the stage that you’re on because you don’t always get that opportunity. You fight like hell throughout the season to get here.”

Among those youngsters are redshirt freshman infielder Ella Dodge, who made clutch plays at bat and in the field in postseason, freshman outfielder Saviya Morgan, freshman pitcher Erin Nuwer and freshman infielder and designated player Emma Clarke; and sophomore twin sisters and outfielders Gabby and Alannah Leach, redshirt sophomore infielder Taylor Pannell and sophomore pitcher Sage Mardjetko. Freshman pitcher Peyton Tanner also can compete for more innings in 2026.

“I’m just so proud to have been here twice in my career and to finish where we did,” Gibson said. “Obviously you want to end up last team standing with that trophy. But more than fulfilled to be here, especially with this group of girls.

“I’m so proud of everyone on this team for what they’ve done, how they’ve grown throughout the season. And just to end it here, it’s super special.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press and a 10th anniversary edition will be released in 2026.