Coach Patrick, 2005: “Milan is an athlete who came in during the summer and is going to be ready for the season. She is going to feel comfortable playing with her teammates, because she’s been around them, working out and getting stronger. She has a high level of skill in controlling the ball, playing defense and passing. She is also a physical hitter who can terminate almost any set that comes her way.”

Coach Patrick, 2008: “Milan has really developed a great focus on volleyball and her individual improvement. Physically, she is more prepared coming into this season than at any other time of her career. She made great strides this spring attacking the ball as well as in her ball control. Her experience will be integral to our success this season, especially with so many newcomers to our team.”

Milan is one of the most energetic, emotional, and fervent players on the team. When things are going right you can see the excitement on her face. When things aren’t so good you see determination, not disappointment. Sometimes that manifests itself as tougher play, and sometimes a tougher attitude. When Coach Patrick starts screaming at intensely instructing his team, Milan is the only player I’ve seen who can stand up and go toe to toe with him — whether or not its the best idea is another discussion! Players like that are always the most fun to watch because you can tell they’re just as emotionally invested in the outcome of the game as the fans are!

Milan played in 27 of the 34 matches her freshman year. She had her first big match in her third outing as a Lady Vol, starting vs Central Michigan where she had 7 kills and hit .333. A week later she hit .667 against Xavier — a mark she set in only her fifth match that wouldn’t be topped until this season. The next day she hit .417 vs Purdue. Against Arkansas she picked up two assists, still her career high. She had her best match of the season against Georgia where she picked up 12 kills on 29 attacks with only one error. Milan was named Tennessee’s first SEC Freshman of the Week for that performance. She had another good night vs Georgia a few weeks later with 9 kills and 4 blocks in front of a still standing home record crowd of 3,311. She matched her then career high .667 hitting percentage against Jacksonville State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and hit .400 in the second round vs Minnesota. She’s one of only ten Lady Vols to have ever seen playing time in a Final Four. And she was named to the SEC Freshmen Academic Honor Roll.

Milan made steady improvements in almost every statistical category her sophomore year. Against Centenary she led the team in kills with 11 while hitting .333. She again led the team two weeks later vs Lehigh where she hit .333 with 13 kills. She really starting lighting things up near the end of the season. In one weekend she hit .556 vs Arkansas and two days later led the team in kills vs #12 LSU. The next weekend she knocked down 7 kills vs Mississippi State before getting a then career high 15 kills vs Mississippi. That was just the lead up to a match with Kentucky where she had then career bests in five different categories: 16 kills, 39 attacks, 6 digs, 5 blocks, and 18.5 points. She had several more solid performances before finishing the season with 15 kills on a then career high 43 attacks against #7 Florida, and five blocks and a current career high 7 digs vs Auburn. She once again was honored for academic achievement with her selection to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

In Milan’s junior year she played in all 29 matches, and had 8 or more kills in 13 of them. She started off strong at the prestigious AVCA Showcase with 8 kills vs #1 Nebraska in the season opener. She had a major role in the upset of #21 Utah with 6 digs, 42 attacks, and a then career best 16 kills, 6 blocks, and 19 points. She was named to the AVCA Showcase All-Tournament Team and was the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week. The next week she had a big weekend at UT’s home tournament. She had 11 kills while hitting .529 vs Appalachian State, 12 kills and 5 digs vs Belmont, and 13 kills while hitting .407 vs Indiana. That showing got her her third award in two weeks when she was named to the Comcast Lady Vol Classic All-Tournament Team. For the next few matches she made her mark blocking, notching 12 blocks in a four match stretch. The next few matches after that she again was a top scorer with kills, knocking down 8 or more in five out of the eight matches — including 13 in a thrilling win vs #18 LSU and 10 in a tight match with Louisville. On a night when the team set several records against Mississippi, Milan pounded out 9 kills while tying her own then career record with 6 blocks. It was a disappointing season overall, but Milan had once again shown major improvements in almost every aspect of her game, especially in blocking where she more than doubled her combined freshman and sophomore totals. For the third year in a row she was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. And in the first ever SEC Beach Volleyball Tournament she and fellow senior Laurén LaFlamme took home the championship in their pool.

During this her final season, Milan has really taken over as one of the major offensive powers on the team. She started the season by making the Marquette Kick-Off Classic All-Tournament Team. And now 25 matches into the season, she has: double-digit kills in 15 of them; 20 or more attacks in 16 of them; a hitting percentage of at least .333 in 10 of them; and more than 2 blocks in 9 of them. With at least four matches still to play she’s already topped all her previous years in almost every stat, and has bested her career highs in kills, attacks, hitting percentage, blocks and points just this season. And we can’t talk about her senior year without mentioning the outstanding night she had vs ETSU where she hit an amazing .813. She had 13 kills on 16 attempts with no errors! I combed through the box scores for the past seven seasons and found that no other player in that time — which includes teams that went to the Sweet Sixteen in 2004 and the Final Four in 2005 — had hit above .800 when making double digit attack attempts. It was an amazing effort and I was lucky enough to be one of the few orange clad fans in the stands to see it!

Milan has had a great career at Tennessee and it has been a lot of fun seeing her get better and better. Her fiery personality, intensity, and just good old fashioned skill will be sorely missed when she leaves us this year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 5:51 pm.