It's last ups for 'Lady' Vols at WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY – The moment already has come and gone for seven of Tennessee's 10 women's sports programs.

They left their playing surface, be it a pool, a court or a course, for the final time as Lady Vols — not just the seniors, as happens every year, but the entire unit.

For one of the other three teams, basketball, that moment won't come for at least the foreseeable future. That team will keep the Lady Vols nickname when the university officially becomes a Nike school July 1 — a tribute to legendary coach Pat Summitt.

The other two programs still active — track and field and softball — will lose the prefix soon. The softball team, however, hopes to prolong that inevitability for as long as possible, starting with Thursday's Women's College World Series opener against defending national champion and top-seeded Florida (11 a.m., ESPN).

"Lady Vols is a really big part of me and a really big part of the reason why I came here," said junior Rainey Gaffin, who on Wednesday was named a second-team All-American. "We're trying to get as much Lady Vols (support) going as we can. With this being the last time we get to wear it in front of the cameras … just honor the name, honor everybody who's gotten us to where we are now."

Meghan Gregg, a freshman infielder, said she chose Tennessee to represent the university, not simply to be a Lady Vol.

"You come here to play for the University of Tennessee, so for me personally, the name changes, (but) the team doesn't change, the coach doesn't change, the program doesn't change — just the name," she said.

The Tennessee softball team has been called the Lady Vols since its first season in 1996. This will be the program's seventh trip to the Women's College World Series, but the champions' trophy never has been on the flight back to Knoxville.

To change that in the final season before the name change goes into effect certainly would be a fitting end to an era, though co-coach Karen Weekly downplayed how much the switch weighs on her team.

"We don't talk much about that," she said earlier this week. "Once we put Tennessee across our chest, and we're wearing the orange, we want to represent this institution. We're very proud to be here at the University of Tennessee and very proud to represent Tennessee.

"As long as we continue to receive the support that we receive, that's all that matters to these kids."

One of Weekly's peers, LSU coach Beth Torina, didn't seem to mind that her team uses a gender-neutral nickname, though the nickname is a source of pride for some in Knoxville.

"We're just called the Tigers," Torina said Wednesday, "and I'm great with it."

Reach Matt Slovin on Twitter @MattSlovin.

WCWS

No. 1 FLORIDA (55-6) vs. No. 8 TENNESSEE (47-15)

When: 11 a.m. Thursday

TV: ESPN