Chattanooga 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) drilled a career-high 31 kills and freshman setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) tied her career-high with 63 assists as Chattanooga (14-11, 9-3) notched a 3-1 victory over The Citadel (5-23, 0-12) in a Southern Conference volleyball match Tuesday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse. The Lady Mocs defeated the Bulldogs 25-30, 30-18, 30-26 and 30-28.
Game 1 was a tightly contested affair as the two teams battled to 15 ties before the Bulldogs put together a 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead. Chattanooga quickly rallied to tie the game again, this time at 21-21, with their own 3-0 run before The Citadel mounted a 6-1 run to take a commanding 27-22 advantage before closing out the game with a 30-25 victory and 1-0 match lead.
The Lady Mocs rallied back in the second game, taking a 6-0 lead behind four kills from Ball, including three consecutively, before the Bulldogs closed to within 11-8. A 14-5 run for Chattanooga, keyed by four kills from Ball, extended the lead to 25-13 before UTC wrapped up the game, 30-18, to tie the match at 1-1.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-6 lead in Game 3 before going on a 10-3 run, including six straight points, to push their lead to 17-9. The Lady Mocs then proceeded to score four of the next five points to put the score at 18-13. With the score at 20-14, Chattanooga tied the score, 21-21, on a 7-1 run before trading points over the next several plays to make the score 25-24, Bulldogs. From there, the Lady Mocs took control, scoring the final six points, including the last three by service ace by senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.), to win the game 30-26 and take a 2-1 match lead.
Chattanooga opened Game 4 by taking a commanding 10-3 lead before extending that margin to 16-9. The Citadel then mounted an 11-6 run to rally to within 22-20. A 3-1 spurt by UTC made the score 25-22 but the Bulldogs would not go quietly, eventually tying the score at 25-25. The Lady Mocs regained the lead, 27-25, on back-to-back kills by junior outside hitter Ashley Yeager (Parker, Colo.) and didn’t look back as three more kills sealed the deal for the 30-28 victory.
Freshman middle blocker Jessica Maas led the offensive attack for The Citadel with 18 kills and added 14 digs while junior setter Emily Hill sparked the offense with 51 assists to go along with 16 digs. Junior outside hitter Rachel Sanders posted a solid all-around performance with 16 kills and a match-high 22 digs, as did freshman middle blocker Amanda Beal who finished with nine kills and 14 digs. Freshman outside hitter Tatum Jestila added 19 digs while junior libero Ashley Winter contributed 13 digs.
In addition to her career-high 31 kills, Ball also recorded a .475 hitting percentage, five blocks and five digs for Chattanooga while Engel had a strong all-around match, recording 17 kills and a team-high tying 21 digs. Junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) equaled that mark with 21 digs and freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) and senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) also contributed defensively with 17 and 16 digs, respectively. Yeager added 12 kills on the day while senior middle blocker Sarah Bass (Baton Rouge, La.) finished with 11.
The Lady Mocs will be back in action on Saturday, October 27 when they return home to face Georgia Southern at Maclellan Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Furman 2
BOONE, N.C. ? With a six-game winning streak and second place in the Southern Conference on the line, Appalachian State fought back from a 2-1 deficit with two resounding wins against Furman to move to 9-3 in conference play and a tie for second place. Brittany Zahn led the charge with 30 kills, as the Paladins were dropped into third place in the standings.
The Mountaineers took advantage of three four-point runs in the first game, paced by six kills from Zahn. The Mountaineers set the tone for the evening by rallying from a 25-24 deficit for a 30-28 victory.
The second set saw improved hitting from both teams, as Lauren Swecker converted six kills on ten attempts for a .600 hitting percentage in the game. She ended with nine kills and a .348 hitting percentage on the evening, with three digs. The Apps were doomed, however, by a 13-point run by Furman which erased a 16-13 ASU lead. The Paladins went on to even the match at one game apiece with the 30-23 win.
Zahn turned in 11 of her team-leading kills in the third game, but Furman stuffed five ASU attempts in the third game, as Carla Durham was the only other Mountaineer with more than two kills in the game. Durham posted three of her 11 kills in the 30-26 loss. She finished the match with five blocks, two assists, and a dig. Solid serving from Cassie Engelgau allowed ASU to close a nine-point deficit late in the match, but were unable to come any closer than three points from the lead in the 30-26 loss. Engelgau was one of five players in double-digit digs, with 13.
Game four saw a decisive turn in momentum, as Appalachian kept the Paladins to a -.029 hitting percentage. Furman scored consecutive points in the game just twice, and Lorelle Rau had three of her seven kills in the game as the Apps rolled to a 30-14 win, squaring the match at 2-2. Rau posted 58 assists, a team-high four aces, and 15 digs in the match. ASU won nine of the last ten points in the game.
Keeping with the evening’s theme, the Appalachian State volleyball team (13-12) came from behind one more time in game five. In an early 5-2 hole, the visitors finished off with a 13-5 run for the 15-10 win.
The teams split the season series last year, with the home team winning both times. The teams will not meet again in the regular season this year. Senior Dianna Thomas had 12 kills in the match, which places her just 18 away from tying the school’s all-time record.
Appalachian is back on the road this weekend at The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. and against College of Charleston on Saturday.