CHATTANOOGA --- With first serve of the 2019 volleyball season just days away on August 30 in Starkville, Miss., GoMocs.com dives into a positional previews with the second of three installments focused around the attackers.
 
After emphasizing that the setters aim to be 'finishers' in the offense this season, head coach Travis Filar understands that it will come down to the attacking positions to ultimately produce the scoring and end rallies.
 
"As stated before, we are looking for our setters to be finishers in the way they run the offense, but truly, your attackers are looked upon in that way as they will be the ones who finish the rally and do most of the scoring," said Filar.
 
An experienced-laced group of attackers includes four seniors in MB Dani Szczepanski (Cincinnati, Ohio), MB/RS Sarah Root (Waterford, Va.), OH/RS Mikaela Gauthreaux (Johns Creek, Ga.) and OH/RS Brianna Anderson (Austin, Texas). In addition to the veterans, sophomores OH Gylian Finch (Mount Morris, Ill.) and MB/RS Maia Rackel (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) return to the court and expect to be key contributors for the Mocs.
 
"Our senior attackers, Dani [Szczepanski], Brianna [Anderson], and Sarah [Root] will definitely be looked upon to be go-to finishers, and I have loved the development of Gylian [Finch] and Maia's [Rackel] offensive versatility and reliability," added Filar.
 
Szczepanski was an All-Southern Conference Second Team selection in 2018 after leading the SoCon with a .347 attacking percentage, totaling 242 kills on 530 total attacks while committing just 58 errors. She's climbing up the career charts in just about every offensive and blocking category in the books.
 
Anderson has appeared in 45 matches and 101 sets since arriving in 2016 while totaling 179 kills and 35.0 blocks in the process. Root has seen action in 23 matches and 66 sets, posting 97 kills at a .213 percentage in addition to 51.0 total blocks. She earned the Scenic City Showdown Most Outstanding Player honor as a sophomore in 2018.
 
Finch is coming off a Southern Conference All-Freshman selection a year ago after leading the team with 243 kills at a another team-best 2.51 per set average. She added versatility with 176 digs, 21.0 total blocks and 18 service aces. Rackel posted 15 kills and 19.0 blocks in just 27 sets and nine matches, showcasing the ability to post quality numbers during her time on the court.
 
Also returning in 2019 are a pair of sophomores in OH/DS Victoria Cerino (Brentwood, Tenn.) and OH Nan Parrish (Raleigh, N.C.), who are continuing to develop while adding much-needed depth in the process.
 
"We are going to need both Nan [Parrish] and Vic [Cerino] to continue to develop on the left pin to improve our depth, and they both have shown glimpses of the efficiency we need on that side of the court."   
 
Freshman newcomer RS/OH Coniah Davis (Glen Allen, Va.) enters the program with surrounding buzz and excitement. Davis exited prep volleyball with the third-highest jump across the entire country, flying past PrepVolleyball.com's gold standard '10-foot club'.
 
"We have started to see Coniah [Davis] become more consistent, which will allow her physicality at the net to be something we will call on this fall on possibly both the right, and left side." 
 
After an unfortunate pre-season injury, rookie newcomer OH MacKenzie Saitta (Elkhorn, Neb.) will be forced to sit out the 2019 season. In addition, Gauthreaux will reluctantly join her on the season-ending injury list after sustaining an injury during preseason camp.
 
It's a heavy hit for the offense to burden, but a hit that has brought out toughness and improvement among their positional peers.
 
"Our attacking core has definitely taken a hit with season-ending injuries to Mikaela [Gauthreaux] and MacKenzie [Saitta], but I have appreciated the toughness that all of our attackers have shown so far with the increased workload and reps that they all are being asked to shoulder in practice.

"I have been really impressed with a lot of our individual's improvement and growth within our new offense. I think our offense is going to become a great strength this year, and that is our attacking out of serve receive, but especially in our transition game with how we are training and how hard our attackers are working to always be available after that initial rally."

No level of success or improvement will ever take away the 'work in progress' label a driven coaching staff hands out to a positional group. This speaks volumes to the current work the 2019 UTC attackers possess every day in training.

"I believe that how we are training on the offensive side of the ball, although still a work in progress, by the time conference play begins, we are going to be very challenging for opposing defenses to contain," concluded Filar.

UP NEXT
Chattanooga (0-0) opens the 2019 campaign at the StarkVegas Classic in Starkville, Miss., against SEC-member and host, Mississippi State on August 30. Western Illinois and Mississippi Valley State, in addition to UTC and MSU, round out the tournament field.
 
The season-opening match will be carried LIVE on SEC Network+ through the ESPN platform. Game coverage links can be found on the schedule page.
 
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