East Tennessee State 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team battled through four tough sets on Wednesday night at Maclellan Gym, but the Bucs took the match, 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-22). Senior setter Bailee Chastain registered her fourth and sophomore outside hitter Heather Parman had her second double-double of the season with 46 assists and 10 digs and 11 kills and 12 digs, respectively.
"One thing is that I think we are playing better," said associate head coach James Onikeku. "We had a chance in the second set to go up, 2-0, at 24-19 and missed a serve, then everything snowballed from there. Overall, it is good to see Courtney (Barnes) come to life. Our middles started slow tonight because we could not get the pass [off the serve]. Then our outsides struggled, but the middles stepped it up"
Leading the offense was junior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn and senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes with each hitting double digits in kills. Also contributing was sophomore right side Christina Teter with eight kills, while fellow classmate outside Meagan Ernd notched six.
Defensively, sophomore libero Paula Passmore paced the match with 22 digs, while senior right side Jessica Scott and Chastain each added 10.
The Lady Mocs blocked down a total of eight attacks on the night with Barnes leading the team with five and Teter, Chastain and Kuhn adding three. Barnes and Kuhn are ninth and 10th in block assists with 171 and 168, respectively, while. Kuhn entered the total blocks chart with 193 at 10th all-time passing Jenny Kulwinski (1996-99) and Lisa Blevins (1985-88).
"You strive for playing in a tightly contested match as an athlete," said Chastain. "Those matches where every point is back and forth. It is fun when you are winning, but I also believe that is important that we were fighting."
Overall, Chattanooga combined for 55 kills and recorded at least 10 in each set with the most coming in the second and fourth with 16 and 15, respectively. The Lady Mocs hit at a .324 clip in the fourth set with one less error than the Bucs. ETSU brought an impressive blocking game that killed 14 Chattanooga rallies.
In the first set, the Lady Mocs built and kept a three-point lead on a kill by Barnes, 11-8. Then, ETSU went on a five-point run to take its first lead of the set. The Bus were up 22-19 after scoring four in a row forcing a Chattanooga timeout. The Lady Mocs responded converting on six of the next seven rallies for a 25-23 victory.
"We have been up and down all season," said Barnes" "So it was good to win the first set. We knew that they would adjust to us and we needed to adjust as well. We came out and it felt good to finally start off with a win."
The teams continued to battle back and forth until a kill by Scott capped a seven-point rally, 9-4. Chattanooga would stretch its advantage to five, 24-19, before an East Tennessee State timeout. The Bucs went on a run of their own to close out the set, 27-25, and tie the match up at one.
"They just have to learn to have that killer instinct," said Onikeku. "The girls were talking about that in the locker room that everyone should be developing that desire to want the ball and finish in that situation."
After a devastating loss in the second set, Chattanooga and East Tennessee State battled point-for-point as neither team led by more than three. Three-consecutive Bucs attacking errors gave the Lady Mocs a 22-19 lead, but ETSU rallied to tie it up at 22-all, then went on to score the final two points on kills to take a lead in the match, 26-24.
The teams continued to battle again throughout the fourth set, but in the end the Bucs put together a three-point rally to take the match, 25-22
The Lady Mocs begin the Southern Conference season on Saturday at UNC Greensboro with the first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. Chattanooga then travels to Elon for a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. The first conference home match at Maclellan Gym is not until Oct. 6, when rival Samford comes to the Scenic City for the Lady Mocs Dig Pink and camp reunion match.
USC Upstate 3, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team fell to USC Upstate in three sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-14) on Wednesday evening at the Ramsey Center. The match was the 1,000th in WCU program history.
"There was a lack of energy the entire math from the first point," said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion. "If we had a little more of a spark we could have been dominate. We saw some of that (spark) in set two and then they went on a 15-1 run."
The Catamounts (4-10) trailed early in set one, 10-3, before going on a 4-2 run to get the match within five (12-5). The Spartans (6-9) pushed their lead to 19-8 before WCU again used a 4-2 run capped by a Kelcie Randazzo service ace to cut their deficit to nine (21-12). Three USC Upstate kills and a WCU error gave the Spartans the first set 25-14.
WCU responded by starting the second set with a 12-6 lead. After a USC Upstate time, the Spartans used a 15-1 run to take a 21-13 advantage. The Catamount scored three more points on kills from Carrie Minogue and Randazzo and a Spartan error, but it wasn't enough to overcome the USC Upstate attack as they went on to win the set, 25-16.
Set three saw the two teams tied at six before the Spartans pulled away. WCU got within two (11-9) on a Leah Best kill, but the Spartans used a 7-3 run to take a six-point lead (18-12). The Catamounts only score two more points in the set as USC Upstate went on to win its sixth match of the year, taking the set 25-14.
"When we are not in the match mentally, we are not there for service receives and our services," said Concepcion.
WCU committed 16 errors between receiving errors and unforced service errors. The Spartans limited their errors in those two categories, only recording four miscues.
Sophomore Amanda Chaparro paced the Catamount offense with 10 kills followed by Randazzo with six and Minogue with five. Emily Franklin led WCU in assists with 23.
Freshman Morgan Cochran posted a match-high 10 digs while Chaparro and Franklin added five digs each. Freshman Leah Best added a block and three kills coming off the bench.
"Leah Best did some good things for us at the net and offensively tonight for us," said Concepcion. "It was good to see her comfortable with what she is capable of doing on the court."
USC Upstate posted four more digs than the Catamounts (8-4) in the match and recorded a .389 attacking percentage to WCU's .103 clip. Senior middle blocker Katie Downey led the Spartans with a match-high 16 kills.
The Catamounts are back in action this Friday (Sept. 24) in their Southern Conference opener against the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. WCU also faces Bethune-Cookman in a non-conference battle on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 3 p.m.