When the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team opens its season against Tennessee next Friday, fans can travel to Milwaukee to see it.

Tonight they can go to the North River Soccer Complex in Chattanooga to see the same two schools open their soccer season.

It starts at 7 and there will be no admission charge, which will be the case for all Lady Mocs home games. The first 200 UTC fans to arrive will be given “rally towels” to create a “Gold Rush” atmosphere.

The first soccer meeting between the sister schools in 11 years matches a UTC team that went 2-12-2 in 2007 against a Lady Vols side that was 15-5-2 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six years. Tennessee coach Angela Kelly’s 11 returning starters include two third-team All-Americans: two-time SEC offensive player of the year Kylee Rossi and goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson.

The Lady Mocs, therefore, should not be expected to claim their first win since last Oct. 19 as they begin the 2008 season, but coach J.D. Kyzer does believe their recent slide is about to take an upward turn.

Arriving in 2000, he directed the Lady Mocs to double-figure wins three straight seasons beginning in 2002, with a program-high 12 in 2004, but his scholarships dropped from eight to four for a while and a discipline issue led to the departure of several players after the 2005 season. Division I teams can have 14 scholarships, and most do.

UTC has no seniors, four juniors, six sophomores and 10 freshmen this year. Back to eight scholarships, the Lady Mocs will be more competitive this year and keep improving in the coming seasons, the coach believes.

“We’ve been young for quite a few years, and we’re still very young,” Kyzer said. “We’re still way behind where we need to be, but we’re more skilled than we’ve been the last couple of years, and we have more speed. We’ve progressed like crazy. But what will happen against Knoxville or the rest of the year? I can’t say.

“Knoxville is ranked 13th in the nation right now, and they’re a very good team. I think it’s exciting to have them play here. Hopefully we’ll be able to hang with them.”

Kyzer reminded that UTC upset Alabama when the Crimson Tide opened their stadium in 2004.

The Lady Mocs were picked to finish last in the 12-team Southern Conference — UNC Greensboro, Davidson, Furman, Samford and College of Charleston were the coaches’ top five — but the older players clearly don’t think that’s where they’ll wind up.

“Most definitely, we’re better,” said junior midfielder Arielle Lankford from Oliver Springs High School.

“We’re faster. I don’t think we have a slow girl on the field,” said Chelsea Hurst, a junior forward from Lincoln County. “And we have girls who want to work hard.”

“Not just a select few, but the whole team,” Lankford said.

“Everyone’s dedicated themselves to being better,” said defender Amy Schermerhorn from Notre Dame, a senior academically but a junior in eligibility. She said she plans to play again in 2009.

The other junior is forward Marlee Jenkins from Lenoir City.

“It’s a credit to them that they have lived through this bad situation and stuck with the program,” Kyzer said.

Allie Scales from GPS is a redshirt freshman on the UTC team. The nine newcomers include Ooltewah’s Morgan Shelton, Jordan Middleton and Katie Finkle. Freshman goalkeeper Allie Preston from Asheville, N.C., had 38 shutouts in her three-year high school career.

The Lady Mocs will be home again next weekend for games against High Point on Friday (7 p.m.) and Eastern Kentucky on Sunday (1 p.m.).

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