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Beach OVC Champions

2023-24 Year in Review

The Chattanooga Mocs accomplished some very impressive feats during the 2023-24 athletics season.  UTC led the Southern Conference in the final Learfield Directors' Cup standings, placing 110th among all NCAA Division I schools. It's the second-highest finish ever for the Mocs and ranked 11th among all FCS schools for the year. 

UTC won three conference titles and eight programs were represented in the postseason. The Mocs had four All-Americans, four conference Players of the Year, three SoCon Tournament MVPs, two individual SoCon Champs and a school-record 52 all-conference honorees. There were also two SoCon Coaches of the Year and a pair of SoCon Freshmen of the Year. 

Academically, each program posted a 3.0+ team GPA in the spring semester for the first time in a non-COVID term.  The Mocs 3.318 overall GPA was the second-highest on record. UTC also set a school record with 35 making various College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District teams. 

Postseason/NCAA Participants (8)
Women’s Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Men’s Cross Country
Women’s Cross Country
Football
Men’s Golf
Softball
Wrestling

All-Americans (4)
Kameron Brown - Football - 1st Team
Jay Person - Football - 1st Team
Javin Whatley - Football - 2nd Team
Reid Williams - Football - 3rd Team

Conference Players of the Year (4)
Neva Clark - Beach Volleyball
Neva Clark & Corina Vale - Beach Volleyball (pair)
Peja Goold - Softball (Pitcher)
Jay Person - Football (Def.)

SoCon Individual Champions (2)
Braeden Palmer - Wrestling (125)
Iasiah Powe - Wrestling (141)

Conference Tournament MVP (3)
Jada Guinn - Women’s Basketball
Peja Goold - Softball
Neva Clark & Corina Vale - Beach Volleyball

Conference Coaches of the Year (2)
Shawn Poppie - Women's Basketball
Darren & Juliana Van Horn - Beach Volleyball

SoCon Freshmen of the Year (2)
Corina Vale - Beach Volleyball
Jakub Jupa - Men's Tennis

SoCon Pinnacle Award (2)
Sigrun Olafsdottir - Women's Basketball
Kaili Phillips - Softball

Academic Achievement (Dayle May) Award 
Quinten Nevenhoven - Men's Tennis
Eric Mitchell - Men's Cross Country
Emmy Davis - Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

All-Conference (52)*
Conference All-Freshman (17)
CSC Academic All-District (35)*
Academic All-SoCon (80)
SoCon Honor Roll (189)
SoCon Commissioner's Medal (59)
Year 4.0 GPA (29)
*School Record

YIR Bonham MBB

Men’s Basketball (Dan Earl, head coach) • 21-12, 12-6 SoCon/3rd  
• The Mocs finished with a 21-12 overall record in 2023-24, marking the program's fifth-straight winning season, ninth season in the last 11 with 18 or more wins and head coach Dan Earl’s career-high, single-season win total. 
• Chattanooga, the No. 3 seed, reached the Southern Conference Tournament semifinal stages for the third-straight season after a convincing 75-57 win over No. 6 Wofford in the quarterfinals. UTC bowed out following a heartbreaking 85-84 loss in overtime to No. 7 ETSU. 
• Senior guard Trey Bonham earned All-Southern Conference First Team honors and finished his first season with the Mocs among the league leaders in points-per-game (16.0), assists-per-game (3.6) and field-goal percentage (48.4).  
• Sophomore guard Honor Huff featured one of the most prolific three-point attacks in the country after finishing the season with 109 made three-point field goals to become just the fourth Moc ever to surpass 100 made threes in single-season program history. 
• Huff, an All-Southern Conference Second Team selection, finished regular season play fourth in NCAA DI basketball in total threes made and ultimately capped the year off with 575 total points, 13th most in a single season in program history. 
• The guard duo of Bonham and Huff were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District (21) Second Team following the season. It marks the fifth-straight season a Moc has been represented on the NABC All-District Team. 
• Graduate forward Jan Zidek was tabbed the Southern Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year and also earned All-Tournament honors while sophomore forward Sam Alexis was named to the All-Southern Conference Third Team and All-Defensive Team.  
• Zidek combined for 39 points and 11 rebounds in the pair of SoCon Tournament contests while finishing the year averaging 11.9 points over 33 total games played. Alexis was just one of four NCAA Division I players in 2023-24 to average at least 10 points (10.9), nine rebounds (9.1) and two (2.1) blocks-per-game while shooting 50.0% (55.0%) or better from the field. 
• The program finished the academic year with a 3.017 team GPA, the sixth time with a 3.0 or better team GPA in program history. All six times have come since 2019. 

