CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? The Chattanooga volleyball team is making Maclellan Gymnasium a difficult place to play for opponents in 2008 as the Lady Mocs (10-11/5-2) took down Furman (11-9/4-3) 3-1 on Sunday.?
The win completes the weekend sweep for UTC after a 3-2 win over Wofford on Saturday, and wraps up a five-game homestand where the team went 4-1. This was the first time since the 2003 season that the Lady Mocs had defeated Furman as it took the match 25-16, 25-21, 20-25, and 25-18. With the win, the Lady Mocs are now 6-2 at home.
“It was an amazing day,” Head Coach
Lisa Rhodes said. “This really helps us as we try to qualify and get a good seed in the conference tournament. I'm just really proud. Everyone did their job today, Bailee (Chastain) did a good job off the bench and Michaela (Huff) played well for us yesterday and really continued that trend today.”
Courtney Barnes finished the match with 16 kills, which were tops in the match as the Lady Mocs offense hit .191, the highest it has hit in a conference game all season. The sophomore tied a career-high in the category, one she set on Saturday against Wofford.?
Ashley Yeager had the second-most kills in the match with 13, and
Jessica Scott and
Michaela Huff had seven kills apiece. Huff's seven kills set a new career-high for the setter from Dallas, as the senior hit .462 on the afternoon. Huff also led the match with 42 assists and
Lara Newberry led all players with 27 digs.
Katharine Hall and Alison West paced the Furman offense with 11 kills apiece while Kelsey Salava led the team with 38 assists. Libero Brooke Ellison led the team defensively with 21 digs.?
Chattanooga was able to keep its momentum rolling from Saturday's thrilling five-set match with Furman by taking the first two sets of the contest. In the first frame, UTC never trailed as the Lady Mocs won 25-16. Chattanooga hit .343 while holding the Paladin offense to only a .054 hitting percentage. In the following set, the Lady Mocs' defense was able to keep the Paladin offense at bay as Furman hit only -.022 and never led in the set.?
The Paladins were able to keep the match alive with a 25-20 win in the third set as Furman never allowed the Lady Mocs took take a lead in the frame. Chattanooga would be able put the Paladins away in the fourth set however, as the Lady Mocs cruised to a 25-18 victory.?
Chattanooga will now return to road as the team will travel to Charleston, S.C. for weekend tilts with The Citadel and the College of Charleston. First up will be The Citadel on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m.
