The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team returns to Maclellan Gym Friday and Saturday after a four-match road trip kept the team away from the Scenic City for two weekends. UTC welcomes UNCG and Mercer to campus for a couple of 6 p.m. matchups, beginning with Greensboro Friday.
Currently commanding third in the Southern Conference standings, Chattanooga is 5-3 in league play behind Furman (6-2) and Samford (8-0), while UNCG sits sixth with a 4-4 mark and Mercer at 1-6. Chattanooga is coming off a weekend split with Furman (L, 3-0) and The Citadel (W, 3-0), Mercer was 1-2 last week with SoCon losses to Western Carolina and ETSU, and UNCG split its last two matches with Wofford (W, 3-2) and Western Carolina (L, 3-2).
Sophomore Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) continues to pace the Mocs with 210 kills on the season, while sophomore Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) follows closely behind with 186 kills. The UTC offense is aided with setters Anne Bachmann (Lincoln, Neb.) and Lauren Greenspoon (Houston, Texas) leading with 398 and 467 assists, respectively.
The Chattanooga defense is steered by junior Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.) as the middle blocker totals 89 blocks on the season. Her 1.07 blocks per set is good for third in the league while her .331 hitting percentage also ranks third. Junior liberoCatherine Chason (Alpharetta, Ga.) ranks seventh in the conference, averaging 4.29 digs per set.
UNCG comes into Friday’s match sitting near the top of every statistical category in the conference, holding opponents to a .186 hitting percentage, averaging 12.92 kills per set and collecting 16.14 digs per set. The Spartans offense is paced by junior Julia Westerbur, hitting .379 on the season. The defense looks to Vicky Harley to stand tall at the net, as the senior is averaging 0.93 blocks per set.
Despite its record, Mercer threats with junior Molly Locke averaging 3.54 kills per set, totaling 264 on the season. Caroline Carlton follows up with 165 total kills. The defense is paced by libero Tori Penrod with 329 digs, while Locke also has 221 digs. Sophomore Jordan Gollon leads the team with 54 blocks.
Both matches can be followed via live stats, and a free video broadcast is available on the SoCon Digital Network. Links to both can be found on the volleyball schedule page.