CONWAY, S.C. ? Coming into its second game of the day, the Chattanooga volleyball team was looking for its second runner-up finish in a tournament in as many weeks. It was not to be though, as the Lady Mocs fell to host-team Coastal Carolina, 3-0 on Saturday. The Chanticleers took the game in straight sets, 25-17, 25-12, and 25-16.
In the Lady Mocs' first game of the day, the UTC offense enjoyed on of its best games of the season, by putting up a hitting percentage of .275. In the nightcap, Chattanooga struggled to find the same offensive production however, as the team could only muster a .059 hitting percentage.
Jessica Scott led the team offensively against the Chanticleers, as the freshman tallied five kills, while Laura Nethery, Ellie Kuhn, and Ashley Yeager, pitched in with three kills apiece. Junior Cassie Conner was the team leader in assists in the match, with 11, and Lara Newberry led the squad defensively, with seven digs. Sophomore Bailee Chastain also recorded a kill, her first of the season.
While UTC struggled on offense, that wasn't the case for the Chanticleers. Coastal hit .346 during the match, and was led by Chelsy Kimes's match-leading nine kills.
In the Lady Mocs' first game of the day, Ashley Yeager put together a career perfermonace, and Lara Newberry continued her solid defensive play, as the Lady Mocs volleyball team knocked off Georgia State 3-1 at the Courtyard by Marriot Chanticleer Invitational. Yeager led all players with 19 kills in the match, which is a career-high for the junior from Parker, Colo. Newberry continued her defense excellence with 33 digs, the most for her in 2008. As a team, Chattanooga pieced together their most efficient offensive performance of the season as the Lady Mocs had a hitting percentage of .275. The Lady Mocs defeated the Panthers 22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23 to improve to 3-5 on the season, and snap a three-game losing skid.
During the match against the Panthers, the Lady Mocs would lose the first set, only to find themselves up 2-1 after three sets of play.
In the fourth set, Georgia State would storm out of the gate to a 10-4 lead. After Head Coach Lisa Rhodes called a timeout, the Lady Mocs began to chip away at the lead. Thanks to GSU errors, and kills by Ellie Kuhn, Yeager, Huff, and Laura Nethery, the Lady Mocs soon found themselves down only two, 12-10. A Panther timeout would follow, and so would another extension of the lead by GSU. After the timeout, Georgia State rattled off four straight points to a 16-10 advantage. The lead would not last long however as UTC would splurge for six straight points of their own to tie the set at 16. After that point, both teams would remain close, with neither club allowing the other to get more than a two point advantage. With point teams tied at 20 though, Kuhn would register a kill that gave UTC a lead it wouldn't give back up. Over the next few points, the Lady Mocs found itself at match-point at 24-23, when Yeager ended the set, and the match, with her 19th and final kill.
The Lady Mocs will return to the court on Wednesday, Sept. 17, as UTC travels to Nashville to play Belmont at 7:30 p.m.
