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Record breaking McKenzie Arena crowd cheers men’s basketball

Basketball fans showed their support and helped break an attendance record at the McKenzie Arena when the Mocs played No.10 UTK in a non-conference game.

Cleve Clark Jr., a sophomore majoring in Exercise Science from Columbus, Georgia, was among the cheering students who turned out for the event. He posted his comments in a blog on the UTC Admissions site.

“When I heard people talking about the arena selling out of student tickets, that proved that this game alone was going to be a highlight of my college days. I was excited last week when I received my ticket in the lower floor of the student section after I had been standing in line since 7:15 am in the freezing cold. For the first time since I’ve been here, everyone was talking about going to “the game.”

Despite the 76-70 loss, Clark spoke for many when he applauded the team’s performance.

“I commend UTC Men’s Basketball for a smart, physical and well played game. Those fellas left everything they had on the court and showed UTK the true BLUE and GOLD pride in front of 11,221 people,” said Clark.

The December 2007 crowd at the McKenzie Arena edged out the number of people who turned out for the opening game at the facility on December 1, 1982, when 11,218 people watched No. 14 UTK defeat Chattanooga 55-49.

This year’s game marks the first time since 1996 that UTC has played a home game in front of 10,000 or more fans. That year they lost to No. 19 Memphis 63-55 on February 22 in front of a crowd of 10,343.

The Mocs Men’s Basketball team will play December 18 against Elon and December 21 against Asbury at the McKenzie Arena. The Dr Pepper Classic will be held December 29-30. Check the schedule for more information. Tickets may be purchased online.

For more photos from the game, see GoMocs.com.

Lady Mocs games ranked for attendance

According to an unofficial survey of women’s basketball conducted by the University of Wisconsin, the Lady Mocs are ranked 35th in the nation for attendance.

With its largest crowd this season of nearly 2,000, the Lady Mocs, on average, host 1,528 fans at each game. The fourth largest crowd to attend any game in the country this season was when 13,811 fans crowded into Thompson-Boling Arena to watch Chattanooga take on the Lady Vols on Nov. 11.

Each year, the Lady Mocs’ outdraw the rest of the Southern Conference and have been consistently ranked among the best over the years. And the home-crowd advantage has helped. The Lady Mocs have posted a 68-9 (.8831) record at the Roundhouse over the last six years. Only 46 of the more than 300 NCAA Division I teams boast an at-home winning percentage above .800.

Tennessee’s average attendance of 15,312 tops the list followed by Connecticut at 9,796 and Iowa State with 9,126. The Lady Vols four home games this season top the list with their game against North Carolina with 16,845.

Just ahead of Chattanooga is DePaul in 34th with an average crowd of 1,822 and Arizona State at 33rd with 1,848. Chattanooga’s largest average home attendance over the last seven years was 2004 when the Lady Mocs averaged nearly 2,300 fans per game.

Ticket information for the Lady Mocs is available online.

All games are aired on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs, WDOD-AM 1310 or online around the world at the official website of the Lady Mocs, www.GoMocs.com. Listen to the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” Larry Ward will have all the action live!

Remaining Home Schedule for Chattanooga
January 12	Elon*, 12:30 p.m.
January 14	UNC Greensboro*, 7:00 p.m.
January 26	Coll. of Charleston*, 5:00 p.m.
January 28	Georgia Southern*, 7:00 p.m.
February 2	Appalachian State*, 5:00 p.m.
February 4	Davidson*, 7:00 p.m.
February 18	Wofford*, 7:00 p.m.
February 28	Western Carolina*, 7:00 p.m.

* Conference Games

Mentz, Turchin earn cross-country all-region honors

Despite key injuries to the lineups, the Chattanooga men’s and women’s cross country teams finished in mid November among the top 10 at the NCAA South Region meet with two all-region runners at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. The University of Florida served as hosts for the event.

The Lady Mocs ran to a ninth place finish out of 20 teams on the heels of senior Kathleen Turchin who has battled injury for the past few years. Turchin earned all-region honors and placed 17th overall and completed the six-kilometer race in a time of 21:20.46.

“I’m proud of the effort she gave,” UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said. “She didn’t train with the rest of the team and had to train on the grass because of her injuries. She did a great job.”

Teammate Shelley Taylor was the second UTC finisher across the line at 48th with a time of 22:38.97 and junior Katie Williams, despite nagging injuries, was 55th in the race featuring 144 runners from 20 teams in a time of 22:55.91.

Freshman Tara Gietma was 65th overall and the fourth finisher for the Lady Mocs with a time of 23:20.97 and Emily Wood rounded out the scoring for UTC at 73rd and finished the race in a time of 23:31.91. Jordyn Radke had a disappointing race after just missing all-conference honors with an 11th place finish at the Southern Conference championships two weeks earlier. She ran the course in a time of 24:34.21 and placed 96th overall. Also on the injury roster for the Lady Mocs was senior Nettie Halcomb who was unable to compete Saturday.

Florida State claimed top honors for the women with 40 points placing all five runner in the top 18 including the champion Susan Kuijken and runner up Barbara Parker. Georgia was second with 75 points and Florida was third with 94 points. Samford’s Lauren Blankenship was third followed by the Seminoles’ Hannah England.

In the men’s race, Michael Mentz ran to an all-region honors placing 22nd overall in a time of 31:35.46 and led the Mocs to a 10th place finish out of 19 teams without two of their top three runners. Chris Berry and David Moore who have assisted the Mocs throughout the season to top finishes, suffered injuries after the Southern Conference championships and were unable to compete Saturday.

“Michael had a great race,” Gautier said. “Unfortunately, we had some key injuries and weren’t able to finish in a better position.”

Tim Clark was Chattanooga’s second runner to cross the line in 52nd place with a time of 33:02.20 while freshman Stuart Chandler was 67th in a time of 33:35.82. Blake Ketron and Jeff Taylor rounded out the Mocs scoring as the fourth and fifth runners to finish the race for UTC. Ketron was 74th overall with a time of 33:55.90 over the 10-kilometer course and Taylor was two spots behind at 76th with a time of 34:08.64.

Alabama finished first with a score of 28 and place all five runners in the top 13. Florida State was second with 52 points and Florida was third with 82. Auburn’s Felix Kibioywo was the overall winner finished by the Tide’s trio Emmanuel Bor, Augustus Maiyo and Andrew Kirwa.

The top 25 finishers in each race are named to the All-Region team. The top two teams in each region earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., and remaining top thirteen teams will earn at-large bids. The top four individuals on a non-qualifying team from each region will earn at-large bids to the National Championships. There are only two at-large selections of individuals.

Koz named SoCon wrestler of the month for November

Wrestler Matt Koz was named Southern Conference Wrestler of the Month for November. Koz, a senior who competes at 197 pounds for the Mocs, was undefeated in the month in nine matches and led the squad with five pins.

Koz’s record includes an 11-2 major decision over John Weakley of No. 8-ranked Ohio State. He placed first in his division at the Keystone Classic hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, going 4-0 with a pin, a technical fall and a major decision.

The Strongsville, Ohio, native has led the Mocs to their highest national ranking in the school’s Division I era at No. 11 and was ranked as high as No. 10 himself. Last season, Koz was the SoCon Champion at heavyweight and an NCAA Qualifier, although wrestling up in weight.

See the latest Mocs Wrestling news here. View the wrestlers remaining schedule.

Newberry receives American Volleyball Coaches Association accolade

Junior libero Lara Newberry has added yet another impressive accolade following her record-setting junior season as she has been named an Honorable Mention on the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-South Region team.

“I am extremely proud of Lara for being named Honorable Mention on the AVCA All-Region team” says Chattanooga head coach Lisa Rhodes. “She is one of only two players from the Southern Conference to be recognized on this year’s team and the other is our conference Player-of-the-Year. This is a great honor for her personally, for Chattanooga and for the Southern Conference.”

This season, Newberry has certainly earned the honor as she has not only rewritten the digs portion of the Lady Mocs record book but has also made her mark on the NCAA ledger. After two stunning seasons which saw her break the Chattanooga single season record for digs with 736 in 2005 and 721 more in 2006, the Chattanooga native entered 2007 needing only 601 digs to set UTC’s all-time record.

After chasing Kylie Hunter’s (1990-93) mark of 2,058 digs through the first part of the season, Newberry collected 35 digs on October 16 against Lipscomb to break the record and become the Lady Mocs all-time leader in digs in only her third season. She would go on to shatter the record with a total of 2,399 career digs by the end of the season.

That same week, she would be named Co-Player of the Week by the Southern Conference and also National Player of the Week by Collegiate Volleyball Update.

On October 30, Newberry registered 25 digs at Western Carolina to break yet another Chattanooga record, this time her own single-season digs mark of 736. She currently holds the Lady Mocs top three-single season performances.

Already having compiled an impressive list of accomplishments during the regular season, Newberry continued her record-setting performances in the post season, collecting her two most impressive feats to date.

Having finished the regular season with 863 digs, Newberry entered the Southern Conference Tournament needing only 61 digs to break the NCAA record of 924 set by Minnesota’s Paula Gentil in 2004. She recorded 40 digs in a quarterfinal win over Elon on November 16 to close to 903 before posting 39 digs the following day against three-time defending conference champion College of Charleston to push her total to 942 digs and claim the NCAA record.

It would not be the only NCAA mark that Newberry would set in 2007 as she posted an average of 7.19 digs per game to lead the NCAA in digs per game from start to finish, becoming the first Chattanooga player to do so. With one season of eligibility remaining, she is currently 392 digs away from surpassing the NCAA’s All-Time Modern Era Digs Record and will likely accomplish that feat in the first half of the 2008 season. That mark is currently held by Paula Gentil who recorded 2,791 digs from 2002-05 for Minnesota.

In addition to her record setting performances, Newberry also compiled some other impressive numbers during the season, including recording 20 digs or more 26 times, 14 times with 30 digs or more and four times with 40 or more digs, including 45 twice. Those two performances came against Georgia State on August 24 and then against the College of Charleston on October 9 and were within one dig of tying the Lady Mocs single-match record of 46 set by Hunter on October 15, 1991. Overall, Newberry recorded double-digit digs in 32 of 33 matches this season.

“After breaking career dig marks for UTC and the Southern Conference, breaking the NCAA single-season record and leading the nation in digs all year long, it is nice to see that Lara has received recognition for her great season” adds Rhodes.

Newberry earned her Honorable Mention selection in a highly competitive region in 2007. Of the 12 members on the All-South Region team, seven hailed from South Eastern Conference schools while two were members of the 35-3 Middle Tennessee State squad that advanced to the NCAA Regionals this season. Brittany Zahn of Appalachian State University was the only other Southern Conference player to be named to the team.

Newberry joins Kari Krouse (2000-03) as Chattanooga’s only other All-Region selection since the AVCA first began presenting the awards in 1996. Krouse was named to the All- South Region team following the 2003 season and was an All-America Honorable Mention.

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