RUSTON, La. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team improves to 6-3 on the season with a 3-1 (27-25, 25-22, 23-25) victory over Grambling State on the opening day of the Techster Home Tournament. The Lady Mocs were led by freshman outside hitter Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas), who recorded 10 kills and 12 digs and junior setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), who had 35 assists and 10 digs. It was the second double-double of the season for both players.
Tomorrow, UTC tangles with Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed free of charge, with Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech on www.LaTechSports.com all-access player (for the Southeastern game select the La. Tech and Grambling matchup).
Junior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) tied her season-high for the second-straight match with six blocks along with seven kills and two aces.
Chastain kept the Lady Mocs' offense on target throughout the match, but also contributed defensively by blocking down a season-high five balls and had 10 digs. The 35 assists Chastain had on the night gave her 857 for her career. She passed Beck Brashers (1993-94) with 822 helpers in the last match against East Tennessee St.
On the defensive end, freshman Paula Passmore (Merrit Island, Fla.) posted her third 30 dig performance of the year with 31 against Grambling State. Passmore recorded two service aces during the match bringing her season total up to nine.
The outside hitter tonight may not have put up a lot of kills, but they were productive only registering 20 errors in the four sets. Sophomores Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Jessica Scott (Lawrence, Kan.) each had eight kills on the night, while Scott also kicked in with seven digs.
Again just like against East Tennessee State, the Lady Mocs started on a blazing pace with 15 kills on only two errors in the first set 27-25 win posting a .302 attack percentage. On the other side, Grambling State recorded atleast 10 errors in the first three sets, but were able to surpass Chattanooga in kills with 17, 14 and 15, respectively.
After Chattanooga allowed the Tigers to get back in the match by dropping the third set 25-23, the squad battled back like they have done all year recording a decisive 15 kills taking the fourth set, 25-20, and the match. It was the fifth time the squad has defeated an opponent this season, 3-1, after falling in the third set.
The Lady Mocs return to Maclellan Gym on Wednesday when they face Belmont at 6:30 in the final tune up before conference play. Elon opens SoCon action for Chattanooga on Sept. 26 at 2 p.m., while the Lady Mocs battle UNC Greensboro Sept. 27 at 5 p.m.
Chattanooga def. Grambling State 27-25,25-22,23-25,25-20
Grambling State (2-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - DAVIS,Shawonna 12-2-4;
COOPER,Ashley 10-1-2; WILLiams,Kayla 10-1-2; JOHNSON,Kendra 10-1-1;
WARNER,Markesha 10-0-2; JOHNSON,Davarika 3-1-2; GOINS,Chelsee 1-0-0;
Totals 56-6-7.0. (Assists) - JOHNSON,Davarika 47. (Dig leaders) -
WILLiams,Kayla 23; GOINS,Chelsee 16; JOHNSON,Kendra 15;
JOHNSON,Davarika 14; COOPER,Ashley 9
Chattanooga (6-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BEASLEY, Kirsten 10-0-0;
SCOTT, Jessica 8-0-5; BROCK, Laura 8-1-0; BARNES, Courtney 7-2-6;
PARMAN, Heather 5-0-0; KUHN, Ellie 4-0-5; ERND, Meagan 2-0-0;
CHASTAIN, Bailee 2-0-5; CONNER, Cassie 1-0-0; PASSMORE, Paula 0-2-0;
Totals 47-5-11.0. (Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 35. (Dig leaders) -
PASSMORE, Paula 31; BEASLEY, Kirsten 12; CHASTAIN, Bailee 10
Site: Ruston, La. (Thomas Assembly Ctr.)
Date: Sep 18, 2009 Attend: 173 Time: 1:42
Referees: Michael Denardo, Tom Beckham
