Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) recorded a match-high 17 kills and hit .469 while setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) registered 39 assists to lead Chattanooga (6-6, 2-0) to a 3-0 victory over Appalachian State (4-10, 1-1) Saturday afternoon at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Mocs move to 2-0 in the Southern Conference with victories of 30-26, 30-18 and 30-23. It is Chattanooga's fourth straight victory and third consecutive sweep.
"We are very excited about being 2-0 in the Southern Conference" said Chattanooga head coach Lisa Rhodes. "Leslee Ball just took this team on her shoulders offensively and carried them. She played very well today".
Both teams came out strong to start the match, registering five ties and three lead changes as they battled out to a 7-7 tie early on. A 3-0 run by the Lady Mocs made the score 10-7 before a rally by the Mountaineers closed the gap to 11-9. A 7-4 spurt capped off by a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) extended Chattanooga's lead to 18-13. From that point, ASU would close to within three points only twice as Ball and senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) combined for six kills to led UTC to a 30-26 opening set victory.
Following a brief 2-1 lead by Appalachian State to open the second game, Chattanooga regained the serve on a Ball kill and mounted a 6-0 run behind the serving of senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.). Engel added two of her three service aces on the day, back-to-back, in the run to push the score to 8-2. The two teams then exchanged points for the next four serves to make the score 11-7 before UTC put together four straight points to take a 15-7 advantage.
The Mountaineers would eventually close to within 21-16 before Chattanooga ended all hope of a comeback with a 9-2 run that included the final six points of the game to lock up the 30-18 Game 2 victory and secure a 2-0 match lead.
Game 3 was a back-and-forth affair early on as Appalachian State refused to go quietly. ASU pulled out to an 8-5 advantage before Chattanooga tied the score at 8-8. The two teams exchanged points over the next five serves to leave score tied, this time at 13-13. Back-to-back kills by the Lady Mocs put them ahead 15-13 and that is where they would stay.
After several rallies the score stood at 21-19, Chattanooga. At that point, the Lady Mocs put together a match-ending 9-4 run to take home the 30-23 victory and their third straight match won by shutout, 3-0.
Senior setter Lorelle Rau led the Mountaineers with a strong all-around performance, posting a team-high 38 assists, 11 digs and four blocks while freshman outside hitter Lauren Swecker led the team with 13 kills and added 10 digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Cassie Engelgau posted a match-high 17 digs and freshman middle blocker Caroline Sedon notched a match-high five kills. Freshman outside hitter Jackie Santarelli and junior middle blocker Carla Durham rounded out the offense with 10 kills a piece.
In addition to Ball and Herndon's performances, the Lady Mocs received a total team effort as a number of players posted strong outings. Senior middle blocker Sarah Bass and Martinez each finished with seven kills while Engel tallied five kills, eight digs and three service aces. On defense, six players recorded at least seven digs, including junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) with a team-high 16, Ball and Amundson with nine each and junior setter Michaela Huff (Dallas, Texas) with seven. Amundson also added six kills.
As a team, Chattanooga hit .242 on the afternoon. Over the last three matches, UTC has hit at least .232 with a high of .298 against Western Carolina on September 18.
The Lady Mocs will be back in action tomorrow when they host the Davidson Wildcats at 2 p.m.
