CHATTANOOGA --- UTC volleyball returns home this weekend for a pair of Southern Conference matchups, with UNCG and ETSU both set to travel to Maclellan Gymnasium this Thursday and Friday to take on the Mocs.
Following a tough five-set loss to undefeated The Citadel last weekend in Charleston, Chattanooga (16-9, 4-6 SoCon) will now be aiming to make up some ground in the SoCon standings this weekend as the Mocs are set to host UNCG (1-20, 0-10 SoCon) and ETSU (3-18, 3-7 SoCon) on October 26 and 27 in Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs will host the one-win Spartans on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET before turning around to play in-state rival ETSU on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Both matches will be free and open to the general public, and live stats and ESPN+ streams will be available for fans.
MATCH CENTRAL
Thursday, October 26 | vs. UNCG | 6:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 27 | vs. ETSU | 6:00 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (UNCG) | Live Stream (UNCG) | Live Stats (ETSU) | Live Stream (ETSU)
MATCH PROMOTIONS: BARBIE NIGHT/DIG PINK
To open the weekend's slate of matches, UTC will be hosting a Barbie-themed night for their match against UNCG on Thursday that will feature Barbie themed décor and social media content. Fans are also encouraged to wear their best pink/barbie attire. Additionally, head coach Julie Torbett will be honored before Thursday's match for earning her 500th career head coaching victory earlier this month. Friday's match against ETSU will then be the annual Dig Pink match for the Mocs, where fans are once again encouraged to wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Free t-shirts and rally towels will be given out to fans in attendance while supplies last.
SERIES HISTORY
UNCG: 34-22
ETSU: 38-45
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Mocs and the Spartans will be meeting for the 57th time on Thursday, with Chattanooga holding a 34-22 all-time record against UNCG that includes going 21-6 at Maclellan. The Mocs have won the past three matchups with the Spartans, with the most recent match between the two sides coming earlier this season when UTC defeated UNCG in five sets when they met in Greensboro on September 30. UTC and ETSU's historic rivalry will have its newest chapter written on Friday, as the Buccaneers currently edge out the Mocs 45-38 in the all-time series. While the Mocs have won three of the past four matchups between the two sides, including a 3-1 victory over ETSU earlier this year in Johnson City, UTC's victory over East Tennessee State in November 2021 snapped a 10-match winning streak that was held by the Bucs. In Maclellan the Mocs do have the advantage in the history books, with UTC having won 20 of the 36 matchups that have taken place in Chattanooga.
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 33 of her 501 victories. Torbett's all-time head coaching record currently stands at 501-429. Coach Torbett will be honored on-court for her achievement prior to Thursday's UNCG match.
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 1,931 career kills, leading the likes of USC's Skylar Fields (1,921), Arkansas' Jillian Gillen (1,859) and Houston's Abbie Jackson (1,815).
REDMAN "SETS" THE STANDARD
Junior setter Elaine Redman has been on an absolute tear for the Mocs in 2023, with Redman currently averaging 35.28 assists per match and 9.38 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 882. That assist total currently ranks eighth in the entire NCAA (as of October 23). 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 1,094 assists, which would rank eighth on UTC's single-season assist leaderboard.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Following a 56-dig weekend that saw her earn SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors for the seventh time of her career (the most in program history), libero Paige Gallentine now sits at 472 total digs in 2023, ranking fifth in the entire NCAA. Gallentine is aiming to have 500+ digs in a season for the third straight year for the Mocs. Her highest single-season dig total came last year, when she tallied 596. Gallentine is currently averaging 18.88 digs per match and 5.02 digs per set this season and she also sits just 83 digs away from recording her 2000th career dig.
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 1,917 career digs. Ranking fourth all-time, she now needs just 141 to tie Kylie Hunter (1990-93) at 2,058 to enter the program's top three in career digs. She is also 83 from becoming the fourth Moc to record 2,000 digs in her career.
- Sophia Bossong (nine away) is closing in on her 100th career appearance for the Mocs. Chard'e Vanzandt needs just three more appearances to log her 100th across all levels of collegiate competition. She has played 54 in Division I alongside 43 NJCAA matches at Blinn JC.
- Gylian Finch has tallied 1,297 career kills, ranking fourth in program history. She now needs 175 kills to move past Leslee Ball (2004-07) for third all-time.
- Finch's 123 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 four aces to tie her previous season-best total of 37 total aces in 2019.
- Finch is also eight kills away from a new single-season high. She sits at 305 this year with her personal-best being 313 in 2019.
- Elaine Redman needs 11 more assists to officially enter Chattanooga's Top 10 assists leaderboard. The junior sits at 1,570 in her time at UTC and 2,627 in her full career.
- Morgan Romano is in pursuit of reaching 2,000 kills in her career, as she currently sits at 1,931 and needs to finish her season with 69 more to hit the mark. The Mocs have six matches remaining in the 2023 regular season, meaning Romano would need to average 11.5 kills per match to hit the 2K kill threshold.
- Kate Neill is just eight blocks 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 UNCG
2023 has been some tough sledding for Felicia Turner's UNCG squad, as the Spartans currently sit with a record of 1-20 on the season, still aiming to earn their first Southern Conference victory. The team's last and only win of the season came back on September 8, when the Spartans earned a 3-0 sweep against USC Upstate at the Black & Gold Classic. Despite their struggles, this year's UNC Greensboro team cannot be overlooked as the team has had multiple five-set matches in their grasp this year, including a five-setter against UTC earlier this fall. The Spartans are led by Aylin Baran, who currently averages a team-leading 3.18 kills per set this season. UNCG's defense also features Mya Wood, a sophomore libero that currently ranks ninth in the conference in digs per set (3.25).
ABOUT ETSU
After a slow start to their season, East Tennessee State has found their footing as a team as Southern Conference action has heated up with all three of the team's victories in 2023 coming in conference action this year. After a 3-1 victory over UNCG in their SoCon-opener, ETSU was able to take down then-second place Wofford in a 3-0 sweep earlier this month and enters their matchup with the Mocs coming off of a 3-1 victory against Western Carolina last Saturday. Picked as the favorites in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll, the Buccaneer lineup features Abbey Thomas, whose 0.88 blocks per set rank first on the team and eighth in the conference. ETSU's success will rely heavily upon the play of setter Malgorzata Andersohn, who has averaged a double-double for the Bucs this season (23.05 assists per match, 10.14 digs per match).
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