Now that the spring season has come to an end, we are one step closer to the fall season. Brandon Burke, the Sports Information Intern, gives us insight on what we can expect from the teams in their upcoming season.
Football:
Fresh off the program’s most accomplished season since joining the NCAA’s Division I ranks in 1993, the Skyhawk football program will enter the 2022 fall campaign with enormous expectations following the school’s first ever FCS Playoff Victory to cap off a 10-win season. Ranked as high as No. 8 nationally behind an unprecedented 18 All-OVC performers, the Skyhawks and conference coach of the year Jason Simpson will defend their league crown in a loaded encore season that will feature road trips to powerhouse programs Tennessee and Boise State with the nucleus of both offensive and defensive units returning for another ride. Expect another pulse-pounding and exhilarating year from a record-shattering squad in 2022.
Soccer:
Riding a similar wave of anticipation to their fall outlook based on a slew of eye-popping performances a year ago, the UT Martin soccer team aims to continue its reputation as one of the most reliable programs on the navy and orange campus after claiming their 5th OVC Regular Season Championship of the past decade last semester. Under the tutelage of three-time league coach of the year Phil McNamara, the Skyhawks retain a vast majority of one of the nation’s best defenses a season ago, surrendering only 16 goals in 18 matches on their way to the OVC tournament’s title bout. Landing five on the 2021 All-OVC ballot while returning an expected nine starters for their conference title follow-up, UT Martin sits poised for a similar second act when students return post-summer break.
Volleyball:
Bringing back 12 players from a squad that reached the program’s highest OVC winning percentage in two decades, the UT Martin volleyball team has positioned themselves to continue building upon last season’s breakout performance that included a pair of all-league recipients and a top-four finish in the final league standings. Behind seventh-year head coach Jaclynn Wilson, UT Martin ranked fourth in all of NCAA D-I volleyball with 4,298 attacks during the fall, perhaps foreseeing an even more profitable outcome for a program that keeps gaining traction with each passing year.
Women’s Basketball:
Overcoming a mountain of adversity to find themselves playing at their highest level when it mattered most, the Skyhawk women’s basketball squad brings an enticing mix of polished veterans and superb underclassmen to their 2022 foray under lauded head coach Kevin McMillan, surmounting unavoidable circumstances to emerge from the other side stronger than before. Beside two returning All-OVC selections and a taste of the prominence to come for the immediate future, the Skyhawks’ unwavering determination and undeniable talent looks to carry over effortlessly for one of the most distinguished programs in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Men’s Basketball:
With the debut season of an entire cast of characters both on the court and roaming the sideline now a thing of the past, the UT Martin men’s basketball team and sprightly head coach Ryan Ridder prepares to open the next chapter of a new era with promising signs for an upward trajectory that showed its potential last year. Expecting roughly 80% of the Skyhawks’ starting lineup to return hungry for more, UT Martin dives back into one of the most competitive mid-major conferences in America with a laundry list of ingredients to be excited for, ranging from the flair and confidence of a young staff to the stimulating abilities of both familiar faces and incoming first-year players in 2022-23.
The summer training from the individuals on all these teams will play a big role in the teams overall success. New personnel will be joining UT Martin athletics, such as incoming freshman and transfers. The core group that have competed will set the precedent for those coming in, and the talent will only become stronger. The future looks bright for UT Martin’s sports teams, and we look forward to what they have to offer in fall of 2022.
