CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga volleyball team opened their 2023 Chattanooga Classic the best way a host can, with the Mocs having a blemish-free Friday at Maclellan Gymnasium to start the tournament 2-0 with sweeps over Eastern Michigan and Morehead State.
The Mocs (11-2) rolled through their first match of the day against Eastern Michigan (2-8) before carrying their momentum into a 3-0 victory against Morehead State (6-5) to now sit just one match away from claiming the team's third tournament victory of the 2023 season.
If the Mocs do end up capturing the Chattanooga Classic title on Saturday, it would mark the first time since 2019 that UTC would come away as champions at their home tournament.
"Winning tournaments on the road feels good because you're dominating in someone else's territory," junior Paige Gallentine said. "But to have a chance to do it at home and being right where we're supposed to be this weekend, it doesn't just show us but it shows our fans and family that we can do some pretty great things."
To open the day and the tournament, the Mocs played host to Eastern Michigan on Friday morning. From the very first point, UTC was in control as Chattanooga powered ahead 11-3 early-on in the match. Riding on impressive offensive performances by Gylian Finch and Chard'e Vanzandt, the Mocs quickly took a 1-0 advantage into set two, winning set one 25-17.
Set two was the Morgan Romano show for the Mocs, as the grad student logged six of her 12 kills in the match in the second frame to jumpstart the UTC attack. The Mocs stayed in cruise control against the Eagles through the second set, earning a 25-18 set win to jump ahead 2-0 on EMU.
The third set saw EMU throwing everything they had at Chattanooga as the Eagles tried to avoid the sweep, but UTC's block party was out in full force to close out the match, courtesy of Elaine Redman, Chard'e Vanzandt, Kate Neill and Morgan Romano, who all played a role in the team's three blocks to help secure a 25-20 set win and 3-0 sweep of the Eagles.
This marked the fifth sweep of the 2023 season for the Mocs. Romano ended the morning as the team-leader in kills (12) while Elaine Redman led the team with 33 assists. Kate Neill finished with a team-best five blocks on the defensive side of the ball, while Paige Gallentine ended her match with 14 digs.
The Mocs then got a much-deserved rest as the team's next match didn't start until 7 p.m. at Maclellan Gymnasium later Friday night, with UTC squaring off against Morehead State. MSU entered their matchup with the Mocs 6-4 on the year, winning their match against Gardner-Webb earlier that afternoon.
"The break honestly made it feel like we didn't really have a match in the morning," Gallentine said. "We had a whole reset. It was even easier that we won the first match in three, because then we had plenty of hours to be able to get our bodies ready for the next one."
Both teams exchanged blows to open the match, but Morehead State eventually built themselves up a comfortable 18-12 lead over the Mocs in the first. Facing a six-point deficit, UTC started to chip away on the back of Chard'e Vanzandt.
After she got the Mocs rolling, Chattanooga couldn't be stopped as an 8-2 UTC run saw the scoreboard reading 20-20. With the Maclellan faithful cheering them on, the Mocs took the momentum and ran with the dynamic duo of Morgan Romano and Gylian Finch slamming the door shut on set one with the Mocs winning it 25-23.
Still riding the high of the first set comeback, the Mocs easily controlled set two on their way to a 25-20 set win, taking a 2-0 lead on MSU. Heading into the third, the Mocs once again controlled the tempo and kept the Eagles out of reach as UTC rolled their way to yet another 3-0 sweep to finish the day undefeated. This marks six sweeps in 2023 for Chattanooga volleyball.
Romano capped off the match with a team-high 12 kills, while Elaine Redman once again eclipsed the 30-assist mark with 34 apples against the Eagles. She would go on to finish the night with a double-double (34 assists, 12 digs).
Paige Gallentine ended her night with a match-leading 21 digs, her fifth match over 20 digs this season, while Chard'e Vanzandt led the Mocs with three blocks.
UP NEXT
The Mocs can clinch the Chattanooga Classic title Saturday afternoon, with UTC playing their final match of the weekend against Gardner-Webb (3-6). The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET barring a delay from earlier matches in the day and will be played at Maclellan Gym.
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. UTC volleyball will be holding a celebration of the team's 50 seasons of history during the team's pair of home matches October 6 and 7 during Homecoming Weekend.
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