The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball program and head coach Travis Filar have finalized the upcoming 2020 fall schedule with first serve slated for August 28 at the Jacksonville State Invitational, just 72 days away.
"Releasing our schedule is always exciting, but with everything that has happened over the last couple of months, releasing this fall's schedule is especially thrilling in that it means we hopefully all in the world of college athletics are getting closer to resuming our daily work, preparation, and competition for the 2020 fall semester," said Filar.
"I really like the balance of our pre-conference schedule as we will be challenged all four weekends leading up to SoCon play."
A schedule preview can be found below.
For the full schedule, please visit
HERE.
JSU Invitational
Chattanooga opens up in Jacksonville, Ala., against North Florida on August 28 before facing Gardner-Webb and tournament-host Jacksonville State the following day. JSU is coming off a 20-10 season in 2019 while capturing the regular season OVC crown.
Austin Peay Invitational
UTC continues early season non-conference play in Clarksville, Tenn., at the Austin
Peay Invitational September 4-5. Tournament opponents include
MTSU, Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas Pine Bluff and Austin
Peay.
Chattanooga Classic
The annual Chattanooga Classic will take place in Maclellan Gym on September 11 and 12 and features a strong field. UTC opens its home slate against ACC-member Virginia Tech before taking on Albany and Troy as part of a day-night doubleheader the next day. Albany was an NCAA Tournament participant in 2019 after capturing the America East crown while Troy advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
"The 2020 Chattanooga Classic will be the toughest home tournament we have ever hosted in my time here so I look forward to our fans having a chance to see some very competitive and high-level volleyball inside of Maclellan Gym," Filar added.
Bellarmine Invitational
Non-conference tournament play will close out in Louisville, Ky., at Bellarmine University, a newly associated member of NCAA Division I and ASUN Conference on September 18 and 19. The Mocs open up against the tournament hosts before wrapping up with a doubleheader against North Dakota and Tennessee State.
Southern Conference Regular Season
For the second-straight season, Chattanooga kicks off Southern Conference play in Birmingham, Ala., at Samford (Sept. 25) before heading to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer (Sept. 26). The squad returns to Maclellan to face UNCG and Western Carolina on October 2 and 3, respectively.
A weekend trip to Furman and Wofford on October 9 and 10 preludes a four-match homestand inside the Mac. Rival ETSU visits on October 14 before The Citadel (Oct. 17), Mercer (Oct. 22), and Samford (Oct. 23) all make their way to the Scenic City. It marks the longest SoCon home match stretch since 2014.
UTC concludes October play with a Halloween weekend road trip to North Carolina, facing Western Carolina (Oct. 30) and UNCG (Oct. 31).
The final two home matches of the regular season will take place against Wofford (Nov. 6) and Furman (Nov. 7) while the regular season concludes on the road at ETSU (Nov. 10) and The Citadel (Nov. 13).
"The regular season in the SoCon this year will be as intense as ever because top to bottom the league is as talented as it maybe ever has been, in addition to the change in our tournament format, where only the top four teams qualify, and the regular season champion gets awarded the privilege of hosting the event," said Filar.
Southern Conference Tournament
Under a new format for the 2020 season, the Southern Conference Tournament will take place on site of the No. 1 seed following regular season play. The top four teams in the final standings advance to the two-day tournament, held November 21 and 22.
"We feel that we have as talented and deep of a roster than we have had in many years, so the excitement level to compete once again is at an all-time high. I know despite all of the challenges we all have faced in 2020, our team is eager to be together again, to attack our training with positivity and intention when we begin camp, will be physically, emotionally, and mentally ready for the season, and we expect to make positive strides forward as a program," Filar concluded.
MORE ABOUT CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
Watch "Mission First, Family Always" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mOmxbzHk4&t=2s
Read "Mission First, Family Always" here:
https://gomocs.com/news/2019/9/27/general-chatt-chats-mission-first-family-always.aspx?path=general