The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth in preseason polls by the Southern Conference coaches and media, the league announced Monday. The UTC women were picked to finish third by the media and fifth in the coaches’ poll. East Tennessee State is the favorite to win the SoCon men’s title, according to the media and coaches. The Buccaneers (24-10, 13-5 last year) return four starters and have three members of the 10-man preseason all-conference team: Jeromy Rodriguez, Bo Hodges and Daivien Williamson. UNC Greensboro, led by preseason player of the year Isaiah Miller, was picked to finish second in both polls, which were identical. Furman, defending champion Wofford and Samford were picked ahead of UTC, which did not have a preseason all-conference selection. Western Carolina, Mercer, The Citadel and VMI rounded out the polls. The remaining men’s all-conference picks were UNCG’s James Dickey, Samford’s Josh Sharkey, Mercer’s Ross Cummings, Furman’s Jordan Lyons and Western Carolina’s Carlos Dotson. UTC is represented on the women’s all-conference team by senior guard Lakelyn Bouldin and 2018-19 freshman of the year Eboni Williams. Furman was selected by the coaches to earn the title, followed by Wofford, Mercer, ETSU, UTC, UNCG, Samford and Western Carolina. Mercer was the media’s pick to finish first, followed by Furman, UTC, ETSU, Wofford, UNCG, Samford and Western Carolina. Joining Bouldin and Williams on the all-conference team are Wofford’s Chloe Wanink (player of the year) and Da’Ja Green, Furman’s Le’Jzae Davidson and Celena Taborn, UNCG’s Nadine Soloman and Te’Ja Twitty, ETSU’s Erica Haynes-Overton and Mercer’s Shannon Titus.
Golf
* UTC’s men’s golf team shot 17 under par for Monday’s 36 holes in the Alister Mackenzie Invitational tournament in Fairfax, California, and the Mocs’ 551 at the Meadow Club has them in sixth place among 16 teams. Pepperdine leads at 539 with St. Mary’s second at 544 and host California third at 546. UTC’s Matt Smith shot 69 and 68, Will Porter 72 and 66, Oliver Simonsen 67 and 72, Connor Nolan 74 and 67 and Moritz Lammel 70 and 79. Smith is tied for 18th individually, and Porter is 21st.
Volleyball
* Ricki Lynn Bickley downed 13 kills in Chattanooga State’s 3-0 volleyball road victory Monday against the Bryan junior varsity. The set scores were 25-13, 25-16, 25-8. Also for the Lady Tigers (8-6), Emily Redden had 19 assists and three aces, Madysun Steele nine kills, Kayla Ford 13 digs and three aces, Dakota Rawiszer 11 assists and Brieana Hemphill 11 digs with six kills. They host Catawba Valley, ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, at 3 p.m. Thursday.