The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was picked to finish sixth out of the 10 women’s soccer teams in the Southern Conference this season, but the Mocs had one of the 11 preseason all-conference players announced Thursday. Junior forward Chloe Arnold was a postseason first-team All-SoCon selection last fall, when she had 11 goals and five assists, and was the league’s freshman of the year in 2016. UNC Greensboro and Samford each had three preseason All-SoCon picks and were a close one-two in the coaches’ team projections. With a 6-4 edge in first-place votes, UNCG collected 77 points to 76 for Samford, and Furman was third with 66 and two preseason all-conference players. East Tennessee was fourth with 50 points, Mercer fifth with 47 and Western Carolina seventh with 41 – one fewer than UTC. The Mocs’ season begins next Friday at 6 p.m. against Austin Peay at the UTC Sports Complex beside Engel Stadium.
Volleyball
» The UTC volleyball team officially opens its season on Aug. 30 against the host team of the StarkVegas Classic at Mississippi State, but the Mocs will play at home on Aug. 24 in an exhibition against Georgia State. The match against the Atlanta team will start at noon in Maclellan Gymnasium, and admission is free. Georgia State was 7-19 last year, 4-12 in the Sun Belt Conference, and has seven new players. In a UTC release Thursday, Mocs coach Travis Filar said of his players, “We are really challenging their volleyball minds, asking them to be prepared to grow from the neck up more than we ever have, and they have taken lots of positive strides in adopting and embracing that growth mindset. The opportunity to have a full, live scrimmage against a solid opponent like Georgia State will be exactly what we need next Saturday.”