Chattanooga 3, Alabama State 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.-The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team improved to 6-6 on the season Tuesday night with a 3-0 win over Alabama State. The three-set sweep of the Hornets is UTC's fifth straight home-win and keeps its 2012 Maclellan Gym record unblemished.
Freshman outside hitter Briana Reid was Chattanooga's offensive driving force. The Houston, Texas native led the Mocs with 10 kills on 26 attacks for a .308 attacking percentage. Fellow freshman Lauren Gainer followed up with eight kills while classmate Julimar Alvarado tallied six kills.
Junior setter Bridget Camacho collected a team-high 33 assists while also sneaking three kills down in ASU territory on four attempts. Paula Passmore was the Mocs leader in digs with 18 while sophomore defensive specialist Melissa Green had 14 and Gainer had 10.
The Mocs took the first set of the match 25-16, allowing Alabama State to score back-to-back points only four times. The Hornets took the first point of the game, but Chattanooga put together a 9-3 run to jump on top. UTC never looked back and cruised into the second set.
Chattanooga held ASU to just 13 points in the second frame, the lowest scoring total on the night, in a 25-13 victory. The Mocs capitalized on nine errors by the Hornets in the game while UTC committed only nine errors the entire match. The longest run ASU was able to piece together in the set was a 2-0 advantage before Chattanooga ran away with the convincing win going into the intermission.
The third set mirrored the first while Alabama State was much tougher on offense at times in the last go-around. At the 22-10 mark, the Hornets scored five straight points on the serve from Chelsey Scott, but a service error gave Chattanooga possession late in the match. Senior Christina Teter finished off ASU with a service ace to take the match point.
With the loss, the Hornets fall to 0-12 on the season, and the Mocs improve to 2-0 all-time against Alabama State with the win.
The Mocs hit the road for their last tournament of the season Friday as they compete in the Indiana Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Chattanooga squares off against Miami (Ohio), Indiana and Valparaiso over the weekend before opening Southern Conference play the following weekend at home against Appalachian State.
High Point 3, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. - The Elon volleyball team came out strong in the first set against High Point tonight, Sept. 11, but were not able to continue that energy through the match and fell to the Panthers, 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 15-25, 12-25), inside Alumni Gym. The Phoenix drops to 5-7 on the young season, while HPU improves to 8-4.
Sophomore Kris Harris finished with eight kills, while senior Celia Rose Eddy recorded seven. On defense, junior Maggie Reichard tallied 14 digs and senior Ali Deatsch finished with 13. Sophomore Danielle Smith tied her career high with four blocks as Eddy grabbed a match-high five.
Down three in the first set, 6-3, Elon used a 7-1 run off kills by Eddy and D. Smith and blocks by Eddy, D. Smith and Chanelle Smith to take a three-point lead, 10-7. After the Panthers tied the set at 15-all, the maroon and gold scored six of the next seven points with the help of a kill by C. Smith and D. Smith and a block by Eddy and D. Smith to go up 21-16. With a five-point advantage, 23-18, a block by Megan Gravley and a kill by Harris sealed the set win for the Phoenix, 25-18.
The Panthers jumped out to the early lead in set two, 8-4, but a kill by Harris pulled the Phoenix back within three, 8-5. HPU was able to build a seven-point lead, 17-10, forcing an Elon timeout. Out of the short break, the maroon and gold scored three straight off Panther errors and another kill by Harris to cut the deficit to four, 17-13. However, High Point was able to maintain its lead and win the set, 25-17.
The third set remained close with the Phoenix and Panthers trading points back-and-forth and the score tied at five-all. High Point then managed to grab a 11-point lead, 21-10, but Elon went on a 5-0 run off kills by Eddy, Gravley and C. Smith and an ace by Gravley to pull within six, 21-15. The Panthers then finished the set with four straight to win 25-15.
High Point grabbed the momentum from the last set and took a 6-1 lead to start the fourth. The Phoenix closed the gap to three, 9-6, with Panther mistakes and kills by Gravley and D. Smith. However, HPU took the rest of the set on a 16-3 run an won 25-12.
Elon will close out non-conference play this weekend in the Colonial Classic in Williamsburg, Va. The Phoenix faces host William & Mary on Friday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. before taking on Hampton and Howard on Saturday, Sept. 15.
ETSU 3, Western Carolina 0
Johnson City, Tenn. - Sophomore middle blocker Addy George picked up a career-high five blocks against the Bucs.
Western Carolina volleyball fell Tuesday night, 0-3, to East Tennessee State in its last midweek non-conference road match of the season despite a career-high five blocks from sophomore Addy George.
