CHATTANOOGA --- Riding a strong start to the 2023 fall season, the Chattanooga volleyball team carries a 5-1 record into their home-opener as the Mocs are set to host Austin Peay at Maclellan Gymnasium in the team's home-opener on Wednesday, September 6.
This marks the first official home match of the Mocs' (5-1) season, as the Governors (5-1) will look to play spoiler in front of the home UTC crowd. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Wednesday's match between the Mocs and Governors is free to the public. Live stats will be available for the match, and the match will also be available to stream on ESPN+.
MATCH CENTRAL
Wednesday, September 6 | vs. Austin Peay | 6:00 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats | Live Stream
SERIES HISTORY
Austin Peay: 13-18
INSIDE THE SERIES
This marks the 32nd time on record that the Mocs and Governors have met to play volleyball, with Austin Peay holding an 18-13 advantage over UTC all-time. At home, however, the Mocs have had the upper hand with a record of 9-8 against APSU. The last meeting between the two teams came on September 12, 2015, where the Mocs cruised to a 3-0 sweep over the Governors.
MATCH PROMOTION: MAC AT THE MAC
Fans in attendance at Wednesday's clash with Austin Peay will be treated with free mac & cheese. Mac & cheese will only be available while supplies last.
TORBETT APPROACHES HISTORY
In her 30th season as an NCAA volleyball coach, Julie Torbett approaches history as she now sits just 10 wins away from her 500th victory with a career record of 490-421. Of her 30 seasons, 27 of them have come with NCAA Division I programs including her two years as Director of Volleyball at UTC.
ANOTHER TOURNAMENT, ANOTHER TITLE
The Mocs came away with their second tournament title of the year last weekend at the CSU Tournament, claiming two 3-0 sweeps over host Charleston Southern and North Carolina A&T. Thanks to some quick match wins, along with the team's only loss coming in five sets to Southern Illinois, the Mocs held the tiebreaker over the Salukis and Buccaneers to clinch back-to-back tournament wins for the UTC squad.
HOT START FOR THE MOCS
UTC has opened the 2023 fall season with a record of 5-1, only dropping one match in five sets to Southern Illinois. Amongst those five wins have been four sweeps for the Mocs, as well as a reverse sweep win over Georgia State to clinch the GSU Invitational to open the year. This marks the best start to a UTC volleyball season since 2016, when the Mocs also started 5-1. That 2016 Chattanooga team finished the year 19-13 overall, losing to Samford in the SoCon Tournament title match.
ROMANO CONTINUES TO DOMINATE
Grad student Morgan Romano continued her unbelievable start to the year last weekend on Charleston, claiming her second consecutive Tournament MVP award after leading the Mocs to the CSU Tournament victory. Romano leads the team with 89 kills on the young season, averaging 14.83 per match. She marks the first time that the Mocs have had two Tournament MVP award winners in the same season since 2015, as well as the first time that one player has won multiple Tournament MVPs in one season since 1996.
ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST
Romano's impressive resume doesn't end there, as the Oviedo, Florida, native sits second in the entire nation on the active career kills leaderboard across all levels of collegiate volleyball (NCAA Division I, II, III). She stands at 1,657 career kills, trailing only Houston's Abbie Jackson, who currently sits at 1,669.
GALLENTINE NOTCHES 1,500 DIGS
Junior Paige Gallentine made history over the weekend by notching her 1,500th career dig in the team's 3-0 win over Charleston Southern. She is just the seventh Moc in program history to accomplish the feat. Gallentine now pursues Lindsey Galloway (2002-05), as the Fenton, Michigan, native only trails Galloway by two digs to tie her for sixth on UTC's all-time digs list.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- After hitting the 1,500 dig mark last weekend, Paige Gallentine is now at 1,528 career digs over her career, just three away from surpassing Lindsey Galloway (2002-05) to move up into sixth all-time in program history.
- After Galloway, the next Moc for Gallentine to catch on the all-time digs leaderboard is Catherine Chason (2012-15), who sits at 1,608 career digs.
- Grad student Gylian Finch sits at 1,053 career kills, ranking ninth in program history. She has the opportunity to surpass two Mocs this coming weekend in Allie Davenport (2013-16) in eighth with 1,065 and Jody Steinberger (2000-03) in seventh with 1,084.
- Finch is also just one ace away from 100 in her career. She would be just the ninth Moc to hit triple-digit aces in her career.
- Junior Elaine Redman is 62 assists away from recording her 2000th career assist in collegiate volleyball. She currently sits at 1,938 over her entire career stretching between Chattanooga and Toledo.
- Morgan Romano is 46 digs away from hitting the 1000-dig mark in her career spanning between UTC and Rider.
- Chloe Bryan is only six kills away from hitting the 300-kill mark in her career with the Mocs.
- Sophia Bossong is six blocks away from 50 in her career, as well as 23 kills away from hitting the 200 mark.
- Makenzie Jordan is two digs away from having 500 in her time at UTC. She also sits at 759 over her entire career.
ABOUT AUSTIN PEAY
Austin Peay enters their matchup with the Mocs holding an identical 5-1 record, riding a five-match win streak into Maclellan Gymnasium. In the team's most recent trip to the Lindenwood Invitational, the Governors finished a perfect 3-0 to claim the tournament title defeating the likes of Lindenwood, Indiana State and UL-Monroe. The APSU offense is headlined by Mikayla Powell, who leads the team in kills (97) and points (105.5) on the season. Setter Kelsey Mead also plays a pivotal role in the Governors' attack, accounting for 190 of the team's 288 assists this season. On the defensive side of things, the pair of Maggie Keenan up front and Kalliann Cook in the back row has made for an effective tandem for Austin Peay. Kennan leads the team with 34 total blocks on the year, while Cook leads APSU in digs with 85.
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