Boxscore
BEAUMONT, Texas ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) posted a match-high 27 kills along with 24 digs and four blocks while senior setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) notched a match-high tying 54 assists as Chattanooga (3-6) outlasted UC Riverside (4-6) for a 3-2 victory Saturday morning at the PROS Home Healthcare Invitational in Beaumont, Texas. The Lady Mocs won 26-30, 30-25, 22-30, 30-22 and 15-12 in their fourth five-set match of the season.
In a game where neither team held a lead of more than five points and were tied 11 times, both teams showed that they had come ready to play in Game 1. UTC pulled out to a 12-7 lead early with four kills from Ball before the Highlanders rebounded to tie the score at 14-14. Over the next 16 points, only one time were the teams separated by more than one point as they battled to a 22-22 tie. URC took the next four points, three of which came on kills, to go ahead 26-22 before Chattanooga fought back to tie the score at 26-26 with two kills from senior Sarah Bass (Baton Rouge, La.). In a final four-point swing, the Highlanders notched three kills in the final four points to take the first game 30-26.
Game 2 would see the Lady Mocs take advantage early as they jumped out to a lead of 11-7. A 10-4 run with the score at 13-11 extended UTC's lead to 23-14. UC Riverside mounted a mini-run of 11-6 to close to 29-25 before a kill by senior Ashley Yeager (Parker, Colo.) put the game away, 30-25.
Tied at 1-1 in the match, the two teams battled out to a 12-12 tie in the third game. That would be the last time it would be close as the Highlanders went on a 15-5 run to pull ahead 27-17 before closing out the game with a 30-22 victory for a 2-1 match lead.
In Game 4, it was Chattanooga's turn to mount a rally as they pulled out to leads of 11-7 and 18-12. After a brief rally by UCR closed the score to 20-16, the Lady Mocs took control, scoring the next five points as part of a larger 8-2 run to extend to a 28-18 lead. A Highlander error and a Herndon kill closed out the game, 30-22, and tied the match a 2-2, setting up a decisive fifth game.
In that fifth game, the Lady Mocs and UC Riverside battled to a 6-6 tie before UCR went up 8-6 at the break. That would be the last lead they would have as UTC tied the game at 8-8 before pulling ahead 11-9 and wrapping up the game and the match with a 15-12 victory.
Senior outside hitter Angie Mitchell and sophomore middle blocker Raquel Salinas each posted 16 kills to lead the Highlanders while sophomore setter Brittney Murrey finished with a match-high tying 54 assists and 18 digs. Junior libero Kimberly McNeal posted a match-high 20 digs and was joined by junior outside hitter Amy Read with 15 digs. Mitchell also added 10 digs.
In addition to Ball and Herndon's stellar performances, senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) posted 12 kills and 19 digs while junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added a match-high 32 digs. Junior setter Michaela Huff (Dallas, Texas) finished the match with 13 digs.
With her 40 kills over the tournament's first two matches, Leslee Ball has moved into seventh place on the Lady Mocs' all-time kills list with 1,060 for her career. She is currently 24 kills away from tying for sixth all-time with 1,084 entering Saturday's evening contest.
The Lady Mocs resume play Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. match against Jackson State to wrap up action at the tournament.
