RUSTON, La. - After a victory against Grambling last night, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team recorded two wins today against Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech at the Techster Home Tournament. The match with the Lady Techsters went to the brink as both teams battled to a 11-all tie in the fifth set. Then the hosts took the next two points, only to be out done the Lady Mocs, who secured the match winning the next four rallies with senior Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill.) serving.
Sophomore Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio, Texas), sophomore Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and junior Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) received all-tournament honors for their roles helping the Lady Mocs win the Techster Home Tournament. Brock registered two double-doubles, while Barnes led the team in kills with 28 and Kuhn was credited with 18 blocks.
"I think that winning this tournament was important because we came here with a goal to leave 8-3," said head coach Lisa Rhodes. "I think it is a great confidence builder. All the teams that we played here were very strong. It was not like they were push over teams under any means. It was good competition for us."
This was the first sweep of a nonconference tournament for the Lady Mocs since they won the Hilton Garden Challenge where they hosted Jackson State and Austin Peay during the 2005 season.
Chattanooga accomplished the same feat on the road back in 2002 at the Battle on the Bayou in Monroe, La, which coincidentally was the last time the Lady Mocs attended a tournament in Louisiana. There they beat Centenary, Mississippi Valley State and host Louisiana-Monroe.
The Lady Mocs lost the first set of match against Louisiana Tech, but came back for a fifth-set triumph. It was the first time this season that the team was victorious after dropping the initial set.
"Well, I think that we were just tired," said Rhodes. "The first set you could tell that we were a little sluggish, so we made a change in the lineup and I think that change really helped. It gave an opportunity to get some fresh players out there and a gave them a different look. We ran a 6-2 giving us a bigger lineup on the front line, which is big because Louisiana Tech is a huge team height wise. Meagan Ernd had a couple of big swings and huge blocks that were crucial towards the end of the match."
The Lady Mocs now prepare for Belmont on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in Maclellan Gym. Then the Southern Conference portion of the schedule begins for Chattanooga as they welcome Elon and UNC Greensboro this weekend. Chattanooga hosts the Phoenix Saturday at 3 p.m., while battling the Spartans Sunday at 5 p.m.
Game One: Chattanooga 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
In an offensive explosion, the University of Chattanooga volleyball team had three individuals in freshman Kirsten Beasley (Amarrillo, Texas), Brock and junior Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) record double-doubles during the Lady Mocs 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23) defeat of Southeastern Louisiana. Brock and Beasley each had 12 kills and 14 digs, while Chastain posted another 12 kills along with 43 assists.
With the victory over Southeastern Louisiana, the Lady Mocs improved their record to 7-3 this season, while dropping the Lady Lions to 2-7.
middle blocker Barnes continued to hit smartly with a .417 attack percentage leading the match. The Franklin, Tenn., native also had 12 kills and four blocks. Kuhn blocked a match-high five attacks, two of them were solo, along with five kills.
Pacing the Chattanooga defense was freshman libero Paula Passmore (Merrit Island, Fla.), who recorded 18 digs and a service ace during the contest.
The Lady Mocs notched decisive victories in sets one and two by only giving up 13 and 17 points, respectively, but their opponents the Lady Lions fought back in the third set recording a 25-22 win. Chattanooga hit .330 in the first two frames registering 14 kills in each with only eight errors total.
Once again, Chattanooga proved to be too much for its opponent in the fifth set as the squad had a 21-16 lead and closed out Southeast Louisiana 25-23. The Lady Lions committed 14 errors in the final frame.
Outside hitters Beasley and Brock were key in Chattanooga taking the first two sets as both players had eight kills each, while Barnes led the way in the final stanza with five kills. The Lady Mocs posted 51 kills and 70 digs, while limiting Southeastern Louisana to 44 kills and 64 digs.
Game 2: Chattanooga 3, Louisiana Tech 2
In the second suspenseful five-set match of the year, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team came through with another key victory over host Louisiana Tech, 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 15-13). The come from behind win was the first one for the squad this season after dropping the first set. The team improved its record to 8-3 on the year, while the Lady Techseters fell to 9-5.
Chattanooga had 11 players see action in the second match of the day. Sophomore Stephanie Harville (Morristown, Tenn.) led the Lady Mocs attack with 13 kills, while Brock posted her second double-double of the day and fourth of the season registering 10 kills and a season-high 16 digs.
Both setters Chastain and Conner positioned the Lady Mocs' hitters in scoring situations during the entire match combining for 56 assists. Chastain paced the squad with 28.
