One of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's athletic facilities will be accepting fans in what is expected to be a busy February.
Another is not quite to that point.
The university announced Monday that there will be "approximately 1,000" fans allowed at McKenzie Arena home games in the month of February, which for the women (9-7, 4-3 Southern Conference) consists of series against Western Carolina (Feb. 11 and Feb. 13) and UNC Greensboro (Feb. 19 and Feb. 21) and for the men (12-5, 3-5) features home contests against Citadel (Feb. 13), East Tennessee State (Feb. 15), Western Carolina (Feb. 17) and Virginia Military Institute (Feb. 27).
Meanwhile, Finley Stadium, home of the football team, isn't quite ready to have fans at events due to winterization at the facility, so there will be only a pass list for immediate families of the players when the Mocs host VMI on Feb. 20 and Wofford on Feb. 27.
The facility is expected to be ready for the Mocs' home games against Mercer on March 27 and Samford on Apr. 10.
"We are excited about the opportunity to have fans back in McKenzie Arena again," UTC vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton said in a press release. "We have seen a number of other institutions in the Southern Conference and around the NCAA safely have fans at their venues. We have taken a closer look at best practices throughout the country and have put together a strong plan to safely host an event with fans."
In addition, the volleyball team's matches against Furman (Feb. 21-22) and Mercer (Feb. 28-Mar. 1) and the women's soccer team's match against North Alabama (Feb. 26) will be without fans.
Prior to the announcement, UTC was one of three schools in the SoCon that hadn't allowed fans, along with Western Carolina and Wofford. Until now, the men had allowed essential personnel only, while the women did allow parents of athletes to attend.
In other Mocs notes:
Look for the Mocs to sign around seven more players Wednesday during the late signing period. Two of those - Northern Illinois defensive back transfer J.D. Harris and South Carolina tight end transfer Keshawn Toney - are enrolled in school, although each is ineligible to play this spring since they played at their previous school last fall. The other five players are high school players.
The Mocs are not expected to announce a replacement for former offensive line coach Chris Malone this week.
It's been incremental progress, but the UTC women's soccer team under Gavin McKinney is gaining respect in the league. Monday, the Mocs were selected fifth in the preseason all-SoCon poll, with defender Maggie Shaw being named to the all-conference preseason team. While the goals are obviously higher than fifth, it is the highest preseason ranking and the highest in recent history, going back at least 15 years. The Mocs won nine games in 2019, falling to UNCG in penalty kicks in the SoCon quarterfinals.
The UTC men's tennis team earned some recognition last week with sophomore and No. 1 singles player Tomas Rodriguez earning league player of the week honors after defeating Alabama's No. 1, Patrick Kaukovalta in a three-set tiebreaker.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.