SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- UTC volleyball closes out a four-match trip on the road this weekend in South Carolina, with the Mocs set to square off the conference's top two teams in Wofford and The Citadel.
The Mocs (15-8, 3-5 SoCon) are currently riding their longest losing streak of the season having lost their past three matches. The team now has an opportunity to not only regain some ground in the Southern Conference standings, but also topple some of the league's finest on their home floors in Wofford (15-4, 6-2 SoCon) and The Citadel (20-0, 8-0 SoCon).
Chattanooga is set to play Wofford at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, October 20 before turning around to take on The Citadel the following day at 4 p.m. ET. Both matches will have live stats available and can be streamed on ESPN+.
MATCH CENTRAL
Friday, October 20 | at Wofford | 6:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, October 21 | at The Citadel | 4:00 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (Wofford) | Live Stream (Wofford) | Live Stats (Citadel) | Live Stream (Citadel)
SERIES HISTORY
Wofford: 33-14
The Citadel: 34-7
INSIDE THE SERIES
While both Wofford and The Citadel serve as difficult competition for the Mocs at the midway point of conference play, historically UTC holds a sizable advantage over both teams when you look into the history of each series. Against Wofford, the Mocs have won 33 of the 47 total meetings between the two teams, including going an even .500 (11-11) when playing in Spartanburg. The Mocs dropped their match against the Terriers earlier this season at home via 3-0 sweep, but prior to that match had won the previous three against Wofford. Chattanooga's track record against The Citadel is even more impressive, with the Mocs having a 34-7 record against the Bulldogs that included the Mocs winning the first 29 matchups between the two teams prior to The Citadel's first-ever win over UTC in 2018. The Citadel won earlier this year against the Mocs at Maclellan, marking just their second road win over Chattanooga, but now this weekend's match takes place in Charleston where the Mocs have a road record of 18-5 against the Bulldogs.
TORBETT EARNS CAREER WIN 500
In her 30th season as an NCAA volleyball coach, Julie Torbett officially hit milestone win No. 500 in her head coaching career, having reached the mark following Chattanooga's 3-0 sweep of Furman on October 6. In her 30 seasons, 27 of them have been with NCAA Division I programs including her two years at UTC, where she has tallied 32 of her 500 victories. Torbett's all-time head coaching record currently stands at 500-428.
ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST
Outside hitter Morgan Romano's impressive resume goes beyond her All-American status and UTC team-leading kill total this season, as the Oviedo, Florida, native leads the entire nation on the active career kills leaderboard across all levels of collegiate volleyball. She currently stands at 1,892 career kills, leading the likes of USC's Skylar Fields (1,877), Arkansas' Jillian Gillen (1,824) and Northwestern's Julia Sangiacomo (1,788).
REDMAN "SETS" THE STANDARD
Junior setter Elaine Redman has been on an absolute tear for the Mocs in 2023, with Redman currently averaging 34.96 assists per match and 9.46 assists per set for UTC on the year. Where Redman's numbers truly become impressive are when you look at the Chattanooga native's total assist number, which currently sits at the lucrative number of 804. That assist total currently ranks eighth in the entire NCAA (as of October 16). The last time a Moc finished Top 10 in the NCAA when it comes to assists? Never. If Redman remains on her current pace, she'll finish the regular season with a projected 1,083 assists, which would rank eighth on UTC's single-season assist leaderboard.
AND YOU GET A DIG, AND YOU GET A DIG…
The Mocs are currently on pace to have five players finish above 200 digs on the season for the second consecutive year in 2023, as Paige Gallentine (416), Gylian Finch (236) and Elaine Redman (230) already sit above the mark while Morgan Romano (191) and Caiti Barthel (176) are swiftly approaching it. Prior to the team accomplishing the feat last year, the last time the Mocs have had five players finish above 200 digs in one season was in 2017.
50 SEASONS OF CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
The 2023 season for the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team marks a major landmark for the program and the university, as UTC volleyball officially celebrates its 50th season of competition as a university sponsored athletic program. Following the adoption of the Title IX legislation back in 1972, UTC added women's basketball, tennis, and volleyball programs to its roster of athletic teams, bringing on five decades of history for each of the teams.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Paige Gallentine now sits at 1,861 career digs. Ranking fourth all-time, she now needs just 197 to tie Kylie Hunter (1990-93) at 2,058 to enter the program's top three in career digs. She is also 139 from becoming the fourth Moc to record 2,000 digs in her career.
