Chattanooga 3, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Facing a pivotal match in its season, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team responded after dropping the first set at Samford to defeat the Bulldogs in picking up a 3-1 (18-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-21) victory. Sophomore Heather Parman paced the squad with 16 kills adding 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while senior setter Bailee Chastain dished out 25 assists, recorded 11 digs and a season-high seven kills, three kills away from a triple-double.
The three seniors picked up their first victory against Samford (11-14, 5-6 SoCon) and the first for the program since 1999. Chattanooga (10-17, 5-6 SoCon) ended a 19-consecutive set losing streak in the 26-24 win in the second set and did not stop in notching the victory.
Another contributor on the outside was sophomore Meagan Ernd registering 13 kills and fellow classmate right side Christina Teter had five.
Up the middle, senior Courtney Barnes and junior Ellie Kuhn combined for 10 kills, but their net presence contributed to Bulldogs mistakes as Barnes totaled a career-high eight blocks and Kuhn added four. Chastain notched a season-high five blocks along with Teter as the Lady Mocs recorded 14 total in the match.
Leading the defensive efforts was sophomore libero Paula Passmore with 16 digs and senior right side Jessica Scott contributed 15 digs.
For the Bulldogs, Lauren Hutchinson paced the match with 18 kills, while Elizabeth Neisler and Katie Murphy added 13 and 15, respectively. Setter Casey Garvey recorded 49 assists, while Alexis Bauer notched 21 digs.
In the first set, both teams were neck and neck through the first 17 points as Samford went on a 12-1 run to take control. The Bulldogs would go on to take the set, 25-18, but the Lady Mocs did score three of the final four points of the frame.
The Lady Mocs started with a clean slate in the second set, but fell behind early, 8-3, before cutting the deficit to three on consecutive errors by the Bulldogs, 12-9. Kills by Barnes, Ernd and Teter along with a block by Teter and Kuhn helped to tie the set at 16.
A kill by Ernd followed by a block by Barnes and Chastain provided the Lady Mocs with a 17-15 lead. After Samford tied it at 17-all, Chattanooga swung momentum in its favor scoring on the next four rallies, but the Bulldogs would come back to tie it at 21.
The teams would tie it up at 22, 23 and 24 before Chattanooga would win it, 26-24 on a kill by Parman followed by a service ace from the Ooltewah, Tenn., native. It was a big relief for the Lady Mocs to finish off the set and bring a positive to build on during the intermission.
During the third set, the teams battled back and forth with 11 ties and four lead changes. Samford connected on three-straight rallies to take a 20-18 lead, but the Lady Mocs would go on a run of their own capped by an Ernd kill to provide a 22-20 advantage. An error by the Bulldogs sealed the 25-22 victory for the Lady Mocs to build a 2-1 advantage.
Once the Lady Mocs got rolling late in the third set, Chattanooga carried that momentum into the fourth in building a 5-0 lead on three kills by Parman and another by Kuhn. Samford would battle back to tie it at seven and eventually take a 14-11 lead.
The Lady Mocs never gave up, however, battling back to tie it at 16 on two Bulldog mistakes and take control of the set following a 7-1 rally that put them up 22-18 on an Ernd kill. Chattanooga would need three match points before Parman connected on the winner, 25-21.
On Saturday, Chattanooga is back in action facing Elon at Maclellan Gym with the first serve slated for 5 p.m. The Lady Mocs host UNCG the following afternoon at 5 p.m. to close out the weekend. The Bulldogs will round out their five-match homestand this weekend when they play host to UNC Greensboro Saturday and Elon Sunday. Both matches start at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.
East Tennessee State 3, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Senior Paloma Alvarez led all players with a match-high 11 kills, but it wasn't enough to overcome a balanced offensive attack by East Tennessee State as they fell in three sets on Wednesday night.
The Buccaneers (21-6) had four players with six or more kills, paced by Lauren Baufield, Megan Devine and Summer Kremer who all chipped in seven kills on their way to the squad's 21st victory on the season. ETSU has now won four consecutive matches without dropping a set.
WCU's Carrie Minogue added six kills with freshman Kelcie Randazzo recorded five kills and nine digs. Freshman Morgan Cochran had a team-high 11 digs. Junior Rebecca Stoltz posted three blocks (one solo, two assists) in the defensive effort.
"Our defensive setup tonight and made the opponent commit more hitting errors than they usually make, so that was encouraging," said Western Carolina head coach Concepcion. "Every set was close and the girls fought from beginning to end, but let them come back by breaking on serve-receive at crucial moments."
The Catamounts had 10 less attacking errors than the Bucs (27-17), but committed 15 miscues between their serving and receiving errors to ETSU's eight.
WCU trailed 9-5 early in set one before scoring five straight points capped by back-to-back kills by Stoltz and Alvarez to take a one-point advantage (10-9). It would be the only lead the Catamounts would have in the first set as ETSU pulled out to a four-point lead (21-17. WCU scored six of the final 10 points and got within one (24-23), but a kill by Devine gave the Bucs set one, 25-23.
The Catamounts jumped out to a 12-3 lead to open set two before letting the Bucs back in the match as they scored seven consecutive points to cut WCU's lead to two (12-10). WCU scored three of the next four points to take a 15-11 advantage, but a 9-1 run by the Bucs put the Catamounts behind (20-16). WCU battled back late as they did in the first set, going on a 7-4 run out of a time out to get the set within one (24-23) before falling in the final point on an attacking error by Minogue.
An Alvarez kill got the Catamounts within three (11-8) early in set three before ETSU rolled out to an eight-point lead (18-10) by using a 7-2 run. WCU trailed by as much as 10 at the 22-12 mark, but continued to fight by scoring nine of the next 10 points to get back within two (23-21). ETSU scored two of the final three points on kills by Kremer and Devine to win, 25-22.
"We have been able to shut down the opponents' most dominant players; now is a matter of stabilizing our mentality and learn to play when we are ahead on the scoreboard," said Concepcion.
"It's a matter of changing the losing culture to an absolute expectation of winning," said Concepcion. "Our program will continue to work on improving both the mental and technical part of the team and get closer to the ultimate positive outcome."
The Catamounts hit the road for their next two matches, playing at The Citadel on Oct. 30 and at Appalachian State on Nov. 3.