CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - After suffering its closest defeat of the season Saturday, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball responded by recording its first Southern Conference win when they hosted UNC Greensboro Sunday, 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-18).The win in straight sets was the first for the squad this season improving its record to 9-5 and 1-1 in the SoCon, while dropping the Spartans to 6-9 and 0-2.
"I am really excited about the win because it was going to be an interesting day to see how we responded after that tough loss (to Elon)," said head coach Lisa Rhodes. "I am proud of our team. I think that we stepped up and played like we needed to after the loss. It was a total team effort. Everybody did their job and what they were supposed to do. I am really excited to be 1-1 in the conference right now."
Junior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) posted eight kills tying the match-high with UNC Greensboro's Billi Baker. Additionally, the team's other middle blocker sophomore Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio, Texas) registered seven blocks and seven kills for the Lady Mocs.
"I have been impressed with Ellie's blocking by recording seven blocks today and nine yesterday," said Rhodes. "She has made some really big plays for us."
On the outside, sophomore Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) posted six kills and had eight digs, while freshman Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas) registered five kills and six digs. Each sophomore right side hitter Stephanie Harville (Morristown, Tenn.) and Jessica Scott (Lawrence, Kansas) had five kills, while Harville also blocked three attacks.
Senior Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill.) and freshman Paula Passmore (Merrit Island, Fla.) recorded two service aces for Chattanooga. Additionally, Passmore led the team defensively with 16 digs, while Conner shared the setting role with junior Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn) combining for 32 assists.
As a team, the Lady Mocs seemed to play better as the match went on improving their kills per set and attacking percentage in each, while hitting .248 overall. In the first set, Chattanooga raced out to a 16-9 lead en route to a 25-13 victory including a 7-0 run with Brock on the service line late in the set.
After hitting an average of .147 on 11 kills, Chattanooga played efficiently only registering two errors and hit .294, while the Spartans recorded 11 errors. The Lady Mocs took the set capitalizing on mistakes, 26-24. All afternoon UNC Greensboro committed costly errors totaling 24 including a negative attack percentage in the first set.
The last seven opportunities that the Lady Mocs had to sweep its opponent this season, the opposing team has come back to take the third set, but Chattanooga owns a 6-1 record in those matches. This time the squad made sure that did not happen as they hit .303 as a team and generated 15 kills during a 25-18 win.
Up next for Chattanooga, the team travels to Birmingham, Ala. on Wednesday for a tilt with Samford at 7 p.m., who holds a 2-0 conference record. Then, the Lady Mocs return to Maclellan Gym for a matchup with Georgia Southern Saturday at 2 p.m.
Chattanooga def. UNC Greensboro 25-13,26-24,25-18
UNC Greensboro (6-9, 0-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Billi Baker 8-0-2;
Luciana Shafer 7-0-2; Emily Lindborg 6-0-6; Alissa Beaudway 4-0-2;
Caley Redden 4-0-1; Olivia Humphries 2-0-2; Ari Lysacek 1-0-1; Totals
32-0-9.0. (Assists) - Ari Lysacek 20. (Dig leaders) - Catherine
Hanners 20; Caley Redden 11
Chattanooga (9-5, 1-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BARNES, Courtney 8-0-1;
KUHN, Ellie 7-0-7; BROCK, Laura 6-0-1; SCOTT, Jessica 5-0-0; HARVILLE,
Stephanie 5-0-3; BEASLEY, Kirsten 5-1-2; PARMAN, Heather 2-0-0;
CONNER, Cassie 0-2-0; PASSMORE, Paula 0-2-0; Totals 38-5-8.0.
(Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 18; CONNER, Cassie 14. (Dig leaders) -
PASSMORE, Paula 16; CONNER, Cassie 8; BROCK, Laura 8
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. (Maclellan Gym)
Date: Sep 27, 2009 Attend: 142 Time: 1:18
Referees: Harold Webber, Delroza Hughes