YIR WBB trophy

Women’s Basketball (Shawn Poppie, head coach) • 28-5, 13-1 SoCon/1st • SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Champions
• Ultimately captured the program’s 23rd SoCon regular season title, 20th SoCon Tournament title, and 17th NCAA Tournament appearance after a dominant 2023-24 campaign. 
• Finished the season with a 28-5 record, tying for the second-most wins in a season in program history and the most wins in a season for the team since 2014-15. 
• Also wrapped up the year with a 13-1 record in SoCon play, the team’s best conference record since 2014-15. 
• Head coach Shawn Poppie earned the program’s 11th SoCon Coach of the Year honor in just his second season at the helm of Chattanooga women’s basketball. 
• Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson both earned First Team All-SoCon honors for their efforts on the year, while Sigrun Olafsdottir and Hannah Kohn also found spots on the SoCon All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team, respectively. 
• Guinn would also go on to capture the SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award after guiding the Mocs to the title. Thompson and Kohn also found their way onto the SoCon All-Tournament Team. 
• Two players received nods onto the CSC Academic All-District Team on the year, with Addie Grace Porter and Sigrun Olafsdottir earning the academic honors. Olafsdottir also earned the Southern Conference’s Pinnacle Award, which is given to the player with the highest GPA on the SoCon Tournament title-winning roster. 
• Logged a 3.474 GPA, the second-best mark in program history. Ultimately had 11 on the Dean’s List, 13 on the AD Honor Roll and one player (Addie Grace Porter) with a 4.0 GPA. 
• Head coach Shawn Poppie left for Clemson following the season.  He was replaced by Valdosta State head coach Deandra Schirmer.  

Neva Clark Review

Beach Volleyball (Darin Van Horn, head coach) • 19-10, 9-1 OVC/T1st • OVC Regular Season and Tournament Champions
• In just the program’s fifth season of existence, ended up winning a share of the OVC regular season crown before going on to win the OVC Tournament title. This marked the program’s first-ever regular season and tournament titles, as well as the team punching its ticket into the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. 
• The Mocs swept the Ohio Valley Conference’s four major awards, becoming the first team in conference history to do so: OVC Player of the Year Neva Clark, OVC Pair of the Year Neva Clark/Corina Vale, OVC Freshman of the Year Corina Vale, and OVC Staff of the Year Darin & Juliana Van Horn. 
• The team ultimately came away with a total of 14 honors and awards on the season. This total marks a new OVC record for honors won by a single team in a single season, with the previous record being 11. 
• Clark also made further history by becoming the first player in OVC history to earn OVC Player of the Year as well as OVC Pair of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. 
• UTC’s No. 5 pairing of Morgan Romano and Julia Lawrence also made waves at the national level, being named as an AVCA Top Flight Pair for their astounding 17-1 record as a duo on the season. 
• A total of four Mocs will also receive places on the CSC Academic All-District Team for their efforts in the classroom this year. Those players are Neva Clark, Gylian Finch, McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik. 
• Ended the year with a 3.578 GPA. Set a new program mark with 13 student-athletes earning spots on the AD Honor Roll. Also tied program best marks with 11 making it onto the Dean’s List as well as tying the program best mark of five receiving 4.0 GPAs. 

