Four Tennessee Lady Vols were voted to the 2012 preseason All-SEC team as vote by the coaches.
Raven Chavanne, Lauren Gibson, Kat Dotson and Ellen Renfroe were all included and made up almost a third of the coaches' team.
The ninth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol softball squad picked up an impressive four selections to the 13-member 2012 Preseason All-Southeastern Conference Team on Tuesday as junior third baseman Raven Chavanne, junior second baseman Lauren Gibson, junior outfielder Kat Dotson and sophomore pitcher Ellen Renfroe were tabbed to the listing through a vote by the league's softball coaching staffs.
By virtue of the four inclusions, the Big Orange boasted 31% of the overall members on the squad, tied with No. 3/2 Alabama for the most in the league. No. 2/4 Florida picked up a trio of nods, while No. 13/18 Kentucky and Auburn each received one selection.
The Lady Vol quartet helped Tennessee to a 49-12 overall record in 2011 while securing both the program's second all-time SEC Tournament title and its ninth appearance in NCAA Regional action.
A top 10 finalist for the 2011 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award, Chavanne started all 61 games for UT, either in the outfield, at third base or as the designated player. The Thousand Oaks, Calif., native reached base by either hit or walk in 55 of 61 contests, won the SEC batting average title (counting all games) and finished seventh in all of NCAA Division I in average by posting a .455 mark to go along with 90 hits, 32 RBIs and 33 steals. She was chosen as a 2011 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Second Team All-American and Louisville Slugger/NFCA First Team All-Southeast Region selection, a Capital One First Team Academic All-American as well as to the Academic All-District IV First Team. Chavanne also received first team All-SEC and SEC All-Tournament accolades.
Gibson, the SEC batting average leader (counting league games only) by posting a .451 mark against conference opposition with five HRs and 28 RBIs, started all 61 contests at second base. The Pasadena, Md., product and first team 2011 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American and Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region choice was also named both first team All-SEC and to the SEC All-Defensive Team (2B). Overall, counting all contests, Gibson hit .420 with 43 runs, a team-high 13 doubles, three triples, eight HR's, 63 RBIs (seventh in the SEC). She reached via either hit or walk in 52 of 61 match-ups, posted 20 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI efforts and got on base safely over a team-best skein of 24 consecutive games from March 17-April 29.
A top 25 finalist for the 2011 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award and a second team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region selection (2010 NFCA All-American), Dotson led the Big Orange and rated in a tie for fifth in the SEC in RBIs (64) to go along with a .401 batting average (fifth in the league), 54 runs scored, eight doubles, four triples, 10 HR's and 26 stolen bases (fifth in the SEC). The Savannah, Ga., native rated 20th in NCAA Division I in RBIs-per-game at 1.08, started 59 of 61 games for Tennessee and reached base safely via hit or walk in 49 of her 59 match-ups. She also led UT with 17 multi-RBI efforts, tallied 21 multi-hit games and posted a 13-game hitting streak from March 3-22.
An in-state product out of Jackson, Tenn., Ellen Renfroe was selected as a third team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American and a first team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region choice. The 6-0 right hander was named the SEC's Freshman of the Year and picked up nods as both second team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman. She also secured three victories over #1 or #2-ranked teams in the polls (#1 Alabama, #2 UCLA, #2 Georgia). After posting a 3-0 mark with a 0.76 ERA while leading UT to the program's second SEC Tournament title, Renfroe was selected as the SEC Tournament's MVP and as the USA Softball National Player of the Week (5/17). Renfroe led the league in ERA (counting conference games only) at 1.42, rated second in K's (125) and was fourth in victories (10). Overall, she ranked second in the SEC (counting all games) in ERA (1.50) and strikeouts (259).
Tennessee will begin its 2012 campaign at 4:30 p.m. MT on Thurs., Feb. 9, against UCSB at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. During its stay at the prestigious event, the Big Orange will also face No. 4/3 California, Texas Tech, San Diego State, defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Arizona State and Western Michigan. Live stats will be available through Gametracker and live updates will be posted on Twitter (@LadyVol_Sftball).
2012 Preseason All-SEC Team Pos. Ht. Cl. Hometown
Cassie Reilly-Boccia, Alabama IF 5-6 Sr. Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Cheyenne Coyle, Florida IF 5-6 So. West Hills, Calif.
Raven Chavanne, Tennessee IF 5-8 Jr. Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Lauren Gibson, Tennessee IF 5-6 Jr. Pasadena, Md.
Kayla Braud, Alabama OF 5- Jr. Eugene, Ore.
Morgan Estell, Auburn OF 5-6 So. Kimberly, Ala.
Michelle Moultrie, Florida OF 5-4 Sr. Jacksonville, Fla.
Kat Dotson, Tennessee OF 5-9 Jr. Savannah, Ga.
Jaclyn Traina, Alabama P 5-10 So. Naples, Fla.
Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee P 6-0 So. Jackson, Tenn.
Brittany Schutte, Florida C 5-10 Jr. Fountain Valley, Calif.
Amanda Locke, Alabama UT 5-10 Sr. Mesquite, Texas
Rachel Riley, Kentucky UT/DP 5-5 Sr. Bowling Green, Ky.