For the second time in as many days, Passmore recorded 30 digs leading Chattanooga defensively.
In the first set, the Lady Mocs showed that they played thirty minutes before their match with Louisiana Tech as the team was unable to be consistent on offense as the Lady Techsters took a 25-19 win behind 18 kills.
The team's youth and enthusiasm showed in the second frame as Chattanooga tied up the match with a 25-19 victory. The squad recorded 14 kills on only three errors, while capitalizing on the 10 mistakes the Lady Techsters made.
Lady Mocs recorded a comeback down 20-16 to tie it at 21-all before taking the set 25-23 and a 2-1 lead in the match. Chattanooga registered 18 kills in the frame with a .225 hitting percentage.
UTC was unable to close out the match in the fourth set as they made 10 mistakes allowing the hosts to take the set, 25-17. Both teams entered the ninth set of the day in the fifth frame as each team won in four sets earlier in the day.
In the fifth set, the teams played even through the first 20 points as the Lady Mocs rallied from three down to tie it at 10-all. The match then went the way of the hosts, who took a 13-11 lead, but Chattanooga fought back to take a 15-13 win recording the last four points of the match.
This was the second time this season that the Lady Mocs battled back to victory after allowing their opponent to score 13 points in the final frame. Back on Aug. 30, James Madision jumped out to a 13-9 lead, but behind Chastain Chattanooga registered the next six points to shock the Dukes in Morehead, Ky.
Chattanooga def. Southeastern, La. 25-13,25-17,22-25,25-23
Chattanooga (7-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BROCK, Laura 12-1-3; BEASLEY,
Kirsten 12-0-2; BARNES, Courtney 12-1-4; SCOTT, Jessica 6-0-0; KUHN,
Ellie 5-0-5; CHASTAIN, Bailee 4-1-1; PASSMORE, Paula 0-1-0; Totals
51-4-9.0. (Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 44. (Dig leaders) - PASSMORE,
Paula 18; BROCK, Laura 14; BEASLEY, Kirsten 14; CHASTAIN, Bailee 10;
SCOTT, Jessica 8
Southeastern, La. (4-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Mayer, Lauren 9-0-2;
Donald, Courtney 8-0-2; Jones, Allison 8-0-0; Srajer, Jessica 5-0-0;
Braghini, Alexis 5-1-3; Glover, Kaprice 3-0-0; Buckner, Taylor 3-1-0;
Elliott, Julie 2-0-0; Cruckshank, Arianne 1-0-2; Totals 44-2-5.0.
(Assists) - Cruckshank, Arianne 31. (Dig leaders) - Mayer, Lauren 15;
Greer, Alex 14; Pittman, Margaret 8; Srajer, Jessica 8
Site: Ruston, La. (Thomas Assembly Ctr.)
Date: Sep 19, 2009 Attend: 100 Time: 1:40
Referees:
Chattanooga def. Louisiana Tech 19-25,25-19,25-23,17-25,15-13
Chattanooga (8-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - HARVILLE, Stephanie 13-0-2;
BROCK, Laura 10-0-2; KUHN, Ellie 9-0-8; BARNES, Courtney 9-0-4; SCOTT,
Jessica 9-0-4; BEASLEY, Kirsten 5-0-1; ERND, Meagan 2-0-3; CONNER,
Cassie 1-2-0; PARMAN, Heather 1-0-0; Totals 59-2-12.0. (Assists) -
CHASTAIN, Bailee 28; CONNER, Cassie 27. (Dig leaders) - PASSMORE,
Paula 30; BROCK, Laura 16; BEASLEY, Kirsten 9; CHASTAIN, Bailee 9
Louisiana Tech (9-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - KC Clayton 19-0-4; Natasha
Kolunija 12-0-2; Kara Jones 10-0-4; Bianca Bin 6-1-0; Jennifer Goodwin
5-1-2; Nataliya Panova 5-0-3; Samantha Crowder 5-0-1; Kassia Pinto
2-0-2; Lori Hunsucker 0-1-0; Totals 64-3-10.0. (Assists) - Bianca Bin
45. (Dig leaders) - Lori Hunsucker 17; Bianca Bin 16; Jennifer Goodwin
14; Kassia Pinto 14; Nataliya Panova 9
Site: Ruston, La. (Thomas Assembly Ctr.)
Date: Sep 19, 2009 Attend: 122 Time: 2:18
Referees:
