CHARLESTON --- Chattanooga volleyball will look to continue their hot start to the 2023 season this weekend as the Mocs travel to South Carolina for the Charleston Southern Tournament, set to run September 1-2.

The Mocs (3-0) will open their weekend with a match against tournament host, Charleston Southern (3-1), beginning at 12 p.m. ET on September 1. UTC will then have to play a true doubleheader, as the Mocs are slated to take on Southern Illinois (2-0) at 4 p.m. ET later on that same day. The tournament will wrap up for Chattanooga on Saturday, as UTC squares off against North Carolina A&T at 11 a.m. ET on September 2.

All three matches are set to take place at the Buccaneer Fieldhouse in Charleston and are free for the public. Live stats will be available for all matches, but none of Chattanooga's matches will be available to stream over the weekend.

MATCH CENTRAL
Friday, September 1 | at Charleston Southern | 12:00 p.m. ET
Friday, September 1 | vs. Southern Illinois | 4:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, September 2 | vs. North Carolina A&T | 11:00 a.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (CSU) | Live Stats (SIU) | Live Stats (NCA&T)

SERIES HISTORY
Charleston Southern: 1-2
Southern Illinois: First-ever meeting
North Carolina A&T: 1-0

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Mocs will open the weekend playing the team that they've met the most from the field, Charleston Southern. The Buccaneers currently hold a slight 2-1 advantage against the Mocs , with the last meeting between the two coming in 2010 when CSU defeated UTC 3-2. Chattanooga will then battle Southern Illinois, a team that the Mocs have never played against in volleyball before. Then to close out the weekend, the Mocs will play against North Carolina A&T. UTC currently leads the all-time series against the Aggies, 1-0, with the lone match between NC A&T and UTC coming in 2005. The Mocs were able to sweep the Aggies in that matchup.

YEAR 30
This season marks Director of Volleyball Julie Torbett's 30th year as the head coach of an NCAA volleyball program. She holds a 488-420 overall record with a total of 27 seasons coming at Division I schools, sitting just 12 wins away from the 500-win mark in her coaching career. Among those programs, she coached 17 seasons at UNC Asheville with 304-257 record and two conference titles. Her 12 other seasons have been at East Carolina (7), Winthrop (2), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2) and her 2022 and 2023 seasons at UTC (2).

MOCS GO PERFECT AT GSU
Chattanooga had the perfect start to its season last weekend in Atlanta while playing at the GSU Invitational, going a perfect 3-0 to claim the team's first tournament title under Julie Torbett. The Mocs opened play with a pair of 3-0 sweeps against New Orleans and South Carolina State. To close out the weekend, the Mocs completed a dramatic reverse sweep victory against tournament host Georgia State to bring home the GSU Invite championship.

PAIR OF MOCS GRAB SOCON WEEKLY AWARDS
For their efforts at the GSU Invitational, both Morgan Romano and Elaine Redman received Player of the Week nods from the Southern Conference on Monday, with Romano earning the title of Offensive Player of the Week and Redman earning Setter of the Week. Romano led the tournament field in kills (51) enroute to claiming the tournament's MVP award, while Redman led all players in attendance with 115 assists. The duo both finished the weekend with two double-doubles each, including an impressive 53 assist, 12 dig performance from Redman against Georgia State. This marks the first time that the Mocs have taken home at least two SoCon weekly awards in the same week since Week 1 of the 2017 season, when Ally Ford and Megan Kaufman received Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively.

1000 KILLS FOR FINCH
In the team's opening match of the GSU Invitational last weekend, grad student Gylian Finch officially crossed the 1000-kill mark of her career. She is now just the 10th Moc in program history to hit the 1K threshold, with Finch currently ranking 10th all-time with 1,027. She now only needs 11 more to tie Carmen Walker (1996-99) for ninth all-time. Additionally, Finch's 1,027 career kills are the most of any active player in the Southern Conference, with the next highest individual being The Citadel's Ali Ruffin (780). This list only accounts for stats recorded by student-athletes while they are playing for a SoCon institution, which is why Morgan Romano's 1,582 kills at Rider are not recognized.

