UTC volleyball star Gylian Finch climbs into school record books
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — No, Gylian Finch hasn鈥檛 watched Squid Game. And why should she? She鈥檚 too busy breaking records.
With just five games left in the regular season, the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball standout is looking to thrust herself into legendary status.
During her four-year career at UTC, she has amassed 937 kills, 86 aces, and 3,240 career attack attempts. If during the next handful of games she can eclipse 1,000 kills she would be just the 10th player in Mocs history to do so. She is 12 aces away from 10th all-time. Her 3,000 attacks already put her at 8th most in program history.聽
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty cool,鈥� Finch said of her records. 鈥淚 knew the kills one. I think at this point I need like 10-12 kills per match to reach that mark, but that鈥檚 only within the five (regular-season) games.鈥�
She needs 12.6 kills per match to be exact. The only reason Finch even knows she鈥檚 close to that 1,000 kills mark is because of her loyal fan base.
鈥淚 only know that one because my mom is obsessed with me hitting that number. But other than that I didn鈥檛 know. I knew I was at 3,000 attack attempts, but I didn鈥檛 know where I was in the rankings,鈥� Finch said.
In volleyball, and sports in general, statistics can be as grueling as they are gratifying. They look nice on paper, they play well with the fans, but the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to earn them behind the scenes rarely get shown under bright lights.
Perhaps the most impressive stat on Finch鈥檚 resume, one that encapsulates all her hard work on and off of the court, has to do with her availability. Of the 102 matches during her time at UTC, she has played in 98. This type of longevity doesn鈥檛 just show how durable she鈥檚 been, but what a struggle it has been at times to get here.
鈥淚 play through injuries a lot of the time. I only sit if I can鈥檛 move. This year would have been the first match that I鈥檝e ever sat without a concussion,鈥� Finch said.
Toughness is something that鈥檚 innate and in Finch鈥檚 case, that much is obvious. Still, the credit for some of that longevity can be traced back to her high school days where she played four different sports over the course of her high school career — volleyball, basketball, softball, and track.
鈥淚 guess I鈥檓 just used to doing a lot of stuff,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淚 would say track definitely helped a lot with being able to just keep going. Because it鈥檚 just one of those sports where you just have to keep going. They definitely help you get used to every situation because different things happen in different sports.鈥�
In addition to being such a reliable lynchpin in the Mocs鈥� lineup over the years, Finch can also be described as a creature of habit.
During warmups, the team will go through a flurry of drills and mental preparation, all of which Finch participates in, but it鈥檚 not until she gets a scoop of pre-workout mix and listens to her favorite hype song that she feels ready.
鈥淔ifteen minutes before (the games) I take pre-workout 鈥� it gets me jittery and then it helps me focus more. I listen to the same exact song. It is called GodLovesUgly (Remix). And it鈥檚 like a headbanging song and I just sit there with my eyes closed and bang my head to the song,鈥� Finch said.聽
As far as the season has gone for Finch, things have been stellar. As a team, on the other hand, things have been more up and down. The Mocs currently sit at 8th in the Southern Conference standings. However, three of their last five games are at home, and after a big 3-0 win against Furman yesterday, the Mocs showed they are anything but finished.
Before each of the remaining games, Finch will pop in her headphones, queue up GodLovesUgly, and these lyrics will flow through her ears, 鈥淎bandonin’ the norm, and handlin’ the harvest. Measurin’ the worth by the depth of the hardship.鈥�
It鈥檒l be an uphill climb the rest of the way if the Mocs want to reach the heights they desire, both individually and collectively. Luckily for Finch, she never wanted an easy route. She always measured the worth of the task at hand by the depth of its hardship.
