GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Chattanooga volleyball is prepped and ready to roll for a midweek clash against the Furman Paladins on Tuesday, November 11 in Greenville.
A make up match from earlier in October, the Mocs' battle with Furman will be the first of three matches this week to close out UTC's 2024 regular season. Chattanooga vs. Furman is scheduled for a 6 p.m. ET start and will be available to stream on ESPN+ (link not yet available).
MATCH CENTRAL
Tuesday, November 12 | at Furman | 6 p.m. ET | Stats
SERIES HISTORY
Furman: 30-51 (Last time: November 2, 2024 – 0-3 L)
GALLENTINE MAKES HISTORY
Paige Gallentine officially moved into second all-time on the Mocs' career digs leaderboard in UTC's match at Wofford earlier this season, with Gallentine now sitting at 2,606 career digs during her time at UTC. When taking into consideration that Lara Newberry, who not only sits atop the UTC career digs leaderboard but the entire NCAA's career digs leaderboard, played during both the 30-point set and rally scoring eras, this means that Gallentine is officially the all-time program leader for career digs for the modern era of scoring (25-point set, sideout scoring). Gallentine has also now officially entered the NCAA's Top 25 all-time when it comes to career digs, with Gallentine coming in tied at 17th in NCAA history.
TORBETT THOMAS REACHES 50TH WIN WITH THE MOCS
UTC head coach and Director of Volleyball Julie Torbett Thomas officially reached yet another coaching milestone in her illustrious, 31-year coaching career earlier this week as Torbett Thomas earned her 50th win as UTC's head coach. Torbett Thomas' coaching record with the Mocs now sits at 51-43, making her the fourth coach in program history to coach the Mocs to 50+ wins. She needs another five victories to surpass Tony Jardin for the third-most head coaching wins in program history. Torbett Thomas' win percentage with the Mocs (.543) actively ranks as the highest win percentage by a UTC head coach in program history. Her career head coaching record now stands at 519-447.
A DYNAMIC FRONT ROW DUO
The front row pairing of Kynli Kirkendoll and Chard'e Vanzandt have taken the Southern Conference by storm this year, not only serving as massive defensive presences for the Mocs but as efficient attackers that can go off at any given moment. Kirkendoll currently leads the SoCon in terms of hitting % (.361) while Vanzandt clocks in at fourth (.334) in the league.
THE RACE FOR THE SOCON RECORD
This year's Chattanooga team has not one, but two of the program's most decorated players competing in their final seasons. Setter Elaine Redman and libero Paige Gallentine have quickly become two of UTC's most decorated volleyball players ever, and the pair currently sit at eight and seven career SoCon POTW awards won, respectively. Redman, who just recently surpassed Gallentine with a SoCon Setter of the Week honor on October 14, now needs just one more Player of the Week award to officially tie herself for the conference record. The SoCon's record holder for most POTW awards won in a single career is Georgia Southern's Martina Veiglova (2001-03), who wrapped up her time having won nine total Player of the Week honors.
ABOUT FURMAN
Furman volleyball has bene hitting its stride as the SoCon season heats up, as the Paladins have won each of their last four matches, moving to a 6-6 league record and 12-11 record on the year. Despite struggles early-on in Southern Conference action, the Paladins have since strung together some impressive victories, including downing first-place Mercer 3-1 last weekend in Greenville. Statistically, Furman has been a very middle of the road team when compared to their SoCon counterparts, as the Paladins rank anywhere from fourth to eighth in nearly every single stat category. The one outlier is team blocks/set, where the Paladins rank third in the league with 2.16 per set. Libero Kennedy Seekford has been the main individual standout for Furman this season, with Seekford's 4.49 digs/set ranking fifth in the conference.
SOCON STANDINGS
Heading into the final week of the SoCon regular season, things could not be more undecided across the league when it comes to tournament seeding. The league's top two seeds are currently locked down by Mercer and Wofford, but either team could still come out as regular season champions. As for the remaining seeds, the right circumstances could see current No. 7 seed Chattanooga jump all the way up into the No. 3 seed ETSU's spot with the Mocs having three matches this week, one of which against the Bucs. Western Carolina and UNCG are also locked into either the No. 8 or No. 9 spot, with both of those teams only having two SoCon wins this year. If the season were to end today, the SoCon's seeding would be as follows:
1. Mercer: 22-5 (12-2)
2. Wofford: 19-7 (11-3)
3. ETSU: 16-10 (8-6)
4. The Citadel: 14-11 (8-6)
5. Samford: 13-11 (7-7)
6. Furman: 12-11 (6-6)
7. Chattanooga: 15-13 (5-8)
8. Western Carolina: 8-18 (2-11)
9. UNCG: 7-19 (2-12)
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Elaine Redman has officially moved up into fourth all-time in career assists for Chattanooga, having logged 2,944 assists during her time with the Mocs. Redman is now chasing Lauren Greenspoon (2014-17) for third on the program's all-time leaderboard. Greenspoon sits at 3,316 assists with the Mocs.
- Redman's career assist total currently sits at 4,001 when including her time at Toledo. She ranks 32nd on the NCAA Division I active career assists leaderboard.
- Paige Gallentine actively ranks 17th in NCAA history when it comes to career digs, sitting at 2,606. Another 50 digs from Gallentine would help her jump up into 16th all-time.
- Gallentine also now officially ranks tied for fourth in program history in career aces with 132. She needs another 10 to tie Allie Davenport (2013-16), who had 142, for third all-time.
- Marcelle Baez-Carlo needs 17 total blocks to officially enter UTC's Top 10 in career blocks (she currently has 253).
- Baez-Carlo has entered the program's Top 10 all-time in career block assists, with her total of 221 ranking 10th in program history. One more for Baez-Carlo would tie her with Kelly Ramsay (2002-05) for ninth all-time.
- With four more wins, Julie Torbett Thomas would tie herself with Tony Jardin as the third-winningest head coach in program history (55 wins).
- Baez-Carlo is also three appearances away from playing in her 100th career match for the Mocs.
- Redman has recorded 1,070 assists for the Mocs this season, which ranks as the ninth-most in a single season in program history. Another 63 and she will move into eighth all-time.
- If the season were to end today, Kynli Kirkendoll's season hitting % of .341 would rank fourth in program history.
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