Chattanooga releases 2021 indoor volleyball schedule
The Chattanooga Mocs indoor volleyball team announced its 2021 schedule on last Monday morning. The team will host 11 regular season matches inside Maclellan Gym, including eight Southern Conference contests and the Chattanooga Classic in September.
“I believe that our preconference schedule will test where we are as a team early on and will be just what we need in terms of preparation for competing at a high level this fall within the SoCon,” said head coach Travis Filar. “It will also be so exciting to welcome back fans into Maclellan Gym during our home portion of our schedule of 12 matches throughout the fall, and I believe they will see a very strong and connected team who fights for every point, is relentless in their pursuit of winning, and a very deep and competitive group of student-athletes.”
The Mocs open the slate with an exhibition match at home against Georgia State this Friday (Aug. 20) at 6 p.m.
Chattanooga will begin regular season play on Aug. 27 at the Georgia State Invitational, beginning the season by facing the hosts at 10 a.m. The squad concludes play in Atlanta versus Memphis and California Baptist.
The Mocs wrap up the first week of action with a midweek road match at Jacksonville State on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m.
In their second weekend of competition, the Mocs head to Indiana to compete in the Hampton Inn Invitational, hosted by IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. on Sept. 3 and 4. The opponents feature IUPUI, Toledo and Western Illinois.
The annual Chattanooga Classic will take place inside Macllellan Gym on Sept. 1011. The Mocs open their regular-season home slate with a 3 p.m. match against Troy on Sept. 10. UTC will face Virginia Tech at noon and Troy at 7 p.m. on the 11th.
“It will be awesome to host the annual Chattanooga Classic here in mid-September in addition to hosting all eight conference teams as we are going back to our normal SoCon schedule, playing different teams on Friday and Saturday instead of the same opponent,” said Filar.
The final non-conference matches on the schedule will take place in Hattiesburg, Miss. in the Southern Mississippi Classic II. The Mocs open the tournament facing Lamar on Friday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. UTC will face Eastern Kentucky and Southern Miss to close out non-conference action in Mississippi.
UTC opens its league schedule with matches versus UNCG and Western Carolina at home on Sept. 24 and 25. The Mocs’ first SoCon road trip is the following weekend in South Carolina as the Blue-and-Gold head to Furman (Oct. 1) and The Citadel (Oct. 2).
The reigning SoCon regular season and tournament champion Samford Bulldogs will come to Chattanooga on Oct. 8, followed by the Mercer Bears the next day. After facing the Bears, the Mocs begin a four-match road trip. UTC will head to ETSU (Oct. 13), Wofford (Oct. 15), Western Carolina (Oct. 21) and UNCG (Oct. 22).
After its longest road trip of the season, UTC returns to The Mac to host Furman on Oct. 28 and The Citadel on the 29th. The squad concludes its conference road slate on Nov. 5 at Mercer and Nov. 6 in Birmingham, Ala. at Samford. UTC’s SoCon regular season schedule culminates on Nov. 9 and 13 against ETSU and Wofford inside Maclellan Gym.
“All in all, we feel like we have a team that will work hard all fall, and that most importantly, will be playing their best volleyball in November heading into the SoCon Tournament in Birmingham,” Filar added.
The SoCon tournament will return to its previous format, featuring all eight teams, and will take place in Birmingham, Ala. on Samford University’s campus from Nov. 19-21.