YIR Men's Cross Country

Cross Country (Andy Meyer, head coach) • Men (4th SoCon/17th NCAA Regional) • Women (3rd SoCon/16th NCAA Regional)
• The men's team placed 17th at the NCAA South Region Championship and fourth at the Southern Conference Championship. 
• Aaron Isbell was named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team with a 13th place finish at the league championships. 
• Jack Martin was named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team with a 14th place finish at the league championships. He also earned a spot on the league’s All-Freshman Team. 
• The women placed 16th at the NCAA South Region Championship and third in the Southern Conference Championship. 
• Lesley Green-Boyd earns All-Region honors at NCAA South Region Championships placing 22nd overall. 
• Lesley Green Boyd earns All-Conference First Team honors with third place finish at SoCon Championship. 
• Maddie Wheatcroft finished 14th at the SoCon Championship and was named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team. 
• Lola Baker was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team at the league championship. 
• Lesley Green-Boyd named SoCon Runner of the Week on Sept. 20 
• Lesley Green-Boyd named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. 

Ailym Ford

Football (Rusty Wright, head coach) – 8-5, 6-2 SoCon/T2nd • NCAA Championships Second Round
• Finished the season ranked No. 14 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and 17th in the Coaches Poll. It’s the 13th time finishing a campaign ranked nationally and seventh in top 15.  
• It’s just the fourth time that the Mocs ended back-to-back season ranked in a national poll. 
• Eight wins for the 13th time in school history and the first since 2016 (9-4). 
• Six SoCon wins for just the fifth time: 2013 (6-2, T1), 2014 (7-0, 1st), 2015 (6-1, T1) & 2016 (6-2, T2). 
• Made 5th FCS Playoffs appearance (1984, 2014, ‘15, ‘16, ‘23): 4-5. Claimed 1st Playoff road win, 24-21 at Austin Peay, on Clayton Crile’s game-winning field goal as time expired. 
• Four All-America mentions: Edge Jay Person (1st team), DB Kam Brown (1st), WR Javin Whatley (2nd) and OL Reid Williams (3rd). 
• Person repeated as SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. The squad boasted nine All-SoCon selections with four on the first team and five more on the second. 
• Seven (QB Chase Artopoeus, P/K Clayton Crile, LS Jake Hall, OL Jeremiah Katt, OL Griffin McDowell, LB Alex Mitchell & OL Reid Williams) earned CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District with DB Reuben Lowery III and Williams claiming spots on the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team. 
• The wide receivers room ranked 16th in the country with an 84.5 grade per PFF College. That ranked between LSU (15) and Texas (17) and was fourth among FCS programs behind North Dakota State (3), South Dakota State (5) and South Dakota (T13). They were led by the first trio since 2000 to collect 50 or more receptions in a season: Jamoi Mayes (62), Sam Phillips (60) and Javin Whatley (55). 

YIR M Golf

Men’s Golf (Blaine Woodruff, head coach) – 2nd SoCon • 14th NCAA Regionals 
Earned 14th NCAA Regionals berth, 10th as a team. Finished 10th at the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe site. 
Ended the year ranked 40th in the NCAA Ratings system. That’s the fifth best all-time and highest since 2012 (#27). 
Second at the SoCon Championships with a school-record 836 (-28) in the event. The squad is 53 under over its last 108 holes at the SoCon Championships site (Oconee Course – Lake Oconee Village, Ga.). 
John Houk and Samuel Espinosa tied for third with school SoCon Championship records of 11-under 205.  
Houk, Espinosa and Paul Conroy were All-SoCon selections. Houk added a second PING All-East Region honor as the squad’s highest ranked performer at No. 67. 
Espinosa and Conroy were Cobalt Golf All-America Scholars leading the team to the GCAA Team Academic Award. 
Team won twice – Marquette Intercollegiate & Bearcat Invitational – while finishing as a runner-up five times. Finished first or second in seven of 11 events. 
Houk set new school records for season (70.60) and career (71.00) scoring average. His 23-under total for his career makes him the first Moc to play par or better for his career. 
Conroy (61) became just the third Moc to record 60+ par or better cards in a career joining PGA TOUR winner Stephan Jaeger ’12 (69) and Jonathan Hodge (64). 
Houk and Conroy tied for the most scores of 65 or better in a career with four apiece. Tripp Harris ’10 (2), Chris Robb ’14 (2) and Oliver Simonsen ’19 (3) are the only other Mocs to do it multiple times in a career. 
22 par or better team scores (35 rds) breaks record of 20 (39) set last year. 

