JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. --- Mocs volleyball is set to hit the road for the team's next slate of Southern Conference matchups in the 2023 season, as Chattanooga travels to Johnson City, Tennessee and Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend for a pair of matches against ETSU and UNCG.
After dropping their first two SoCon matches of the season last weekend at home, the Mocs (11-5, 0-2 SoCon) will be looking to build up some wins on the road with UTC first squaring off against a winless ETSU (0-13, 0-2 SoCon) before heading to North Carolina to take on one-win UNCG (1-12, 0-2 SoCon).
Both matches are set to have a 6 p.m. ET start time and will be available to stream on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available to fans for both matches as well.
MATCH CENTRAL
Friday, September 29 | at ETSU | 6:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, September 30 | at UNCG | 6:00 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (ETSU) | Live Stream (ETSU) | Live Stats (UNCG) | Live Stream (UNCG)
SERIES HISTORY
ETSU: 37-45
UNCG: 33-22
INSIDE THE SERIES
Despite the Buccaneers' winless record in 2023, UTC and ETSU have had a long in-state rivalry that has gone back and forth over the teams' previous 82 matches. At this point, ETSU leads the all-time series over the Mocs, 45-37, having bested Chattanooga in their most recent matchup last fall. It will be interesting to see how the Mocs will play in hostile territory, as ETSU holds a 24-12 record against the Mocs when defending their home floor. On the other hand, the Mocs have been able to get the better of UNCG in their long-standing series history, with UTC winning 33 of their 55 matchups with the Spartans all-time. The Mocs have won four of their last six against UNCG, including both of their 2022 matches against UNCG. With that being said, the Spartans do hold a 14-11 advantage when hosting the Mocs in Greensboro.
TORBETT APPROACHES HISTORY
In her 30th season as an NCAA volleyball coach, Julie Torbett approaches history as she now sits just four wins away from her 500th victory with a career record of 496-425. Of her 30 seasons, 27 of them have come with NCAA Division I programs including her two years as Director of Volleyball at UTC.
VARYING THE ATTACK
A season ago, the 2022 Mocs saw the team's offense rely heavily upon now graduated outside hitter Natalie Tyson, who accounted for 470 of UTC's 1,557 kills on the year (30 percent of the team's kill count). This season, however, the Mocs have been able to generate offense through a three-headed monster upfront in Morgan Romano, Gylian Finch and Chard'e Vanzandt. All three Mocs currently have over 140 kills in 2023 already, with Romano (222) Finch (191) and Vanzandt (146) accounting for 74 percent of UTC's kills this season. Depending on how the latter half of the season goes for Chattanooga, this could end up marking the first time since 2019 that three Mocs finish above 200 kills in the same season, as well as the first time since 2015 that three Mocs each break 300 kills in the same season as well.
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 1,804 career kills, leading the likes of Arkansas' Jillian Gillen (1,765) and Houston's Abbie Jackson (1,728).
CAN I DIG IT? YES YOU CAN
With a digs per set average of 17.5 as a team, UTC currently ranks sixth in the entire NCAA in the category while leading the Southern Conference. Leading the charge for the Mocs is junior libero Paige Gallentine, who currently averages 4.78 digs per set. Her digs per set average ranks first in the SoCon and 34th in the NCAA. Gallentine is on pace to lead the team in digs for the fourth consecutive season, and currently ranks fifth all-time in program history.
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.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Paige Gallentine now sits at 1,732 career digs. Ranking fifth all-time, she is now 37 away from tying Kari Krouse (2000-03) for fourth in program history.
- If Gallentine logs one more match with 20+ digs, it would mark her 40th career 20+ dig match with the Mocs.
- Gallentine is also five matches from her 100th career appearance for the Mocs.
- Other Mocs closing in on their 100th career match are Kate Neill (7 away) and Sophia Bossong (15 away). Chard'e Vanzandt needs just five more appearances to log her 50th in Division I (she also played 43 NJCAA matches at Blinn JC, putting her at 88 collegiate matches across all levels of competition).
- Gylian Finch has tallied 1,183 career kills, ranking fifth in program history. She is now 43 kills away from moving past Cheryl Theis (1998-01) for fourth all-time. Theis sits at 1,226.
- Finch's 113 career aces tie her for sixth in program history, matching Katy Lusetti (1997-00). The next highest is Kylie Hunter (1990-93) at 118.
- Finch also needs just 24 more digs to surpass 1,000 career digs.
- Morgan Romano needs four matches with 10+ kills to hit 100 career matches with double-digit kills.
- Elaine Redman is 20 digs shy of having 600 in her career, with 343 of her 580 coming while at UTC.
- Redman is one double-double away from earning the 20th of her career, as well as a new season-high of eight double-doubles in 2023. She currently sits tied with her previous season-high of seven double-doubles from 2021 while at Toledo.
- Marcelle Baez-Carlo is eight blocks away from logging her 200th of her career with the Mocs.
- Chloe Bryan is only three kills away from hitting the 300-kill mark in her career with the Mocs.
- Sophia Bossong is 22 kills away from hitting the 200 mark.
ABOUT ETSU
The Bruce Atkinson led East Tennessee State squad has had a rough start to their 2023 campaign so far, opening the year 0-13. Despite their slow start to 2023, ETSU have been able to force fifth sets in their previous two matchups against Western Carolina and Furman, showcasing an upwards trajectory for the Buccaneers as the team heads into conference play. In order for the Bucs to secure their first win of the season, ETSU will look to feed the duo of Brianna Cantrell and Amanda Lowe, who currently rank first (122) and second (110) on the team in kills on the year, respectively. Cantrell and Lowe's offense will be guided by setter Malgorzata Andersohn, who leads the team with 300 assists in 2023. Andersohn is one of just three ETSU players to appear in every set of the season so far for the Buccaneers. Junior Abbey Thomas will pose a threat for the Mocs defensively, as the middle blocker is nearly averaging a block per set (0.83) for the Buccaneers this year. Thomas currently ranks 10th in the Southern Conference in blocks.
ABOUT UNCG
UNC Greensboro will also be looking to get their season back on track after what was a rough outing in the team's non-conference slate, with the Spartans entering the weekend with a 1-12 record on the year. After dropping their first seven matches of the season, UNCG was able to tally their lone win of 2023 in a 3-0 sweep of USC Upstate at the Black & Gold Classic. Since then, the struggles have continued for the Spartans with UNCG dropping their past five matches including SoCon losses to Samford and Mercer. While freshman Aylin Baran leads the Spartans in kills with 124 on the year, junior Madeline Timmerman has proven to be one of the team's and the SoCon's most efficient hitters with the Crystal Lake, Illinois, native possessing a .324 hitting percentage that ranks fourth in the Southern Conference. The UNCG defense is anchored by sophomore Mya Wood, who leads the team with 150 digs and a 3.26 digs per set average in 2023. Wood has tallied at least seven digs in 12 of her team's 13 matches this season, including a career-high 26 dig performance against Coppin State.
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