CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball program begins its quest towards a Southern Conference title this weekend by hosting Wofford and Furman on Friday and Saturday inside Maclellan Gymnasium to open up league action.
 
Chattanooga will host Wofford on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and will host an autograph session with the team following the match. UTC will face Furman on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET as part of the annual Military Appreciation Day match.

"I think our conference is as competitive and talented top to bottom than ever in my eight years here at Chattanooga. I truly believe there are at least six teams that can win the SoCon, us being one of them, and two of those programs in the mix will be visiting our gym this weekend, so it is going to be an important start to the SoCon season for us," said head coach Travis Filar. 

"Both programs have high-powered offenses, defenses that are led by senior liberos, and very well-coached programs who will compete at a high level."
 
The Mocs are coming off a battle-tested road weekend against the reigning ACC and SEC champions in Louisville and No. 20 Kentucky. The team fell in straight sets, but pushing nationally ranked Kentucky to the brinks in the third set showed improvement and confidence heading into the upcoming weekend.
 
"This is the start of our new season, the most important part of our fall, and we are beginning with a clean slate in conference.

"Although we had a tough non-conference slate, I think we are extremely prepared to start SoCon play with the right mindset, focus, and ability to execute our game against Wofford and Furman," added Filar.
 
Four different Mocs have totaled at least 80 kills this season including Dani Szczepanski who leads the team with 99. Gylian Finch leads the team in kills per set (2.32) as she has amassed 86 kills in 37 sets during her rookie campaign. Szczepanski and Finch also lead the team in service aces with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Libero Megan Kaufman has paced the defense with a team-high 159 digs on a 3.46 per set average while defensive specialist Brenna Everingham has added 70 digs to help aid the efforts. Szczepanski (23) and Mikaela Gauthreaux (20) have been a force at the net, combining for 43 total blocks this season.
 
Opponent previews for the weekend are posted below.
 
Wofford Terriers (7-6, 0-0 SoCon)
Wofford enters the conference-opening weekend winners of its last two while claiming the Wofford Tournament title in the process. Predicted to finish third in the preseason SoCon Coaches Poll, Wofford ended last season as runner-ups of the SoCon Tournament and returns six starters including the Player of the Year, Catie Cronister, to the floor in 2018.
 
Cronister ranks third in the SoCon this season with a 3.52 kills per set average after totaling 169 kills in 48 sets. An All-SoCon selection last year, Colleen Reilly leads the conference with a 1.15 blocks per set average while Ole Miss transfer Taylor Gill paces the league with a 5.92 digs per set average.
 
Furman Paladins (4-7, 0-0 SoCon)
Furman will open up conference play on Friday at Samford before heading east to Maclellan Gym on Saturday. The Paladins were tabbed the SoCon favorite in the preseason coaches poll after capturing the 2017 regular season title behind a 14-2 record. The 2018 edition of Paladins volleyball returns 11 letterwinners including five starters plus a libero.
 
Junior Nicole Mack, who carries a team-high 2.96 kills per set average, which ranks eighth in the conference, leads the Paladins offense. Defensively, three student-athletes have surpassed 100 digs on the year, including team-leader Meg DeMaar with 200.

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