A player on the 1996 University of Tennessee volleyball team that alleged "mental cruelty" and abusive behavior by then-coach Julie Hermann has come forward to defend herself and her teammates, and express dismay that reaction to the story in the past four days has been "growing uglier and uglier."

Erin Zammett Ruddy was not quoted in the Sunday story in The Star-Ledger that first outlined the allegations against Hermann, but she had confirmed many of the details her teammates had shared.

"It's all true," Zammett Ruddy wrote Wednesday on her blog.

And Zammett Ruddy, who in April wrote an opinion piece for parenting.com about the Mike Rice scandal, outlined a handful of points in her blog.

Among those:

1) How and why the 1996 team came together to write the letter they sent to then-Tennessee women's athletic director Joan Cronan:

2) Answering questions about her motivation for the blog post, as well as her teammates answering questions about Hermann:

3) Responding to those who have criticized or questioned the motives of the 1996 team: