LEXINGTON, Ky. --- In a year where Chattanooga beach volleyball seems to be making history left and right, UTC's No. 5 pairing of Morgan Romano and Julia Lawrence made some more history for the Mocs on Thursday as the duo received AVCA Top Flight honors, as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
The AVCA Top Flight program, now in its sixth year of existence, recognizes beach volleyball pairs that have competed in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and have won at least 75 percent of their matches. Romano and Lawrence received the honor in Flight 5 after going 17-1 for the Mocs on Court 5, posting a ludicrous .944 win percentage on the year.
Romano and Lawrence are one of just 53 total pairs that received Top Flight status this season, representing a total of 31 schools from all three NCAA divisions, NAIA and Two Year Colleges. This is also the first time in Chattanooga beach volleyball history that a duo has received Top Flight honors from the AVCA.
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Romano and Lawrence carry an impressive 12-match winning streak that dates back to April 5. Since then, the grad student-freshman duo has been next to unstoppable, including posting a perfect 3-0 record for the Mocs at the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Outside of their own individual success, Romano and Lawrence helped guide Chattanooga beach volleyball to new heights on a grander scale with UTC claiming its first-ever OVC regular season and tournament titles. As a result, the Mocs make their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history this weekend in Gulf Shores.
Romano, Lawrence and the rest of the UTC squad are in action on Friday, May 3 beginning at 9 a.m. ET/8 a.m. CT in their opening round matchup with North Florida in the NCAA Tournament. A win over the Ospreys would pit UTC against No. 1 seeded USC, with that match set to begin at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT later that same day.
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