Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) notched her second straight 60-plus assist match and junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recorded a near program record 45 digs to lead Chattanooga (11-8, 6-1) to a thrilling 3-2 victory over three-time defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston (11-6, 6-1) Tuesday afternoon at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Mocs defeated the Cougars 30-27, 31-29, 25-30, 16-30 and 15-12 improve to 6-1 in the Southern Conference.
Following a relentless comeback by the College of Charleston from down 0-2 to tie the match at 2-2 and force a fifth and final game, the Lady Mocs quickly took control of the deciding frame, jumping out to dominant leads of 8-4 and 13-6. A CofC kill and four consecutive attack errors by UTC narrowed the gap to 13-11 before Chattanooga broke serve on a Charleston attack error, reaching game point at 14-11.
After a kill by senior setter Lindsey Kane made the score 14-12, Chattanooga senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) slammed the door on any comeback hopes by pounding her eighth kill of the day into the heart of the Cougars defense for the game-winner, 15-12.
The Lady Mocs opened the match with strong performances in the first two games. In Game 1, Chattanooga and the College of Charleston battled through four lead changes and six ties before settling at 13-13. Following a CofC kill, UTC ripped off five straight points to go ahead 18-14 behind four consecutive kills.
The Cougars closed to within 20-17 before an exchange of points made the score 21-18. At that point, Charleston rallied to take the lead, 25-21 on a 7-3 run before the Lady Mocs put together a 4-0 run of their own to tie the score at 25-25. After back-to-back kills by the Cougars made the score 27-25, UTC shut the door, scoring the last five points, three by kill, to take the game 30-27 and go up 1-0 in the match.
In Game 2, Charleston took the early lead, 10-6, before Chattanooga rallied to tie the score at 14-14. The next several plays resulted in four ties before the Lady Mocs pulled ahead 20-17. Following back-to-back points to by the Cougars to make the score 20-19, UTC mounted a 6-2 run to extend to a 26-21 lead.
It was then that CofC made their run, scoring eight of the next nine points to pull ahead 29-27 to come within a point of evening the match. At that point, Chattanooga rallied to take the next four points, culminating with a resounding kill by senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.), to take the game 31-29 and extend their match lead to a commanding 2-0.
Games 3 and 4 would be far different from the matches first two sets as the College of Charleston came alive. In the third set, CofC fought their way out to leads of 12-8 and 18-15 before Chattanooga rallied to tie the score at 23-23. That would be as close as the Lady Mocs would get as a 7-2 run by the Cougars ended the game, 30-25, and narrowed their match lead to 2-1. Game 4 was decided following an early 7-7 tie as the College of Charleston posted a 9-0 run to take firm control of the game with a 16-7 lead. Chattanooga would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as CofC went on to wrap up the game with a 30-16 victory. That forced the decisive fifth game and set the stage for the Lady Mocs heroics in the final frame.
For the Cougars, Kane's 56 assists and senior middle blocker Tiffany Blum's match-high tying 24 kills led the offensive attack while freshman outside hitter Cole Dawley and sophomore outside hitter Emily Sawin led the defense with 23 and 22 digs, respectively. Senior defensive specialist Megan Parkerson added 18 digs while freshman outside hitter Whitney Russell and senior middle blocker Annie Uthe rounded out the double-figure kills with 12 and 10, respectively.
Chattanooga was led on offense by Bethany Herndon's match-high 61 assists and Ball's match-high tying 24 kills. For Herndon, it is the second straight match that she has recorded more than 60 assists, having notched a career-high tying 63 at Wofford on Sunday, while it is Ball's seventh 20-plus kill performance of the season. Lara Newberry equaled her career-high, set earlier this year against Georgia State, with a match-high 45 digs for an average of nine per game. That mark is one off the all-time Chattanooga single match record of 46 set by all-time leader Kylie Hunter (1990-93) on October 15, 1991 vs. Samford.
Freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) finished with 19 digs and nine kills while senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) added 18 digs. Senior middle blocker Sarah Bass (Baton Rouge, La.) added a season-high tying 16 kills while Herndon added 19 digs.
As a team, Chattanooga registered 124 digs for an average of 24.8 and raises its nation leading average to 22.4. The Lady Mocs also tied their season high with 69 assists.
The win snaps a 15-match losing streak to the College of Charleston dating back to November 17, 2000 when the Cougars defeated UTC 3-0 in the Southern Conference Tournament. It is the Lady Mocs first victory over CofC since November 11, 2000 when the Lady Mocs prevailed 3-0 in Charleston, S.C. That same season, Chattanooga defeated CofC at Maclellan Gym, 3-2, on October 6 for their last home win over the Cougars.
With the win, Chattanooga improves to 7-1 in the Southern Conference and is in second place behind Furman, who is 6-1 but with a 3-2 head-to-head victory over UTC this past weekend in Greenville, S.C.
The Lady Mocs return to action this weekend as they host UNC Greensboro on Saturday, October 13 and Elon on Sunday, October 14 at Maclellan Gym. First serve for both matches is set for 2 p.m.
Notes
The win snaps a 15-match losing streak to the College of Charleston and is Chattanooga's first since a 3-0 victory at CofC on November 11, 2000 ... with 45 digs against Charleston, Lara Newberry is now only 66 digs away from tying the Lady Mocs all-time mark set by Kylie Hunter (1990-93) ... Newberry will have two opportunities this weekend to break the record at home ... Herndon has recorded a total of 124 assists in her last two matches with 63 on Sunday and 61 against CofC.
