There remains a sense of urgency from Lady Vols' softball Head Coach Karen Weekly.
There remains a sense of urgency from Lady Vols softball coach Karen Weekly that stems from the team’s 2025 College World Series finale, which saw the team lose in a 2-0 shutout to Texas.
Karen Weekly took over full managerial duties in 2022, during which she has led her Lady Vols to the NCAA Regionals every season, with two trips to the College World Series. The team finished in third place in both appearances.
Now, with the 2025 season behind them, the clock has reset for the 2026 Lady Vols to make their postseason push. Ranked No. 4 according to Softball America’s preseason rankings, the Lady Vols will face four preseason-ranked teams this year.
The 2026 season opens on Feb. 7 with a matchup against No. 5 Oregon. A week later, the Lady Vols continue their early test against No. 9 Nebraska.
“I told them yesterday, the one thing that I want to be able to say after the weekend or during the weekend, is that I have to say, ‘Whoa, not go,’” Weekly said. “I just want us to get out there and get after it.”
On Feb. 14, No. 10 UCLA is next on the schedule, followed by No. 7 Florida State just a day later on the 15th.
Weekly sees the value in hitting the ground running. Rather than accumulating less stressful wins against mid-majors, the Lady Vols have a chance early on in the season to prove their worth of such a high preseason ranking.
“You can say, ‘No fear.’ Everybody’s gonna have a little bit of fear and nervousness, but how do you manage it?” Weekly said. “Do you manage that by getting on your heels, or do you manage that by staying on your toes and attacking? And I want us to be in an attack mode where maybe I have to rein something in, but certainly not light a fire under, under somebody.”
The team doesn’t open its home schedule until Feb. 27 against Appalachian State, but it won’t take long for the ranked home conference matchups to start filling in.
March 6 against No. 13 LSU serves as the first SEC matchup of the season, taking place at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Weekly understands the achievement of last season’s team reaching College World Series heights, but she also knows that the team can’t be satisfied with what they already reached.
“ I think this team is not satisfied at all. Sometimes you can come off a World Series trip, and there’s a sense of, ‘Oh, this is gonna happen again.’ But I don’t sense that at all with these guys. They’re pretty hungry, and a lot of that hunger starts with our seniors and especially Karlyn Pickens.”
Pickens headlines an exciting roster, especially the pitching rotation.
Joining Pickens includes sophomore Erin Nuwer and junior Sage Mardjetko, both of whom have received high praise from their offseason workloads.
“Feel great. I think that is the part of our team that has the most experience and depth combined,” Weekly said. “We have a lot of depth in a lot of other places. Probably not experienced in terms of you can look and see that they’ve got X number of at-bats in a college uniform in the SEC and a list of honors behind their name. But that pitching circle, Sage Mardjetko, is phenomenal.”
Besides Mardjetko, Nuwer brings promise after posting a 2.32 ERA over 57.1 innings. Even with those numbers, Weekly believes her best is yet to come.
“Erin Nuwer is somebody who none of us saw the real Erin Nuwer last year,” Weekly said. “Well, until the Florida game at the World Series, then we saw the real Erin Nuwer. But I believe in those guys a ton, and I think we have, in those three pitchers, who I think would be the ace on any team that they were a part of.”