YIR W Golf Cooper

Women’s Golf (Colette Murray, head coach) – 7th SoCon 
Boasted two all-conference picks in Makenzie Cooper and Violeta Fernandez-Tagle with Fernandez-Tagle also netting All-Freshman mention. 
The win at March’s Chris Banister Invitational was the first for the program since the 2016 USA Women’s Invitational. It was the 21st overall for the program since it was re-instated in 2007-08 (17 seasons) after being cut in the mid-1980s. 
Cooper’s two wins marked the 5th time with multiple medalist honors in a season: 2007-08 (2-Emma de Groot), 2008-09 (2-de Groot), 2015-16 (2-McLennan), 2021-22 (2-Dorota Zalewska) & 2023-24 (2-Cooper). 
Fernandez-Tagle, Kera Healey and Nieves Martin earned WGCA All-American Scholar honors. Healey and Martin made the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District At Large team. 
Fernandez-Tagle’s 72.76 stroke average is the second-best scoring mark at Chattanooga behind Zalewska’s 72.53 (2021-22). 
Four different student-athletes with multiple top 10s during the season: Fernandez-Tagle (6), Cooper (3), Nieves Martin (2) and Kera Healey (2). That’s a first since 2020-21 and the fourth occasion all-time.  
Four different student-athletes posted at least one Top 5: Cooper (3), Fernandez-Tagle (1), Giulia Foresta (1) and Healey (1). 
Set new program records for scoring average (294.61), birdies in an event (42-UNF Collegiate), team 36-hole score (564, Spring Break Shootout) and individual 54-hole total (203-Makenzie Cooper at Evie Odom Invite). 
The squad earned a berth in the National Golf Invitational postseason event. 
Two CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District selections: Healey & Martin. 

YIR Soccer

Soccer (Gavin McKinney, head coach) • 10-7-1, 4-4-1 SoCon/T5th
• The Mocs finished with a 10-7-1 overall record, tied for second for wins in a season. Second straight winning season and fifth in the last six years. 
• Senior Mackenzie Smith earned SoCon All-Conference First Team honors for the second straight season. Finished her career as the Mocs leader for games played and the most starts. She completed her career ranked in the Top 10 in points, goals scored, assists and shots taken. 
• Clarissa Salinas was named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team. She started every game for the Mocs and ranked fourth on the team in scoring and tied for second for assists. 
• Kelly Tuerff was named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team. She anchored a defense that allowed just 23 goals and 11.8 shots per game. She made a team save against The Citadel, stepping in to block a shot at the end line. 
• Fabia Reinschmidt was selected to the SoCon All-Freshman Team. She was named a “Freshman to Watch” by Top Drawer Soccer. She started every game this season at midfield. 
• Birna Johannsdottir was named the October Offensive Player of the Month by the Southern Conference. She scored four goals and had one assist for nine points in the month and had the game winning goal against VMI. 
• Forward Caroline Richvalsky was named the Southern Conference and Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week for games played August 28-September 3. She scored nine points on four goals and one assist. She scored the game winner against Austin Peay on Aug. 31 and recorded UTC’s first hat trick since 2017 with all three goals in the Mocs win over Jacksonville State three days later. 
• Caroline Richvalsky and Birna Johannsdottir tied for fifth in the SoCon for goals scored. Johannsdottir was tied for third in the league for assists and second for points. Richvalsky was sixth for points scored in the conference and second for game winning goals with four. 
• Caorline Ekern recorded four shutouts, fifth most this season in the SoCon and tied for seventh in the Mocs single season Top 10. She ranked in the SoCon Top 10 in 2023 in goals against average (6th), saves (5th), saves per game (4th) and shutouts per game (5th). 
• Caroline Ekern, Sylvie Keck, Zoey Mize, Hannah Opie, Mackenzie Smith and Kelly Tuerff were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team. 

