CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - On the second day of the Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Challenge, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga went 1-1 capturing a victory against SIU-Edwardsville, 3-1, int. The Lady Mocs recorded their fourth win of the season and its first victory at Maclellan Gym. Freshman libero Paula Passmore was selected for the all-tournament team for her defensive performance for Chattanooga posting 67 digs total in the event.
The MVP of the tournament was Loyola (Ill.)'s Katie Johnson. Also, Lauren Ditsheit and Coleen Francis were named to the team from the Ramblers, while Austin Peay placed Stephanie Champine and Taylor Skinneer on the team. Tiffany Turner represented SIU-Edwardsville.
Game 1
In the first match of the day, the UTC volleyball team won its match versus SIU-Edwardsville, 3-1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-22, 27-25) at the Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Challenge raising its record to 5-2. The Lady Mocs were paced by junior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) who generated a career-high 17 kills and three blocks against the Cougars who fell to 0-11 on the season.
The Lady Mocs return to action today at 5 p.m. against Loyola (Ill.) concluding the Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Challenge at Maclellan Gym.
The match was dominated by Chattanooga's middle blockers Barnes and sophomore Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio, Texas). Kuhn recorded 10 kills and both middles hit above .375 in the victory.
Freshman outside hitter Kirsten Beasley (Bushland, Texas) dug up 12 balls and had eight kills, while sophomore right side Jessica Scott (Lawrence, Kan.) posted 14 digs and five kills.
The Lady Mocs were led defensively by freshman Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.) who had 24 digs on the afternoon.
During the first set, Chattanooga controlled the play racing out to a 7-2 lead early. The squad generated 14 kills against the Cougars and only committed three errors, while SIU-Edwardsville had eight. UTC took the first set 25-21.
All the momentum that the Lady Mocs had went away early in the second set as the Cougars built a 14-4 advantage and cruised 25-13.
With the match tied at one apiece, Chattanooga once again started with the hot hand and another 7-2 lead. This time though, the hosts fought themselves the entire set with nine errors, but the squad was able to pull out a 25-22 win courtesy of their 12 kills and six mistakes by the Cougars.
In the most exciting set, the Lady Mocs and Cougars battled tightly thru the first 28 points with UTC holding a two-point advantage. Chattanooga took a 21-15 on an error by the Cougars, but SIU-Edwardsville battled hard to tie the match at 23-all. It was again tied at 25, when Chattanooga took control of the match with a Scott kill and ended it on another Cougar mistake, 27-25.
Game 2
Facing Loyola (Ill.), who won its two tournament games, the Lady Mocs had their hands full and battled tough in the first set, but the Ramblers were able to capitalize on the young team's mistakes to take the set 28-26. Chattanooga (4-3) ended up dropping the next two sets 25-15 resulting in a 3-0 loss. Sophomore outside hitter Laura Brock notched her second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 14 digs.
Once again, middle blockers Barnes and Kuhn led the Lady Mocs with six kills each, while the sophomore Kuhn registered 4 blockes and three digs.
Defensively, the Lady Mocs were led by Brock with her 14 digs and freshman libero Passmore dug up 10 balls, only because Loyola was hitting to the other players on the court.
Chattanooga played its best in the first set as the squad started on a 9-4 run. The Lady Mocs were up 21-16 on an attack error by the Ramblers, before their opponents went on a run of its own to tie the match at 23 all. The teams traded points to stand at a tie with 26 points, when Mallory Curran posted two kills in a row powering Loyola to a 28-26 win.
In the next two sets, the Ramblers were just too much for the Lady Mocs to handle as they registered 30 kills and hit over .250. Chattanooga only recorded two errors in the second set, but were their own enemy in the third hitting in the negatives with only six kills as Loyola cruised to the 3-0 victory.
Associate head coach J.O. Onikeku led Chattanooga in the second match as head coach Lisa Rhodes was attending her 30-year high school anniversary in Asheville, N.C.
The Lady Mocs are back in action Tuesday when they travel to East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Then, Chattanooga continues its road trip in Ruston, La., for the Techster Home Tournament from Sept. 18-19 battling Grambling, Southeast Louisiana and Louisiana Tech.
Country Inn & Suites All-Tournament Team
MVP: Katie Johnson, Loyola (Ill.)
Lauren Ditschiet, Loyola (Ill.)
Colleen Francis, Loyola (Ill.)
Stephanie Champine, Austin Peay
Taylor Skinner, Austin Peay
Paula Passmore, Chattanooga
Tiffany Turner, SIU-Edwardsville
Short Box Scores
Chattanooga def. SIUE 25-21,13-25,25-22,27-25
SIUE (0-9) (Kills-aces-blocks) - WINSLOW, Sydney 13-3-0; SMITH, Brooke
10-0-2; BIRKEY, Brittni 8-0-2; DOWNING, Karie 8-0-1; MINTON, Sammi
2-0-3; HEMANN, Jessica 2-0-4; SCHMIDLIN, Diane 1-3-0; GRAUNKE, Brianne
1-0-0; FRANKE, Noelle 1-1-0; TURNER, Tiffany 0-2-0; Totals 46-9-8.0.
(Assists) - MINTON, Sammi 33. (Dig leaders) - DOWNING, Karie 18;
TURNER, Tiffany 16; WINSLOW, Sydney 10; MINTON, Sammi 10
Chattanooga (4-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BARNES, Courtney 17-0-3; KUHN,
Ellie 10-2-2; BEASLEY, Kirsten 8-0-1; SCOTT, Jessica 5-2-0; BROCK,
Laura 4-0-0; PARMAN, Heather 2-0-0; CHASTAIN, Bailee 2-0-0; HARVILLE,
Stephanie 2-0-1; PASSMORE, Paula 1-2-0; CONNER, Cassie 1-0-0; ERND,
Meagan 0-0-1; Totals 52-6-5.0. (Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 33;
CONNER, Cassie 10. (Dig leaders) - PASSMORE, Paula 24; SCOTT, Jessica
14; BEASLEY, Kirsten 12; CHASTAIN, Bailee 8; BROCK, Laura 8
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. (Maclellan Gym)
Date: Sep 12, 2009 Attend: 148 Time: 2:00 pm
Referees: Denise Pernzkofer, Kelley Peterson
Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Challenge
Loyola def. Chattanooga 28-26,25-18,25-18
Loyola (6-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - JOHNSON, Katie 15-0-1; FRANCIS,
Colleen 9-2-1; CURRAN, Mallory 6-3-5; SCHULTE, Diana 6-0-4;
VanDIGGELEN, Dana 5-0-5; DITSCHEIT, Lauren 2-0-1; HASTINGS, Melissa
1-0-1; Totals 44-5-10.0. (Assists) - DITSCHEIT, Lauren 29. (Dig
leaders) - SERRITELLA, Alyse 16; FRANCIS, Colleen 14; VanDIGGELEN,
Dana 13; DITSCHEIT, Lauren 10; JOHNSON, Katie 10
Chattanooga (4-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BROCK, Laura 12-0-0; KUHN,
Ellie 6-0-4; BARNES, Courtney 6-0-1; BEASLEY, Kirsten 4-0-0; SCOTT,
Jessica 3-1-0; PARMAN, Heather 2-0-1; CHASTAIN, Bailee 1-1-2; Totals
34-2-5.0. (Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 28. (Dig leaders) - BROCK,
Laura 14; PASSMORE, Paula 10
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. (Maclellan Gym)
Date: Sep 12, 2009 Attend: 147 Time: 1:23
Referees: Kelley Peterson, Thomas Laguer
Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Challenge
