CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga volleyball is set to close out its regular season this Thursday and Friday as the Mocs will play host to Mercer and Samford at Maclellan Gymnasium.
With crucial SoCon Tournament seeding relying upon the outcome of the remaining matches across the league, the Mocs (18-11, 6-8 SoCon) will be looking to end their season with a bang as they welcome the Bears (14-11, 10-4 SoCon) and the Bulldogs (13-13, 8-6 SoCon) to the Scenic City for the weekend.
Both matches will be played at 6 p.m. ET and can be found on ESPN+ with live stats also available through GoMocs.com.
MATCH CENTRAL
Thursday, November 9 | vs. Mercer | 6:00 p.m. ET
Friday, November 10 | vs. Samford | 6:00 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (MER) | Live Stream (MER) | Live Stats (SAM) | Live Stream (SAM)
SERIES HISTORY
Mercer: 20-19
Samford: 18-36
INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series between UTC and Mercer has remained a near dead heat, as the Mocs currently hold a 20-19 advantage over the Bears heading into their 40th ever meeting. While historically the Mocs have held their own, the Bears have been on a bit of a tear as of late having won nine of the last ten matchups between the two teams. When playing at Maclellan, the Mocs hold an 8-9 record against Mercer. Samford on the other hand holds a hefty advantage in the all-time series against UTC, with the Mocs only having won 18 of the 54 total meetings between the two sides. Similar to Mercer, the Bulldogs have held a firm grasp on the recent matches between the teams as Samford has won seven of their last 10 against the Mocs. In this one the Mocs will be looking for the advantage of home court to power them past their conference foe, as Chattanooga holds a split .500 record of 12-12 when hosting the Bulldogs.
SOCON TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS ON THE LINE
Around the league, every match taking place this coming weekend will play a major role in the SoCon standings, from the league's regular season title all the way down to who will be hosting UNCG in the #8 v. #9 play-in game on Monday, November 13. If the season ended today, the Mocs would hold the #6 seed in the tournament and be slated to third place Wofford in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament. However, UTC can jump as high as the #4 seed and as low as the #8 seed depending on how their matches go, as well as a plethora of other teams' matches from around the league. To keep things simple, if the Mocs can win one of their two matches this weekend, UTC will avoid having to host UNCG in the tournament play-in game. If one thing is for certain it's that between now and Saturday night, a whole lot can change when it comes to the SoCon postseason landscape.
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 ranks second in the entire nation on the active career kills leaderboard across all levels of collegiate volleyball. She currently stands at 1,986 career kills, right behind USC's Skylar Fields (2,017) and leading the likes of Arkansas' Jillian Gillen (1,918) and Houston's Abbie Jackson (1,860).
REDMAN NOW A FIVE-TIME SOCON POTW
Elaine Redman made program history on Monday earlier this week, as the junior was named SoCon Setter of the Week not only for the second consecutive week, but for the fifth time this season. This marks the most conference POTW awards won by a Moc in a single season ever, and it also ties Redman with The Citadel's Ali Ruffin for the most SoCon POTW awards won in 2023. Redman's 1,045 assists this season rank tenth in the entire NCAA as of November 7.
THANK YOU, SENIORS
Friday's match against Samford marks Senior Night for the Chattanooga volleyball squad, and the Mocs will give a send off to a total of six players from the 2023 team. Morgan Romano, Gylian Finch, Makenzie Jordan, Sophia Bossong, Kate Neill and Grey Breen will all be playing in their final regular season match for the Mocs. Additionally, assistant coach Sydney Hall, who is currently completing grad school at UTC, will also be honored as this will be her final year with the team.
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 1,985 career digs. Ranking fourth all-time, she now needs just 73 to tie Kylie Hunter (1990-93) at 2,058 to enter the program's top three in career digs. She is also 15 from becoming the fourth Moc to record 2,000 digs in her career.
- Sophia Bossong (six away) is closing in on her 100th career appearance for the Mocs.
- Gylian Finch has tallied 1,343 career kills, ranking fourth in program history. She now needs 129 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 also needs just one more block to tie her single-season high for blocks. Her personal-best of 31 came in 2021, and she currently sits at 30.
- Elaine Redman needs 207 assists to officially enter Chattanooga's Top 10 assists leaderboard. The junior sits at 1,733 in her time at UTC and 2,790 in her career.
- Redman is 12 assists from putting up a new single-season high in her career. Her current single-season best came in 2021, when she notched 1,057 while playing at Toledo.
- Morgan Romano is in pursuit of reaching 2,000 kills in her career, as she currently sits at 1,986 and needs to finish her season with just 14 more to hit the mark. The Mocs have two matches remaining in the 2023 regular season, meaning Romano would need to average seven kills per match to hit the 2K kill threshold in Maclellan Gymnasium this weekend.
- If Romano plays in just three more sets, she will officially have played in the 500th total set of her career.
- Gallentine needs four aces for her 100th career.
- Kate Neill is two blocks from having 200 in her career. She is also one block away from reaching 50 this season.
ABOUT MERCER
2023 has been a tale of two halves for the Mercer volleyball squad, as after a 4-7 non-conference record to open the year, the Bears have found new life in SoCon action by going 10-4 in league play to sit 14-11 overall. Currently holding possession of second place in the regular season standings, the Bears still have a shot to earn themselves a share of the 2023 SoCon Regular Season title, with Mercer needing to win out this weekend against UTC and Samford while rooting for a pair of Citadel losses against ETSU and Furman. Grad student Kylee Quigley has played a major role in Mercer's success down the final stretch of the regular season, as the outside hitter has brought in SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors in two of the last three weeks. Quigley currently leads the SoCon in aces/set (0.47) while also ranking fourth in the league in kills/set (3.50) this season. Her attacking prowess, paired with the SoCon leader in hitting percentage Skyler Bumpers (.373), makes for a deadly combo for any team on the opposite side of the net.
ABOUT SAMFORD
Sitting right at .500 this season, the 13-13 Samford Bulldogs remain very much in contention for the #2 seed in the SoCon Tournament this year, as the Bulldogs enter the final weekend of play 8-6 in conference play and holding onto fourth place in the standings. A late push the past two weeks has helped launch Samford up the pecking order in the Southern Conference, with the Bulldogs entering the weekend having won each of their last three and four of their last five. The Bulldogs, who rank second in the conference as a team in kills/set (13.01), will turn to junior outside Gracie Lynn Butler to help continue the team's upward trend as of late. Butler is averaging 4.13 kills/set this season, ranking second in the Southern Conference. As a whole Samford hits the ball at a scorching .233 as a team, ranking in the Top 100 in the entire NCAA in the category while once again sitting in second trailing only The Citadel.
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.
