RICHMOND, Ky. --- After making history in their home-opener on Wednesday, the Chattanooga volleyball team will now look to continue to build on their winning ways with the team traveling to Richmond, Kentucky, to take part in the Geri Polvino Invitational.
Set to run September 8-9, the Mocs (6-1) will be pitted against familiar foe Georgia State (3-3), Murray State (5-1) and host Eastern Kentucky (5-2) in what will be the team's final road tournament of 2023.
All three matches will have live stats available to the public, and while Friday's matches against GSU and MSU will not be streamed, Saturday's matchup against EKU will be available to watch on ESPN+.
MATCH CENTRAL
Friday, September 8 | vs. Georgia State | 10:00 a.m. ET
Friday, September 8 | vs. Murray State | 3:00 p.m. ET
Friday, September 9 | at Eastern Kentucky | 1:30 p.m. ET
Coverage Links: Live Stats (GSU) | Live Stats (MSU) | Live Stats (EKU) | Live Stream (EKU)
SERIES HISTORY
Georgia State: 8-8
Murray State: 0-4
Eastern Kentucky: 1-2
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Mocs will start their weekend Friday morning with a match against Georgia State, a team they have already met once before earlier this season. The Mocs were able to down the Panthers in a reverse sweep on GSU's home floor to secure the GSU Invitational title, but now the teams will be playing at a neutral site, where all-time the series is split 1-1. UTC will then take on Murray State Friday afternoon, a team the Mocs have yet to defeat in the four times they have played each other. The last time the Mocs played the Racers was September 6, 2019. The Racers won that match 3-1. Finally, the Mocs will play tournament host Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. EKU currently leads the all-time series with the Mocs, 2-1, but has never hosted Chattanooga on their home floor prior to Saturday.
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 491-421. Of her 30 seasons, 27 of them have come with NCAA Division I programs including her two years as Director of Volleyball at UTC.
FEELS LIKE '87
The UTC volleyball team made history on Wednesday night following the team's 3-1 win over Austin Peay in their home-opener at Maclellan Gymnasium, as the Mocs tied the program record for best start to a season after moving to 6-1 on the year. To find the last time a Mocs volleyball squad started their season 6-1 to open the year, you'd have to go back to 1987 when the Mocs, coached by Tony Jadin, ultimately finished their season 20-8 overall. The 1987 Mocs team eventually went on to win the Southern Conference Tournament.
ROMANO CONTINUES TO DOMINATE
Grad student Morgan Romano continued her unbelievable start to the year last weekend in Charleston, claiming her second consecutive Tournament MVP award after leading the Mocs to the CSU Tournament victory. Romano leads the team with 109 kills on the young season after yet another 20-kill night against Austin Peay, averaging 15.57 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.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Romano's impressive resume doesn't end there, as the Oviedo, Florida, native currently sits first in the entire nation on the active career kills leaderboard across all levels of collegiate volleyball (NCAA Division I, II, III). She stands at 1,677 career kills, leading fellow Division I players including Houston's Abbie Jackson (1,669) and Arkansas' Jillian Gillen (1,648).
TOUGH TESTS WAIT IN RICHMOND
While the Mocs have impressed to open the 2023 season, the Geri Polvino Invitational will serve as a real test for the UTC side as all four teams in attendance currently have records of .500 or better on the year. The combined record of UTC's opponents this weekend is 13-6, giving Chattanooga's opponents a combined win percentage of .684.
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 became just the seventh Moc in program history to accomplish the feat. In Wednesday's matchup with Austin Peay, Gallentine continued to raise the bar as her 23 dig performance moved her up into sixth all-time in career digs with 1,551, surpassing Lindsey Galloway (2002-05). Gallentine now chases Catherine Chason (2012-15) for fifth all-time in program history, with Chason sitting 57 digs away at 1,608.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Paige Gallentine is now at 1,551 career digs over her career, just 57 away from surpassing Catherine Chason (2012-15) for fifth all-time in program history.
- Grad student Gylian Finch sits at 1,067 career kills, ranking eighth in program history. She has the opportunity this weekend to surpass Jody Steinberger (2000-03) in seventh with 1,084.
- Finch also sits at 101 career aces, ranking ninth all-time. She needs just four more to tie Bethany Herndon (2004-07) for eighth.
- Junior Elaine Redman is 21 assists away from recording her 2000th career assist in collegiate volleyball. She currently sits at 1,979 over her entire career stretching between Chattanooga and Toledo.
- Redman has also tallied 922 assists while playing at UTC, just 78 away from her 1000th in a Moc uniform.
- Morgan Romano is 33 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 200.
ABOUT GEORGIA STATE
The Panthers are a familiar foe for the Mocs, with UTC having already played GSU once before on their home floor. Since that meeting, the Panthers have had some ups and downs resulting in the team sitting at an even 3-3 on the year so far. Despite riding a two-match losing streak into Richmond, the Panthers still pose a major threat to the Mocs having already taken UTC to five sets once before. Headlining the Panthers is libero Livy Kowalkowski, who comes off a week where she took home Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors. Kowalkowski currently leads the team in digs with 120 this season, averaging 5.71 per set.
ABOUT MURRAY STATE
After losing their season-opener against Cleveland State in five sets, the Racers have been on a roll stringing together a five-match win streak including going a perfect 3-0 at the Bellarmine Tournament to take home the tournament title. Setter Bailey DeMier is the standout for the Racers, as the junior has tallied 269 assists on the year averaging an impressive 44.83 per match and 11.21 per set. DeMier was honored with a spot on the Leatherneck Classic All-Tournament Team for her efforts there alongside middle blocker Haidi Miliou. Miliou currently leads the team in total blocks with 10 this year.
ABOUT EASTERN KENTUCKY
Like Murray State, Eastern Kentucky enters the weekend in Richmond riding a win streak of their own as the Colonels have won their last four matches. Following a 3-1 win over FAU, the Colonels swept Cleveland State and Miami (OH) to claim the 2023 Miami/Best Western Invitational championship before coming home to sweep Marshall in the team's home-opener. Sophomore right side hitter AG Vandagriff poses as a major threat to the Mocs on both sides of the ball, as Vandagriff has been an All-Tournament Team selection in both of EKU's tournaments this season, including taking home the Miami/Best Western Invitational Tournament MVP. Vandagriff has been averaging 2.70 kills per set on the offensive side of the ball, alongside averaging 2.57 blocks per match on the defensive side of the ball.
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