STATESBORO, Ga. ? Thanks to career high performances from Courtney Barnes and Cassie Conner, the Chattanooga volleyball team opened up Southern Conference play with a win on Saturday, as the Lady Mocs knocked off Georgia Southern 3-1.
Barnes finished with 15 kills and hit .400 on the afternoon, while Conner recorded 49 assists as the Lady Mocs took the match 30-28, 26-24, 23-25, and 25-23. Aurore Kullak also had a big game with 11 kills and 12 digs. Lara Newberry led all players in the match with 34 digs, which ties her season-high. With the victory the Lady Mocs are now 6-9 on the season and 1-0 in the Southern Conference.
In the first set, the Lady Mocs were able to take the 1-0 lead with a 30-28 victory. Kullak posted six kills in the frame, while Newberry recorded 13 digs. In the tightest set of the match, UTC would take the early lead at 9-4. Georgia Southern would answer with a run of its own and took a short-lived 13-12 lead. The Lady Mocs would immediately tie the game at 13 thanks to a Jessica Scott kill. From there, both teams would remain close as the set would see 10 more ties. The squads would eventually go to a 28-all tie before the Lady Mocs were able to seal the set thanks to back-to-back kills by Scott and Kullak.
In the following set, Chattanooga would pick up right where it left off as the Lady Mocs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Lady Mocs would stay ahead of the Eagles throughout the majority of the set until Georgia Southern finally caught up with UTC at 19-19. The Eagles would soon take a 24-23 lead on Chattanooga, but the Lady Mocs fought back to tie the match with a Barnes kill. After the tie, Georgia Southern would commit errors on back-to-back plays as the Lady Mocs took the commanding 2-0 lead.
Georgia Southern would then take the next set with a 25-23 win to cut the UTC lead to 2-1 as the match would head to a fourth set. Just like in the second frame, the Lady Mocs would take a quick lead by scoring the set's first three points. The Eagles would fight back, but the Lady Mocs would never trail in the set to get the set 25-23, and take the match 3-1.
On tap for the Lady Mocs will be Davidson on Sunday. First serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from Belk Arena in Davidson, N.C.
