Boxscore

ATLANTA, Ga. ? Freshman setter Blaire Brueggemeyer produced a match-high 61 assists and sophomore outside hitter Erin Cambell and senior outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder combined for 39 kills to lead the University of Central Florida (1-3) to a 3-2 victory over Chattanooga (1-2) Saturday evening at the Georgia State Tournament in Atlanta, Ga. The Knights won 30-20, 29-31, 32-34, 30-24 and 15-13 to collect their first victory of the season.

After an early Chattanooga lead to start off the match, UCF took control of game, grabbing a 20-16 advantage and closing out the first set with a 10-4 run for the 30-20 victory.

Quickly down a game, UTC fought back in the second game, getting to game point at 29-28 before a kill by Central Florida's junior middle blocker Jenny Heppert tied the game. The Lady Mocs then responded with back-to-back kills from senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) to put the game away, 31-29, and tie the match at one game apiece.

The third game of the set was one very similar to many the Lady Mocs had played during the tournament, as both teams pushed past 30 points before one team claimed victory. UTC jumped out to early leads of 5-1 and 12-5, fueled by three early kills by Ball, before Central Florida battled back with a 16-9 run to tie the score at 21-21.

From there, Chattanooga retook the lead, 25-21, with four straight points before the Knights went on a 5-2 run of their own to tie the score at 27-27. A series of kills for each team tied the score once again, this time at 32-32, before two final kills, by sophomore Ashley Yeager (Parker, Colo.) and senior Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.), put the game away for UTC, 34-32.

The fourth game saw both teams battled back and forth with multiple lead changes throughout the first portion of the game. With Chattanooga leading 18-17, UCF mounted a 13-6 run to take the game 30-24 and tie the match at 2-2.

Three consecutive kills, two by Yeager, got the Lady Mocs off to a strong start in the fifth game as they took an early 3-0 lead before the Knights rallied tied the score at 4-4. The two teams then exchanged points on each of the next five possessions to keep the score tied at 9-9. Two UTC errors and a kill by Neiderworder staked UCF to a 12-9 lead that they would not surrender. Chattanooga rallied for three of the next four points to pull to within 13-12 but would get no closer, falling 15-13 in the decisive fifth game.

Central Florida entered the contest with a 0-3 record following a 3-1 loss to Fordham and a 3-0 defeat to Georgia State on the opening day of the tournament and a 3-1 loss to East Tennessee State earlier in the day. For Chattanooga, it was the second consecutive five set match of the day. UTC defeated host Georgia State 3-2 earlier in the day.

In addition to Brueggemeyer's 61 assists, the Knights received strong performances from Campbell, 20 kills and 11 digs, and Neiderworder, 19 kills and 14 digs, to go along with a team-high 34 digs from freshman Kristen Petrasic. Senior libero Cassie Ramaekers and freshman Brittany Turnbull each reached double-digits in digs, posting 18 and 14, respectively.

For the Lady Mocs, senior setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) registered 52 assists and nine digs while Ball posted a match-high tying 20 kills to go along with 10 digs and also notched an impressive hitting percentage of .436 (20-39). Senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) added 12 kills and 14 digs while Yeager finished with 12 kills and 11 digs on the evening. Engel chipped in with 11 kills.

With their performance over the weekend, several Lady Mocs moved up on the program's all-time records lists. Bethany Herndon amassed 151 assists in three matches (13 games) for an average of 11.62 per game, moving her into second place all-time on the assist list with 2,818. Lara Newberry posted 96 digs over the three games, notching an average of 7.39 per game, and secured third-place on the all-time digs list behind #2 Kari Krouse's 1,769 digs (2000-03). Senior Leslee Ball rounded out the group with 63 kills on the weekend which moves her into the top-10 all-time in ninth-place with 949 career kills.

The Lady Mocs will next be in action when they host Samford University in their home opener on August 29 at 7 p.m. in Maclellan Gym.