The last senior we still need to recap is Kylie Marshall. And there’s a good reason why she is last — she has the most to recap and I kept putting it off! Marshall has had a remarkable career almost unparalleled in Tennessee history. She has played in all 122 matches since she first arrived at Tennessee. She has played in all but 5 sets in the past four years — an amazing 460 sets out of a 465 set career. In all of Lady Vol volleyball history, only All-American Julie Knytych (2002-05) has had a better four year record of consistent play. She’s #3 all-time in career digs after recently surpassing All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Amy Morris (2003-05). She and All-SEC Kristy Dobson (1988-91) are the only players in school history to have recorded at least 300 digs in each of four seasons — Marshall alone is the only player to have recorded 325 digs or more in each of four seasons. Impressed yet? And we haven’t even begun to discuss her hitting (she has over 600 career kills) or serving (she’s just the second player at UT in at least 10 years to reach 100 aces)!

Marshall debuted in the season opener vs Virginia on August 25, 2006, and she made an immediate impact with 10 digs, 6 kills, 3 blocks, and an ace. The next day she hit .500 with 4 kills on 8 attacks vs Centenary. In a 6 match run in September, Marshall had double digit digs 4 times, including 18 at Pitt. Against Auburn she had her biggest offensive output to that point with 7 kills on 26 attacks. She then went back on defense with 9 straight double digit digs matches, With 26 digs vs LSU she became the first Lady Vol in history to ever get 25 or more digs in a three-set match. At Georgia she had 5 kills and no errors on 6 attacks for a career high .833 hitting percentage — the highest recorded at UT (with a minimum of 5 attacks) in at least five years. She had a huge two match weekend vs Florida and Auburn (against whom she picked up her first double double) where she had 18 kills, 92 attacks, 31 digs, and 3 blocks. She ended the regular season with double digit digs in 12 out of the last 13 matches.

As a sophomore, Marshall picked up where she left off with 10 digs in an upset of #21 Utah at the AVCA Showcase. A few days later in the first match of the Lady Vol Classic she hit .556, but more impressively, served up 9 aces! That was just 2 short of the school record and still stands as the best total of this decade. By the second week of September, Marshall was rolling again. In the last 24 games of the season she would have double digit attacks in every match (17 of those would be for more than 20 attempts); 16 times she’d notch double digit digs. In a four match run starting with a double double during an upset of #18 LSU and ending with a double double vs Mississippi State, Marshall lit up the stat sheet with 36 kills, 162 attacks, 70 digs, 9 blocks, and 7 aces. In November she tied her career high digs total with 26 at Mississippi. A week later she almost did it again with 24 vs South Carolina. In the last conference match of the season she set a then career high with 6 blocks vs Arkansas. During the offseason Marshall and teammate Nikki Fowler teamed up at the inaugural SEC Beach Volleyball Tournament where they lost in the second round of the gold level playoffs to eventual champion Georgia.

Marshall started her junior season off right at the Marquette Kick-Off Classic. In a match vs Houston she hit .333 and nearly double doubled with 9 kills and 9 digs, then completed the task to take the championship vs the home team with 13 kills and 10 digs while hitting .407. The performances earned her a spot on the All-Tournament team. In the second week of the young season she reached 21 digs vs Virginia, then topped it with 22 the next week vs #17 Illinois — and knocked down 4 blocks as well! Less than a month into the season she got her third double double of the year with 12 kills and 12 digs vs Alabama. And in 4 of the next 5 matches she kept double digit digs going. In a match at South Carolina she hit .400 or better for the second time that year. A few days later she topped that at ETSU with 8 kills, no errors and 15 attacks for a .533 percentage. And two weeks later she even topped that with 11 kills while hitting .556 at MSU. Marshall finished the season with 6 straight double digit dig matches, including a double double at Auburn and a 20 dig effort vs Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She and Fowler teamed up again at the Second Annual SEC Beach Tournament where they won the top division championship, going 5-3 during pool play before winning four straight games to clinch the title.

Now in her final season, the team captain has shown no signs of slowing down. She’s turned in double digit dig performances in 18 matches this year, double doubled twice (most recently in her first career win over #13 Florida), and hit .250 or better 6 times. She’s picked up the pace in her blocking game, notching 3+ blocks 12 times. Half of those were 5 blocks or more, including a career high 8 vs Georgia. While teammate and SEC Libero of the Year Chloe Goldman ripped through the record books, Marshall has steadily climbed up to #3 all time in career digs and #6 in career digs per set.

Kylie Marshall may not be the the most high profile player and based on her achievements she probably was shortchanged in the awards department. But despite that her place in Tennessee history is assured. Her high level of play, her leadership, her work ethic, and her astonishing consistency and reliability in playing 99% of the sets during her four year career make her a Lady Vol Iron Woman* that we were extremely lucky to have wearing the orange and white.

* see “Cal Ripken, Jr.” if your’e too young to get that reference!