HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- With another preseason in the books for Chattanooga volleyball, we can now officially say the words that we've been waiting patiently to say for the past couple of months: volleyball is back!
The Mocs hit the road this weekend for the team's season-opening tournament, the Betty Austin Invitational, which is set to run August 30-September 1 at host Alabama A&M in Huntsville, Alabama. UTC is one of five teams in attendance but will be the only team this weekend that will be playing against all four opponents.
Chattanooga's season begins on Friday, August 30 with a clash against Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. ET. The Mocs will then play in a pair of matches on Saturday, first against Oral Roberts at 10 a.m. ET followed by Idaho at 5 p.m. ET later that afternoon. The tournament will then conclude for the Mocs on Sunday, September 1, with UTC slated to battle with tournament host Alabama A&M at 1 p.m. ET.
All four matches for the Mocs will have live stats available to fans. However, fans will be unable to stream any of Chattanooga's matches over this season-opening weekend. For those traveling to Huntsville, all four matches are to be played in Elmore Gymnasium and are free to the public.
MATCH CENTRAL
Friday, August 30 | vs. Southern Illinois | 7 p.m. ET | Stats
Saturday, August 31 | vs. Oral Roberts | 11 a.m. ET | Stats
Saturday, August 31 | vs. Idaho | 4 p.m. ET | Stats
Sunday, September 1 | at Alabama A&M | 1 p.m. ET | Stats
Tournament Hub
SERIES HISTORY
Southern Illinois: 0-1 (Last time: Sept. 1, 2023 --Â 2-3 L)
Oral Roberts: 0-1 (Last time: Sept. 2, 2011 -- 0-3 L)
Idaho: First meeting
Alabama A&M: 7-1 (Last time: Oct. 3, 2023 -- 3-0 W)
2023 SEASON RECAP
Last season, the Mocs wrapped up the year with the team's second consecutive winning season having finished with a record of 19-14 overall. UTC had a blistering start to the year, matching the program's best start to a season by opening 8-1 in non-conference play. Despite going 6-10 in SoCon action, the Mocs hit a high point in the postseason by toppling No. 2 seed Mercer in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament. Chattanooga's season would ultimately end in the SoCon Semifinals, a point they've now reached in back-to-back years under head coach Julie Torbett Thomas.
YEAR 3 OF THE TORBETT THOMAS ERA
This year will now mark the third season of Julie Torbett Thomas' tenure as UTC's Director of Volleyball and indoor volleyball head coach. Having led the Mocs to back-to-back winning seasons and SoCon Semifinal appearances, Torbett Thomas now holds a record of 36-30 (16-16 SoCon) with Chattanooga. Now entering her 31st year as a collegiate volleyball head coach, Torbett Thomas holds an all-time coaching record of 504-434 (.537). Her 500th career coaching victory came a season ago in UTC's home win over Furman.
WHO'S NEW
A total of 14 newcomers will grace Maclellan Gymnasium this season for the Mocs as Torbett Thomas was able to tap into adding a seven-player freshman class alongside bringing in seven transfer portal signees to the 2024 team. Notable additions include Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team selection Breanah Rives, left-handed setter Chiara Napoli of North Carolina A&T, six-foot-three middle blocker Kaitlyn Gotsch, and Oklahoma prep standout Kynli Kirkendoll to name just a few of UTC's new, deep talent pool.
WHO'S BACK
UTC will also have a small contingent of returners from its 2023 squad, with seven players from last year's roster remaining on the court. With that being said, the Mocs bring back their team-leaders in assists (Elaine Redman), aces (Paige Gallentine), digs (Gallentine) and blocks (Chard'e Vanzandt) from a year ago. The Mocs also welcome back Marcelle Baez-Carlo, Caiti Barthel and Jordyn Butler from last year's team. Overall, the team is returning 27% of its kills, 92% of its assists, 41% of its aces, 60% of its digs and 53% of its blocks from last season.
INSIDE THE ROSTER
The 2024 Mocs will be fielding arguably the program's deepest roster in a long time this season, with a total of 21 student-athletes set to suit up. In total, the team consists of seven true freshmen, three redshirt-freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, five seniors and two graduate students. Another additional note on UTC's roster is that of the 21 players listed, five come from countries outside of the United States, which is the most on a single UTC roster in program history: Marcelle Baez-Carlo (Puerto Rico), Cansu Kornosor (Turkey), Chiara Napoli (France), Doga Ocal (Turkey) and Elena Vukmanov (Serbia).
GALLENTINE TABBED PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Libero Paige Gallentine headlined the 2024 Preseason All-SoCon Team for the Mocs earlier this month, as Gallentine ultimately earned one of just eight spots that were up for grabs by the league. The Fenton, Michigan, native is coming off her second consecutive season being an All-SoCon Second Team honoree. Gallentine has led the Southern Conference in total digs in each of the past three seasons. She now enters her final year of eligibility at UTC with numerous records in her crosshairs. Gallentine enters the 2024 season having amassed 2,069 total digs in her career, ranking third in program history. She needs just 317 more digs to officially tie Paula Passmore (2009-12) for second all-time in Chattanooga volleyball history. Gallentine was the lone defensive specialist/libero honored on this season's Preseason All-Conference list.
ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
The Salukis are coming off a 2023 season in which SIU posted its first 20+ win season since 2016, with the Salukis finishing the year with a record of 20-12 overall (11-7 MVC). After the team saw its conference tournament run come to an end in the MVC Semifinals, the Salukis received a bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament (NIVC), where they would ultimately drop their opening match to DePaul, 3-1. Sixth-year head coach Ed Allen will have some holes to fill from last year's team, having lost outside hitters Nataly Garcia and Tatum Tornatta, both of whom were multi-time MVC All-Conference honorees during their careers. Despite this, Southern Illinois still returns its 2023 stat leaders in the following categories: assists (Anna Jaworski – 708), digs (Cecilia Bulmahn – 451) and blocks (Imani Hartfield – 103). This lines the Salukis up for another strong run for the 2024 season.
ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts is coming off a rough 2024 season, in which the Golden Eagles ultimately finished last in the Summit League with a record of 3-25 (1-15 Summit League) a year ago. This season, second-year head coach Luke Ward is looking for ORU to take a step in right direction as Ward has brought in a wealth of new talent to pair with some talented upperclassmen. The Golden Eagles have brought back two senior studs in libero Breanna Rivas and outside hitter Trinity Freeman, who both were named Summit League Players to Watch for the 2024 season earlier this week. Rivas is coming off a year in which she led Oral Roberts in total digs, tallying 301 on the season. This, combined with her ranking second on the team in service aces (24), makes her a serious threat on both sides of the coin that the Mocs will need to focus on. Freeman on the other hand finished the 2023 season with a team-high 332 kills, having been the only player on last year's roster to start and play in every single match for the Golden Eagles over the course of the season. These two will now have the opportunity to usher in a new wave of talent for ORU, with the Golden Eagles bringing in a group of seven newcomers, with five being true freshmen and two coming through the transfer portal.
ABOUT IDAHO
Idaho enters their season-opening weekend hungry for a strong start to their 2024 campaign, as the Vandals have had to deal with numerous difficult seasons over the past couple years. A year ago, the Vandals finished the 2023 season with a record of 1-27 (0-16 Big Sky), with their lone win coming nearly one year ago to the day against California Riverside on August 27, 2023. The Vandals were only able to win 13 out of 94 total sets played on the season. Idaho is searching for its first 10+ win season since 2019, and interim head coach Romana Redondo Kriskova will be looking to move the pin forward for the Vandals. It will be quite a few new faces taking the baton for the Vandals, with Idaho only returning one stat leader (Natalia Wielgus – 305) and nine total players overall from its 18-woman roster in 2023. One newcomer for the Vandals that could turn some heads this season is grad transfer and former Eastern Kentucky setter Miya Carmichael, who was a consistent contributor over her four-year career with the Colonels.
ABOUT ALABAMA A&M
Tournament host Alabama A&M is coming off a 2023 season in which the team saw a resurgence of success. Finishing the year 12-19 overall, the Bulldogs finished 11-5 in the SWAC, marking the team's first winning season in conference play since 2019. An October 3, 2023 loss to Chattanooga last year truly marked a turning point for the AA&M squad with the team then going on to post a nine-match winning streak. Now looking to continue on the team's upward trajectory, Alabama A&M enters the 2024 season projected to finish fifth in the SWAC according to the league's preseason coaches poll. The Bulldogs will look to lean heavily on the shoulders of senior outside hitter Saldy Amparo-Smith, who was named to the 2024 Preseason All-SWAC Team after earning SWAC Newcomer of the Year and All-SWAC Second Team honors in 2023. Amparo-Smith finished last year's campaign ranked second on her team in kills (244) and service aces (26), alongside ranking in the top five on the team in digs (160) and blocks (33). Amparo-Smith is joined by fellow Dominican Republic native Michell Jerez, who finished the 2023 season as Alabama A&M's digs leader on the year (312).
HOME-OPENER
The Mocs are also looking ahead to their first home match of the regular season on Friday, September 6 when UTC is set to host its two-day Chattanooga Classic tournament at Maclellan Gymnasium. Chattanooga will play a total of three home matches over the course of the Classic, starting first with Tennessee State and Charleston Southern on September 6 before closing out the tournament on September 7 against Belmont. Additionally, the Mocs will host a non-tournament match later that same week on Tuesday, September 10 against Jacksonville State, marking the team's final home contest of the non-conference schedule.
2024 PROMOTIONS SCHEDULE
A variety of marketing and fan promotions are being offered this season for the Chattanooga volleyball team, with several home matches providing unique and fun styling and/or giveaways to fans in attendance. The first opportunity fans will have at these fun promotions will be on September 10 for UTC's home matchup with Jacksonville State, with the team hosting "Mac at the Mac" with mac and cheese as well as a camper reunion for those that attended the Mocs' summer camps. A full list and schedule of this season's marketing promotions for UTC volleyball can be found HERE.
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