RICHMOND, Ky. --- Chattanooga volleyball continued its hot streak on Friday by opening the Geri Polvino Invitational with two more wins added to their resume, defeating Georgia State and Murray State in Richmond.
The Mocs (8-1) started their day by nearly sweeping GSU (3-4) to kick off their tournament. UTC then went on to take down a talented Murray State (5-3) team in a back and forth match to win their four straight heading into the finale against EKU on Saturday.
"I'm very happy to get two wins today," head coach Julie Torbett said. "We really had to work hard for both. We just did an amazing job defensively today and I couldn't be more proud of these guys."
The Mocs' day would open against a familiar opponent to start things off, with UTC meeting Georgia State in the early match of the day. The Mocs had already defeated the Panthers once before this season, earning a dramatic reverse sweep win over GSU on their home floor to win the GSU Invitational back in August. This time around, the Mocs would be looking for a shorter route to the win.
To open the match, Chattanooga got off to a red-hot start on the back of setter Elaine Redman, who helped carry the Mocs both offensively and defensively. By the time the opening set was at the halfway point, Redman had already logged a double-double (15th of her career; third of the season) with a combination of assists and digs.
Riding Redman's stellar play, the Mocs came away with a convincing 25-17 win in set one to open the match, taking an early lead over Georgia State.
Set two proved to be much of the same for the Mocs, with a pair of hefty scoring runs in favor of UTC helping Chattanooga remain out of reach from a late comeback push by GSU. By a score of 25-21, the Mocs had not only taken set two but had also taken a 2-0 lead over the Panthers.
The Mocs came out swinging in set three, going on a 7-0 run to open the frame as the team looked to close out the Panthers via sweep. GSU has other ideas, however, mounting a steady comeback before eventually getting on the board with a tight, 26-24 set win over the Mocs.
Despite dropping the third, the Mocs continued to put constant pressure on Georgia State throughout the fourth set. With the Chattanooga back row putting on a defensive masterclass, the Panthers were unable to break through to cause any more damage to the Mocs, as UTC ultimately claimed a 25-19 win in the fourth set to seal a 3-1 victory over GSU.
Redman's match would finish with her logging a team-high 45 assists alongside 22 digs, five kills, two blocks and an ace. The Chattanooga, Tennessee, native also went on to surpass 2,000 career kills in her collegiate career during the win.
Ultimately the trio of Gylian Finch (23), Paige Gallentine (22) and Elaine Redman all finished with over 20 digs for the Mocs, marking the first time that three UTC players finished with 20+ digs in the same match since November 2, 2012, when Paula Passmore (29), Briana Reid (26) and Melissa Green (23) accomplished the feat against UNC Greensboro.
Finch would finish as the team-leader in kills (16) while Kate Neill finished with a team-best three blocks in the match.
Heading into match two, the Mocs had another test waiting for them as the two-loss Murray State Racers were next on the docket for UTC. Despite losing earlier in the day to Eastern Kentucky, Murray State was no pushover and proved one of the hardest matchups of the Mocs' season so far.
To open the match, Murray State was able to draw first blood by taking a very tightly contested opening set, 27-25. The Mocs were able to quickly respond, however, grabbing a 25-19 second set to even the playing field at 1-1.
As the two teams exchanged blows, the Racers would once again earn another set by taking the third 25-20. Even with a late push by the Mocs, Murray State now sat just one set away from defeating the Mocs.
It was here that the UTC block party made itself known in Richmond, as the Mocs' defensive frontline proved pivotal down the stretch of the match. Led by Grey Breen, Morgan Romano and Chard'e Vanzandt, the Mocs recorded crucial blocks and forced numerous attacking errors out of the Racers in the latter half of the match. As a result, Chattanooga would take set four, 25-23, to force the all-important fifth set.
Right from the opening serve, the Mocs held a firm grip on the final set against MSU. After jumping out to an 8-4 advantage, UTC never looked back as the Mocs went on to win set five 15-7, clinching yet another Chattanooga victory.
"The defense of Murray State was really good, so we had to work really hard to score," Torbett said. "We have been working on our blocking all week and it paid off. Grey Breen came in off the bench and helped, and then Chloe Bryan had a critical block for us in the fifth set to push us ahead."
"It was a total team effort, with Paige shattering her personal-best with 43 digs along the way."
Gylian Finch ended the match leading the team in kills with 17, while Elaine Redman notched 44 of the team's 47 assists along the way. Paige Gallentine would end the match with a career-high five aces, marking the first five-ace performance for a Moc since October of 2022.
Gallentine also put on a masterclass defensively, recording a career-best 43 digs in the team's win over Murray State. The junior's 43 digs are the most in a match by a Moc since Laura Newberry set the program record of 51 against Wofford on October 11, 2008. Grad transfer Grey Breen led the way for UTC in terms of blocks, tallying a career-high of seven for the Mocs.
The Mocs have now started the season 8-1, winning their fourth match in a row. If the Mocs are to win their next two matches against Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State, it would mark the best start to a UTC volleyball season in the program's 50 years of existence.
UP NEXT
The UTC victory now sets up a potential rubber match on Saturday against tournament host Eastern Kentucky (6-2) for the Geri Polvino Invitational title, with the Mocs aiming to go three-for-three in bringing home gold in their 2023 tournament slate. Saturday's match against the Colonels is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET with a broadcast being available on ESPN+.
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