East Tennessee State (9-5) used steady hitting and long runs to down the Catamounts (3-8) hitting at a .237 clip opposed to WCU's -.031 hitting percentage. Western Carolina was without the Catamounts' leading offensive producer, outside hitter Caitlin Piechota, who missed the match due to injury.
The Bucs were led by Megan Divine who finished with 11 kills and Meredith Hardy who had nine. ETSU also notched nine service aces on the night.
The first set started out close as both teams traded points with WCU leading 6-5. Long runs by the Bucs put WCU behind by as many as eight points, eventually being down 19-11, forcing a time out by head coach Karen Glover.
Western Carolina then went on a 5-0 run started by a kill from senior captain Abbey Scroggins off the assist from freshman setter Cally Pfeiffer. Jordan Timmermann served four straight points for the Catamounts, putting them within striking distance of the Bucs at 19-16.
An ETSU timeout would slow the WCU attack with ETSU picking up two straight points out of the timeout before being matched by two points from the Catamounts to put the score at 22-18. A WCU setting error was followed by a kill by sophomore middle blocker Leah Butler. With the score at 22-19, ETSU would go on a 4-1 finish to take the first set, 25-20.
Set two started out much the same way the opening set began, with both teams in a battling, trading scoring plays. Three straight scores from the Purple and Gold tied the match at nine. From there, ETSU would begin to pick up momentum, rolling through the remainder of set two and the final set by scores of 25-14 and 25-11.
Setter Cally Pfeiffer received the most playing time of her young WCU career Tuesday playing in all three sets, dishing out a career-high 13 assists and also picking up two kills. Middle blocker Leah Butler hit at a .267 clip finishing with six kills while classmate Jordan Timmermann finished with a team-high seven kills.
Western Carolina will be back in action this weekend as the Catamounts travel to Rock Hill, S.C. for the Winthrop Classic featuring host Winthrop University, North Florida and Mercer in WCU's last non-conference tournament of the season. North Florida is up first for the Catamounts with both teams squaring off Friday at 5:00 p.m.
Friday's meeting is the first all-time for the two schools. The Catamounts then turn around and play Mercer Saturday at noon followed by Winthrop at 7:00 p.m.
Alabama 3, Samford 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- Samford faced a tough Alabama team Tuesday in Tuscaloosa, as the Bulldogs took the first set but dropped the final three as the Crimson Tide came back to win 3-1.
Samford (5-6) was plagued by errors throughout the match, as they hit .167 as a team with 14 service errors. Lauren Hutchinson and Elizabeth Neisler earned double-digit kills with 11 and 10, respectively, with Hutchinson earning a .360 clip. Alexis Bauer led the defense with 15 digs while Michaela Reesor was close behind with 14.
Alabama (11-1) struggled in the opening set but the offense performed well for the remainder of the match, hitting .328 with three players earning double-digit kills.
Early errors hurt Samford in the opening frame, as Alabama went off to a quick 5-0 start without scoring one kill. Samford began to close the gap, but errors continued to cost them as they were forced to regroup with a timeout, down 14-10, following a blocking error. The Samford offense began to find a rhythm later in the set, eventually tying the match up at 20-20 thanks to back-to-back service aces by Michaela Reesor. The Samford offense continued to impress, as they completed the comeback with a hard kill by Elizabeth Neisler to win set one, 25-23.
Errors plagued Samford again early in set two, as Alabama managed to build a 10-5 lead. The Crimson Tide continued to stretch the lead, moving ahead 16-9 as the Bulldogs took a timeout. Alabama maintained the seven-point difference, up 23-16, and knocked in two quick kills to even the match up with a 25-16 win in set two.
The teams traded points back-and-forth to open set three. The Crimson Tide began to gather a bit of momentum when, tied at 7-7, they went on a 4-0 run to move up 11-7. Alabama eventually stretched the lead to nine, up 19-10, and looked to close out the set with three consecutive points to move up 22-10. Samford would score three more points but the lead proved too large to overcome, as Alabama eventually won 25-13 to pull ahead 2-1 in the match.
The home team held the early momentum in set four, building an 8-4 lead followed by three-consecutive points to move up 11-4 and force a Samford timeout. The Crimson Tide continued to roll out of the break, tallying three more quick points to build a ten-point lead, up 14-4. Alabama reached the 20-point mark first, up 20-9, as they eventually reached match point up 24-12. Samford staved them off, scoring two in a row, but Alabama eventually won the set, 25-14, to win the match 3-1.
Samford wraps up its preconference slate this weekend, hosting the Bulldog Invitational. Samford will play three matches during the tournament, starting on Friday, Sept. 14 against Alcorn State (noon) and Tennessee Tech (7 p.m.) and concluding on Saturday, Sept. 15 against Gardner-Webb (2 p.m.).