- Sophia Bossong (10 away) are closing in on her 100th career appearance for the Mocs. Chard'e Vanzandt needs just five more appearances to log her 100th across all levels of collegiate competition. She has played 52 in Division I alongside 43 NJCAA matches at Blinn JC.
- Gylian Finch has tallied 1,267 career kills, ranking fourth in program history. She now needs 205 kills to move past Leslee Ball (2004-07) for third all-time.
- Finch's 122 career aces rank fourth in program history. The next highest Moc for her to catch is Allie Davenport (2013-16) at 142 in her career. Finch also needs five aces to tie her previous season-best total of 37 total aces in 2019.
- Elaine Redman needs eight more assists to have 1,500 in her time at UTC. Additionally, she is only 89 assists from officially entering Chattanooga's Top 10 career assists leaderboard. The junior just recently surpassed the 2,500-assist mark in her career last weekend.
- Morgan Romano is in pursuit of reaching 2,000 kills in her career, as she currently sits at 1,892 and needs to finish her season with 108 more to hit the mark. The Mocs have eight matches remaining in the 2023 regular season, meaning Romano would need to average 13.5 kills per match to hit the 2K kill threshold.
- Paige Gallentine needs one ace to tie her season-high for aces from last season (28). She currently sits at 27.
- Makenzie Jordan is four digs away from 800 in her career. 535 of her 796 have come while at UTC.
- Kate Neill is just nine blocks away from having 200 in her career. Neill also needs one more kill to hit triple-digit kills for the third consecutive season.
- Sophia Bossong is 17 kills away from 200 in her career.
ABOUT WOFFORD
Wofford enters their matchup with the Mocs 15-4 (6-2 SoCon) as the team looks to make a late push for the Southern Conference crown as 2023 approaches its final few matches of the regular season. The Terriers have a very impressive non-conference resume that is highlighted by the team's 3-1 win over Virginia on the road, which marked the team's first win over an ACC school since 2016. Prior to Wofford's date with Chattanooga, the team suffered an ugly 3-0 loss to ETSU, giving a struggling Buccaneers team just their second win of the 2023 season. Despite this recent loss, the Terriers are still a team that needs to be taken seriously as they possess a stifling defense that has proven to be one of the conference's best. The Terriers currently lead the entire SoCon with 2.61 blocks per set as a team, alongside only allowing teams to hit a conference-best 14.5 percent against them. The Wofford defense's success can be attributed to three key players in Abbey Richman, Sarah Barham and Millie Loehr. Richman, who is the conference's reigning Defensive Player of the Month, currently leads the Southern Conference with 4.94 digs per set. Barham and Loehr, meanwhile, serve as the team's enforcers upfront with the duo standing as the league's top two players when it comes to blocks per set. Barham leads the SoCon with 1.33 blocks/set while Loehr trails closely behind with 1.10 per set.
ABOUT THE CITADEL
The Citadel is currently riding a historic season for their program as they enter their weekend clash against the Mocs, as the Bulldogs currently hold a blemish-free 20-0 (8-0 SoCon) as the team heads down the final stretch of the season. The Bulldogs are currently one of just three programs in the country that possess an undefeated record, sharing the designation with the nation's Top 2 ranked teams in Wisconsin and Nebraska. Following their most recent pair of victories last weekend at Furman and at ETSU, the Bulldogs have now officially entered the Top 100 of the NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI Rankings, with The Citadel coming in at a conference-leading 97th in the country. The Citadel's offense is led by the two-headed monster of Ali Ruffin and Belle Hogan, who currently lead the Southern Conference in kills/set (4.87) and assists/set (10.95), respectively. The duo has brought in numerous in-season accolades in 2023, including most recently being named the SoCon's Offensive Player of the Month and Setter of the Month for September. The Citadel has also made some statement wins over the course of the year, earning sweeps in 10 of their 20 matchups in 2023 including a 3-0 scoreline in their most recent match against ETSU.
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
Follow @GoMocsVB on Twitter and @GoMocsVolleyball on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga volleyball.
Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the UTC Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here. Check out the Mocs on the Mic podcast here.
