CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? After being on the road for almost a month, the Chattanooga volleyball team returned to Maclellan Gym in style on Friday with a 3-1 victory over Appalachian State.
Aurore Kullak led the Lady Mocs with a match-high 13 kills as UTC took the match, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-11. The Lady Mocs are now 7-10 on the season and 2-1 in Southern Conference play while the Mountaineers fall to 4-13 and 0-3 in conference action.
Along with Kullak,
Courtney Barnes continued her red-hot play with 12 kills and a .458 hitting percentage, the highest of any UTC player all season.
Jessica Scott and
Ashley Yeager also pitched in with nine kills apiece.
Cassie Conner led all players in the match with 49 assists, and
Lara Newberry tied a season-high with 34 digs, a number she has reached in three straight matches. Newberry now sits only 45 digs away from breaking the NCAA mark for digs in a career.
Lauren Swecker and Maja Jechorek led Appalachian State with 11 kills apiece, while Charissa Clearman had a team-high 23 assists. Defensively, Appalachian State was led by Heather Kale with 21 digs.
In the first set, Appalachian State would start the match off with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Caroline Sedon kill. That would be the only time ASU would lead in the set however, as the Lady Mocs would quickly tie the match up with a kill of her own. Kullak led all players in the set with five kills as the Lady Mocs took the first set, 25-17.
The second set would begin with three straight points for the Lady Mocs as UTC jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Appalachian State would not back down however, as ASU would answer with three straight of its own to tie the set at three. The Lady Mocs would then go on several small runs only to see the Mountaineers fight back. Chattanooga would not trail in the set until the 16-16 mark, when ASU would take the one point advantage on an attack error by
Laura Nethery. The Lady Mocs would fight back and would eventually tie the match back up at 19-apiece. From there, Chattanooga would not look back as it would take the 2-0 advantage with a 25-22 win.
The Lady Mocs continued its hot play in the match as the team began the third set with eight of the set's first ten points as UTC jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. Appalachian State continued its scrappy play as the Mountaineers would quickly cut into the lead with three points of its own as the ASU would fight back to eventually cut the Lady Mocs' lead to 13-10. Chattanooga would counter-punch with a huge 10-6 run that would seem to put the Lady Mocs on the verge of victory. That would not be the case however as Appalachian State would not allow another UTC point as ASU scored the set's final nine points to stave off defeat as the Mountaineers shocked the Lady Mocs with a 25-23 win.
The fourth set would begin much like the third set ended for the Mountaineers as ASU would cap off an 11-0 run with the first two points of the set to take a 2-0 lead. The Lady Mocs would then answer in a big way as UTC would allow only nine more points in the set for ASU as the Lady Mocs took the fourth set convincingly 25-11. Fittingly,
Courtney Barnes would end the match with her twelfth and final kill to give the Lady Mocs the 3-1 win.
The Lady Mocs will return to Maclellan Gym on Saturday as UTC will play host to Western Carolina (3-12/1-1). First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
