Karen Weekly could only describe it as “euphoria.”

The Tennessee softball coach watched her team dash around Sherri Lee Parker Stadium. Weekly did the “griddy,” the dance her players taught her for moments like these. Mid-interview, she was kissed by two of her players not too long after she was doused with Gatorade while beaming alongside her Lady Vols family. 

This unbridled happiness could be spawned only by making history. 

No. 3 Tennessee won back-to-back SEC regular-season championships for the first time in program history, beating No. 24 Kentucky 8-3 on Friday to clinch the series win.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Weekly said. “I’m just so happy for them because they’re the ones that have to go out there . . . to find a way and get this done. I’m just overjoyed for them.

“I told them, ‘You’re back-to-back regular-season champions in the toughest conference in America, that’s something to be super proud of.’”

UT (39-9, 18-5) clinched the regular-season title outright after Texas A&M dropped its series opener Friday. Kentucky is 30-20, 8-15.

In the Lady Vols’ win, Kiki Milloy had a home run and team-high three RBIs, and Karlyn Pickens arrived in relief as she struck out five and allowed no hits or runs in four innings. This is the sophomore’s 18th win of the season. 

How a ‘reset’ helped Kiki Milloy

Milloy, a graduate outfielder, had a magical senior season last year. She hit .406 and set three Tennessee single-season records with 25 homers, 86 runs scored and a .929 slugging percentage. 

This season has been more up-and-down; she is hitting .362 and has 11 home runs. It didn’t help that she missed a series against Georgia after she rolled her ankle. She has remained a steadying presence as a leader, but it’s understood that her play is essential for Tennessee to excel in the playoffs. 

“You learn about people when things don’t go perfect,” Weekly said. “That’s the real measure of who you are as a competitor and really who you are as a human being.” 

No one at Tennessee is surprised to learn Milloy perseveres. After trailing 3-2 after three innings, Milloy drilled a three-run homer, her 11th of the season, to deep center field, which helped the Lady Vols regain control of the game and galvanize the team and the fans. 

“She had her struggles this year but what a champion,” Weekly said. “Things weren’t easy but she just dug in . . . now she’s getting her stroke back. Boy, we need it and that was a huge dagger.”

“Kiki plays a huge role for our team,” Pickens said. “Always just getting the momentum going and she always steps up in big situations like that.”

Milloy said that a major reason she was able to have her first home run since April 23 and second three-RBI game of the year is because of her injury, which she described as a “blessing in disguise.”

“It was a good reset for me because at that point in the season, I wasn’t really playing the way I wanted to play,” she said. 

She never would wish to be sidelined, she said, but not playing helped her be more mentally secure. 

“Taking that time to step back and reevaluate and kind of realize this is my last season, I don’t need to put as much pressure on myself,” she said. “I think that just really helps.”

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly Twitter, @TJ3rd_.