In a match that featured 31 tie scores and 14 lead changes, the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team earned their first Southern Conference win of the season by defeating rival ETSU 3-1 (26-28, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20) on Friday night in Maclellan Gym.
After dropping a tough first set 28-26 to the Buccaneers and falling behind 16-10 in the second set, the Mocs found a way to battle back and take the next three sets to earn the win, notching a 7-1 home record this season.
With the win, UTC moved to 8-7 overall and now carries a 1-1 mark in the SoCon.
ETSU falls to 9-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
"It's been a long time to think about our first conference match at Samford (3-0 loss) ... and our staff challenged our team to perform when the lights came on," said coach Travis Filar.
"I think we got back to playing Chattanooga volleyball tonight. I loved our response from the first set," added Filar. "I thought our offense got back to our biggest strength and our defensive discipline came back alive. I'm just super proud of our group of kids and loved the resilience they showed.
"This is a really great win."
The Mocs offense regained its early season form and finished the match attacking at a .279 clip, its highest percentage since Aug. 27 against Mississippi Valley State (3-0 W). In addition, UTC totaled 61 assists on the night, 85 digs and 7.0 blocks, all second highest marks of the season in each category.
Defensively, Chattanooga finished with five different players recording double-digit digs as well as nine different Mocs registering at least one dig. UTC was out-blocked 9.0-7.0 in the match.
Leading the way were seniors Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) and Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) Wieser finished with a season-high 19 kills on a match-high .447 hitting percentage. Davenport posted a double-double by chipping in with 15 kills and matching that number with 15 digs.
A pair of sophomores in Miranda Elpers (Louisville, Ky.) and Eden Murray (Hoschton, Ga.) finished with nine kills each and combined to hit at a .282 percentage (Murray .333/Elpers .231). The nine kills for Murray is a new career-high. Freshman Dani Szczepanski (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted six kills in the win.
The junior duo of Lauren Greenspoon (Houston, Texas) and Madison Bergren (Muncie, Ind.) provided the direction, combining for 54 of the 61 assists. Greenspoon dished out a match-high 29 assists while Bergren added 25 on the night. The duo also completed the assist-dig double-double as Greenspoon finished with 14 digs and Bergren with ten.
Staying on the defensive side, starting libero Rachel Petkosh (Merritt Island, Fla.) once again led the Mocs with a match-high 24 digs. Wieser and sophomore Emily Plumlee (Chesapeake, Va.) provided defense at the net by both registering four block assists.
Full post-match interview from head coach Travis Filar can be found in the link above.
The Mocs (8-7, 1-1) return to action tomorrow by traveling south to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer (10-5, 2-1) at 3 p.m. The Bears earned a five-set victory at home on Friday night against UNCG. Links to LIVE STATS are available under the schedules tab.