YIR Softball Champs

Softball (Frank Reed, head coach) • 42-16, 16-5 SoCon/1st • SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Champions 
• Softball claimed its 15th regular season title, 16th SoCon Tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history. Chattanooga faced three elimination games in the tournament to claim the title beating UNCG in back-to-back games on the final day. 
• The Mocs posted a record of 42-16, ninth most wins in program history. 
• Sophomore pitcher Peja Goold was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year and SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player. 
• Peja Goold, Kendall Forsythe and Kaili Phillips were all named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team. 
• Kaili Phillips was named the Southern Conference Pinnacle Award winner, given to the student-athlete on the SoCon Tournament championship team with the highest GPA. She was named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week twice. 
• Peja Goold and Camryn Cernuto were named to the league’s All-Conference First Team. Kendall Forsythe, Alyssa Lavdis, Kaili Phillips, Baileigh Pitts and Kailey Snell earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. 
• Baileigh Pitts was named the SoCon softball Player of the Week twice and was joined on the list by Kailey Snell, Kaili Phillips and Jayce Purdy. 
• Taylor Long earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors three times and Alyssa Lavdis was selected once. Long was named the TSWA Pitcher of the Week on March 5. 
• Kaili Phillips was named the SoCon Softball Player of the Month in April. 
• Peja Goold was named the SoCon Softball Pitcher of the Month in April. Taylor Long was named the Pitcher of the Month in March. 
• In the NCAA the Mocs were in the Top 50 in eight categories including 14th for double plays per game, 24th for win-loss percentage, 28th for doubles, 33rd for shutouts, 42nd for slugging percentage, 46th for on-base percentage and 48th for batting average and doubles per game. 
• Jayce Purdy finished the 2024 season ranked second in the NCAA Division I for Caught Stealing by with 19. 
• Camryn Cernuto finished the 2024 season ranked second in the NCAA Division I for Sacrifice Bunts per Game with 0.38/game. 
• Taylor Long ranked seventh in the NCAA Div. I in strikeouts per seven innings with 9.7. 
• Kaili Phillips led the Southern Conference and was ranked 21st in the NCAA Div. I for slugging percentage at the close of the season (.799). 
• The Mocs tied their double plays turned in a single game record with four against UT Martin on Feb. 25. 
• Kailey Snell recorded an inside-the-park home run for the Mocs against Samford. 
• Kendall Forsythe hit a grand slam against Western Carolina in the final series of the season. 
• Kendall Forsythe, Peja Goold, Olivia Lipari, Kaili Phillips and Kailey Snell were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic (CSS) All-District Team. 

