Tennessee volleyball returns several key players, four additions from the portal and seven freshmen as the team prepares for the official start of the 2026 season in August. Two returnees and a freshman accompanied coach Eve Rackham Watt to a Lady Vols Booster Club event last week to have dinner with fans and field a few questions.
Several dozen fans – the majority of whom also had season tickets – enjoyed a meal at Bella in downtown Maryville and the chance to have one-on-one conversations with Rackham Watt, Caroline Kerr, Chelsea Sutton and Camille Perry.
“The first thing is an opportunity to just say thank you for the support that we receive from the community of people in Knoxville and even outside of Knoxville, and an opportunity for us to bring people together and tell them how much we appreciate the support,” said Rackham Watt, whose full interview can be watched HERE. “Also, an opportunity for us to interact and have our players interact with our fans.”
Kerr, who has a longtime relationship with the Boost Her Club, is a fifth-year senior in her final college season. The All-SEC player and All-American setter redshirted her freshman year and stayed put in the transfer portal era.
“This place is my home,” said Kerr, whose full interview can be watched HERE. “There is nowhere else I’d rather finish my career. Started here, ending here. I hope to leave a legacy of not only one of success and commitment, but of one that impacted people, inspired people to work harder. It means everything to be finishing my career here.”
Fifth-year setter Caroline Kerr (Tennessee Athletics)
Perry, a freshman, made her Lady Vol Boost Her Club debut.
“I love getting the exposure, meeting new people,” said Perry, whose full interview can be watched HERE. “You get to hear about so many different experiences, and I think it’s been great. I love that we get to do this here at Tennessee.”
Perry, a 6-4 middle blocker from Frisco, Texas, is one of the newcomers expected to contribute this season. Her sister, Kelsey Perry is a fifth-year volleyball player at Florida State, and her father, Bobby Perry, played football at Texas State. Camille Perry opted for the Volunteer State.
“Tennessee was honestly my dream school, and people ask me why all the time, and I’m just like, ‘the Lady Vols brand is insane.’ The way female athletes get treated here compared to a lot of other schools is crazy, and I thought the opportunity was something I didn’t want to miss. I love the coaching staff, and Knoxville is beautiful.”
Sutton, a 6-4 middle blocker from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is entering her junior season after two seasons at Tennessee and also opted to stay in the portal era. Sutton and Kerr are college roommates.
“I picked Tennessee to start because I love Knoxville,” said Sutton, whose full interview can be watched HERE. “I love the coaches and the vision they had for the program, the facilities, the support we have, and then especially the team itself. No matter who we have on the roster, all of us are super tight knit.
“It’s like a family. As for why I stayed, you just really can’t beat it. I don’t think I could find another place that checks off all the boxes like Tennessee does, and it would be like leaving your family.”
Junior middle blocker Chelsea Sutton (Tennessee Athletics)
Five of the seven freshmen were able to enroll early, so they got a jump-start on college classes and offseason workouts.
“We had five of them come in the spring, so they’ve been training with us since January, which was a big help,” Rackham Watt said. “But they’re a really talented group. We’ve basically been saying it doesn’t really matter; if you can play, you can play.
“We’re not going to keep repeating that they’re young or we’re inexperienced in that group. The group is talented, and they’ve got to be ready to go no matter what year they are.”
Perry is among those seven and said the group made it a point to have regular contact before they all arrived in Knoxville.
“Our freshman class is so close,” Perry said. “We are with each other every second of the day. Before we even got here, we were always texting each other every day, FaceTiming. We’re so close, and I love all the girls. Friends, definitely for life.”
The other end of the roster has six seniors and Kerr, who is categorized as a fifth-year. Kerr has played 310 sets of college volleyball in 86 matches and has 3,313 assists in three seasons.
“I could go on forever about Caroline in terms of she is a tremendous player,” Rackham Watt said.” But I tell people all the time if they knew Caroline as a person, they would be even more impressed. She’s a great leader, she’s a great captain, she’s a great player, but she’s in the gym all the time.
“The work ethic precedent that she sets, the competitive precedent that she sets, the leadership by example every single day, I mean, the kid does not take a play off. She doesn’t take a day off. That sort of mentorship and leadership for our program culturally, especially having seven freshmen for them to follow, the example she sets every single day is what makes her special.”
Gavin Watt, Camille Perry, Eve Rackham Watt, Chelsea Sutton and Caroline Kerr.
Kerr wants to become a volleyball coach after her playing days are over – she can extend her career in the professional ranks – and will remain a Lady Vol for life.
“Everyone knows the name, the brand of Tennessee, what it carries, the Lady Vols, and to play for Eve and Gavin (Watt) who were both setters, was a big deal as well,” Kerr said. That’s why I came here to begin with, and it’s honestly the reason why I stayed.
“The love and commitment from the school, the community, my coaches, my teammates has been unmatched. There’s no way I could picture myself at another school. It’s where I wanted to be. I’m so excited to leave a legacy, one that not many get to say anymore, that they’ve been at a school for five years.”
Perry is just getting her college career started and was asked to assess her play on the court.
“I think I bring a calmness to the court,” Perry said. “I think I’m kind of a silent killer. Off the court I have a lot of sass, and then when I get on the court, I’m very focused and I’m locked in. I’m here to win a game. I know what I want to do with this team, and I know I can accomplish it with this team.”
Sutton knows the freshmen class will have to make the adjustment to college volleyball, but the group already has fit in well with the team.
“All of our freshmen, I love them so much,” Sutton said. “Even our transfers, we got some really good picks out of the portal, and I’m really excited for what the opportunities we’re going to have this season. I think our freshmen are super talented. They have a really good head on their shoulders, and I think they’re really going to be able to handle season well.”
The volleyball team huddles past the end line, thus the visual of an upside down logo on the court when taken from above. (Tennessee Athletics)
The 2026 season opens Aug. 13 with an exhibition match against Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. at the Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena. A second exhibition match is set for Aug. 22 at Cincinnati.
The Lady Vols will host the Tennessee Tournament to start the regular season on Aug. 28-29 with matches against Colgate, Morehead State and Fairfield.
Tennessee was picked by the coaches to finish fifth in the SEC in 2026 behind Kentucky, 2020 national champion; Texas, 2022 and 2023 national champs; Texas A&M, 2025 national champs against Kentucky; and Florida. Four of the last six NCAA tourneys finished with an SEC team being the last one standing.
Kerr was the first volleyball player signed by the Boost Her Club, and it has brought her visibility and opportunities that had not been afforded to female athletes in the past. Anyone can sign up to help support Lady Vols in all sports by clicking HERE. Members also receive notice of all events such as the volleyball dinner.
“I feel truly so connected to this school and this community because of the relationships I built through the Boost Her Club,” Kerr said. “To get to know so many of these great people, these fans, these supporters, has meant everything to me. They’re truly part of why the people make the place. There’s the financial side of it that certainly is a huge part, and then there’s the relationship side of it that makes a place feel like home.”
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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 was released June 16, 2026. A third book, “The Legacy of Pat Summitt” will be released Nov. 17, 2026.