WELCOME COACH BENNETT
UTC is happy to welcome Derrick Bennett to its staff as the newest assistant coach for Chattanooga volleyball. Bennett, who has over a decade of playing and coaching experience under his belt, joined the Mocs prior to the team's trip to Atlanta to open the season. His past stops include Florida State, Saint Leo and Southeastern Oklahoma State. Bennett joins Sydney Hall as the second new coaching addition for the Mocs volleyball program this year.

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Paige Gallentine is six digs away from crossing the 1,500 mark in career digs. She would mark just the seventh Moc to accomplish the feat.
- Grad student Gylian Finch sits just 11 kills shy from tying Carmen Walker for ninth all-time in program history in kills. Finch currently sits at 1,027 in her career.
- Finch is also three aces away from 100 in her career.
- Junior Elaine Redman is 140 assists away from recording her 2000th career assist in collegiate volleyball. She currently sits at 1,860 in her career, with 803 coming at UTC and the remaining 1,057 coming while she played at Toledo.
- Makenzie Jordan is set to play in her 100th career match the next time she takes the court for the Mocs (30 at Mississippi State, 69 at UTC).
- Jordan is also 10 digs away from having 500 in her time at UTC. She also sits at 751 over her entire career.
- Chloe Bryan is only nine kills away from hitting the 300-kill mark in her career with the Mocs.
- Sophia Bossong is seven blocks away from 50 in her career, as well as 28 kills away from hitting the 200 mark.
- Morgan Romano is 63 digs away from hitting the 1000-dig mark in her career spanning between UTC (34) and Rider (903).

ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Charleston Southern is off to a strong start to their 2023 season, as the Buccaneers carry a 3-1 record into their home tournament this weekend. The team is led by first-year head coach Carry Brown, who picked up her 100th career win on Tuesday after the team's most recent 3-0 sweep against South Carolina State. The Buccaneers are led by the front row duo of sophomore outside hitter Skylar Yates and senior middle blocker Indigo Young, who were both 2023 Preseason All-Big South selections heading into the year. Young has already logged a team-best 11 blocks this season, while Yates currently averages 2.23 kills per set. CSU also has standout libero Angelika Rusin, whose strong start to the season earned her Big South Libero of the Week. Rusin collected 66 digs in the team's opening three matches, averaging 5.5 digs per set. She also tallied 16 assists across those matches as well.

ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Southern Illinois joins UTC as the only other school in Charleston looking to defend an undefeated record, as the Salukis enter the CSU Tournament with a 2-0 record on the year. SIU is coached by Ed Allen, who has been the head coach in Carbondale since 2019 and currently stands as one of the winningest active coaches in the entire NCAA with 687 career victories all-time. The Salukis were selected to finish fourth in the 2023 Preseason Missouri Valley Conference Poll and are headlined by senior outside hitter Nataly Garcia. After leading SIU in kills last year, the Coamo, Puerto Rico, native is off to a similar start as she leads the way for Southern Illinois with 32 kills so far this season. Garcia received a Preseason All-MVC nod heading into the 2023 season following a 2022 season where she earned First-Team All-MVC honors.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The Aggies enter their weekend in Charleston with a .500 record of 1-1 to open 2023, splitting their matches at the season-opening Virginia Cavalier Classic with a loss to Rutgers and a win over Rider. North Carolina A&T head coach Hal Clifton leads the charge for the Aggies, as he sits in his 13th season as the team's head coach. Outside hitter Naiya Sawtelle poses the biggest threat offensively to the Mocs, with the Stuart, Florida, native making up nearly half of the Aggies total kills and points so far this season. Sawtelle has also garnered attention from the Coastal Athletic Conference, as she comes into the CSU Tournament after receiving CAA Offensive Player of the Week this past Monday. She also was a Preseason All-CAA selection prior to the start of the 2023 slate as she continues to climb NC A&T's all-time kills list, where she currently ranks fourth.

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