YIR Jupa

Men’s Tennis (Chuck Merzbacher, head coach) • 10-15, 3-4 SoCon/5th  
• Chattanooga advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinal round for the third-straight season after picking up a 4-1 win over No. 4 Mercer in the quarterfinal stages. The Mocs finished the year 10-15 overall after dropping the semifinal contest to eventual champion No. 1 ETSU. 
• The Mocs three-straight semifinal appearances marked the first such occurrence for the program since the squad went to five-straight spanning the 1998-2002 seasons.  
• UTC boasted a program record seven All-Southern Conference postseason selections following regular season conference action in 2024. 
• Newcomer Jakub Jupa was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on both the All-Southern Conference First Team in singles and doubles, as well as a position on the league’s All-Freshman Team.  
• Jupa became the program’s sixth SoCon Freshman of the Year since the award’s start in 1992. He competed as the team’s No. 1 singles player and finished the year with a 14-5 dual singles record which included a 6-1 record against the SoCon’s top opponents. 
• The No. 1 doubles duo of Jupa and senior Peyton Gatti earned first team laurels from the conference after going 10-4 overall as the top unit and 5-2 against conference foes. Including the fall portion of the season, the tandem ended the year a combined 21-9 as a doubles squad. 
• Junior Gabriel Castillo was named to the All-Southern Conference Second Team in singles after finishing the campaign with 5-2 SoCon record in the No. 2 position. In singles, Castillo is now a combined 29-16 overall and 11-3 in SoCon play over his past two seasons with the Mocs. 
• Senior Jordan McClure and sophomore Cortland Grove earned All-SoCon Second Team laurels as a doubles team. The pair went 4-3 against SoCon competition in 2024 as the team’s No. 2 pairing. 
• Rookie Ethan Carr was tabbed to the SoCon All-Freshman Team after a 5-5 dual singles record and a 2-1 doubles tally for the year. Carr’s selection notched the program’s fourth all-freshman selection in the past five seasons (excluding 2020 COVID year). 
• Chattanooga featured four selections on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team including Gabriel Castillo, Peyton Gatti, Cortland Grove and Kristof Kincses. 
• Academically, the program continued to excel and tied program records for the second consecutive term with 13 student-athletes achieving status on the AD’s Honor Roll and 12 earned Dean’s List honors. The team posted a 3.580 overall GPA, the highest team total across all male programs at UTC. 

YIR Women's Tennis

Women’s Tennis (Chad Camper, head coach) • 8-14, 1-6 SoCon/6th 
• Chattanooga finished the season with an 8-14 overall record and a 1-6 mark in SoCon play. The program has won eight or more matches in all but two seasons since the team’s origination in 1977-78. 
• Junior Rozalie Dohnalova was named to the All-Southern Conference First Team in singles play after finishing the 2024 campaign with a 14-7 overall dual singles record and a 4-3 tally at No. 1 in SoCon matches. 
• Madlena Orlova was tabbed to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after concluding her rookie campaign with a 15-12 combined record across singles and doubles in dual formats while going 3-3 at No. 2 singles in SoCon action. It’s the third all-freshman selection for the team in the past four seasons. 
• Senior Caroline Gibbens wrapped up her illustrious UTC career ranked fifth all-time in program history in singles wins (66) and seventh in doubles victories (64). Gibbens finished the year a combined 20-17 in singles and doubles during dual matches. 
• Caroline Gibbens, Alice Hall and Emma Peeler were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team.  
• The team posted a 3.433 overall team GPA and featured a pair of perfect 4.0 individual GPAs from Caroline Gibbens and Alice Hall. The program landed six on both the AD’s Honor Roll and Dean’s List. 

Teams participate in day two of the 2024 Southern Conference Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championships at Corps Physical Training Facility, North Main Street, Lexington, Virginia, 24450, United States on Sunday, February 25, 2024 in Lexington, Virginia.

Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field (Andy Meyer, head coach) • 7th SoCon Indoor/9th SoCon Outdoor
• Lesley Green-Boyd earned All-Conference honors with a second place finish on Day One of the SoCon Indoor Championships in the 3000 meter run. She placed second place on Day Two in the 5000 meter run to earn All-Conference honors. 
• Kennedy Reynolds was named to the All-Freshman Team as a Top Three freshman to finish the Mile Run at the SoCon Indoor Championships. 
• Andrea Ellis was named to the All-Freshman Team as a Top Three freshman to finish the 5000 meter run at the SoCon Indoor Championships. 
• Michaela Dabney was named to the All-Freshman Team as a Top Three freshman to finish the 3000 meter run at the SoCon Indoor Championships. 
• Ava McGue was named to the All-Freshman Team as a Top Three freshman to finish the High Jump run at the SoCon Indoor Championships. 
• Lesley Green-Boyd was named the SoCon Indoor Track Athlete of the Week on Feb. 14. She broke UTC’s 18-year old record in the 3000 meter run at the Music City Challenge with a third place finish. 
• Maddie Wheatcroft was named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of January 10-16. 
• Michaela Dabney and Kennedy Reynolds named to SoCon Outdoor All-Freshman Team. The pair were two of the top three freshman to finish the 1500 meter run at the league championships. 
• Lesley Green-Boyd named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. 

