CHATTANOOGA – With preseason work in full swing and the regular season opener at the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville just under two weeks away, GoMocs.com gives a preview of the 2018 Chattanooga Mocs volleyball program. The first of three installments will focus on the defense.
A season removed from ranking second in total digs and digs per set across the Southern Conference, Chattanooga returns all but one defensive specialist/libero while welcoming a pair at that position.
Sophomore
Megan Kaufman looks to anchor the starting libero position after finishing a stellar freshman campaign in 2017. Kaufman led the SoCon and ranked second among all rookies across NCAA DI with 613 total digs last season, seventh most in program history. Her 5.19 digs per set average led the league and ranked fifth among the nation's freshmen.
"First and foremost, our team defense will be significantly stronger this fall because we can be in a defensive system that we would prefer to run because of our personnel, which allows our players to have a little more freedom in reading, reacting, and decision-making," said head coach
Travis Filar.
"The ability to do that has come from all of the work we put into the spring and this pre-season camp on being consistently disciplined with our defensive spacing, movements, first contact ball-control, and defensive connection from our front row blockers to our backcourt defenders."
UTC returns 84% of the team's 1,983 total digs in 2017 including junior defensive specialist
Bailey Clemons and senior DS
Lindsey Farrell who combined to total over 260 digs a season ago. Clemons sits at 300 career digs while Farrell has accounted for 119 during her time at UTC.
In addition to the veteran defenders, Chattanooga welcomes a pair of true freshmen in
Brenna Everingham (Noblesville, Ind.) and
Victoria Cerino (Brentwood, Tenn.). The rookie duo expects to compete for significant time on the court in 2018. Everingham lists as a defensive specialist/libero while Cerino looks to contribute as a defensive specialist/outside hitter.
"We have a very veteran group when it comes to defenders, yet at the same time those individuals are being pushed day in and day out of camp by our newcomers.
"Heading into this fall, I believe we are making a lot more digs outside of our normal defensive range, and that has come from our attention to detail defensively, and how strong and dynamic our team has become with all of their off-season training with Athletics Performance Coach
Rhonda Watts," added Filar.
Chattanooga opens up the new season against Belmont at 4 p.m. on Friday, August 24, in Knoxville, Tenn., as part of the Tennessee Invitational. UTC will then face No. 22 Michigan State and Tennessee on Saturday to close out tournament play. All ticket, match coverage and more information can be found on the schedule page.
Full team and season previews will publish on GoMocs.com in the next coming weeks in preparation of the 2018 season.
Follow @GoMocsVB on Twitter for the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga volleyball.