YIR Volleyball

Volleyball (Julie Torbett Thomas, head coach) • 19-14, 6-10 SoCon/7th 
• Earned the team’s second consecutive winning season under Coach Torbett Thomas, finishing the year 19-14 overall. 
• Reached the SoCon Tournament Semifinals for the second year in a row as well, toppling No. 2 seed Mercer 3-1 in the SoCon Quarterfinals before falling to tournament hosts Wofford. 
• UTC volleyball’s 19 total wins in 2023 mark the most wins in a season for the team since winning 19 during the 2016 season. 
• The team’s 8-1 start to the regular season tied the program record for the best start to a season all-time, matching the team’s 8-1 start during the 1987 season. 
• Saw Morgan Romano and Paige Gallentine both earn Second Team All-SoCon honors for their efforts during the season, along with Chard’e Vanzandt earning a spot on the SoCon All-Tournament Team. 
• Setter Elaine Redman set a new single-season program record for SoCon Player of the Week awards won in a single season after raking in a total of five SoCon Setter of the Week honors. She ended up tied with the eventual SoCon Player of the Year Ali Ruffin for the most POTW awards won this season. 
• Four players ended up receiving spots on the CSC Academic All-District Team. Those players were Gylian Finch, Kate Neil, Elaine Redman and Morgan Romano. 
• The team ended the schoolyear with a team GPA of 3.502, marking the 17th consecutive semester the team has had a GPA of 3.4 or higher. The spring term included volleyball having a total of nine student-athletes on the Dean’s List, as well as two earning perfect 4.0 GPAs for the term. 

YIR Palmer

Wrestling (Kyle Ruschell, head coach) • 10-7, 4-4 SoCon/3rd • T53rd NCAAs
Two Southern Conference Champions – Brayden Palmer (125) & Isaiah Powe (141) – finishing third as a team. Had three more make podiums: Lincoln Heck (3rd, 157), Kamdyn Munro (3rd, 165) & Sergio Desiante (3rd, 174). 
Two NCAA Championships qualifiers. 46th time in 47 years with multiple qualifiers. Program has had at least one in every DI campaign. 
Jackson Hurst and Kaleb Snodgrass were NWCA Scholar All-Americans. Snodgrass was also a CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District At Large selection.
Four individual tournament wins: Palmer (Clarion Open & SoCon), Powe (SoCon) & Austin Paradice (App Open). 
Five Mocs ended season ranked in at least one of the major polls: Powe (19-RPI), Palmer (14-WrestleStat), Blake Boarman (27-NWCA), Noah Castillo (33-RPI) and Desiante (33-NWCA). 
Powe was the SoCon Freshman of the Year. He went 25-4 overall and 13-0 in duals for the season. He finished third in the Southern Scuffle, the top finish for a Moc in the 2024 edition of the prestigious event. 
Castillo competed for Puerto Rico in the 2023 World U23 Championships in Albania. He dropped a narrow 3-1 decision in his opening bout at 74kg. 
21 total placings in the regular season and postseason events: Powe (3), Austin Paradice (3), Palmer (2), Sergio Desiante (2), Kamdyn Munro (2), Ethan Vergara (1), Blake Boarman (1), Noah Castillo (1), Dayne Dalrymple (1), Lincoln Heck (1), Eli Knight (1), Ethan Lipsey (1) & Logan Webster (1). 
Two NWCA Scholar All-Americans: Jackson Hurst (157) and Kaleb Snodgrass (285). 
One CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District pick: Snodgrass. 

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