BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was unable to overcome a slow start, but fought back in the second and third securing a set point in each as they fell to Samford, 3-0 (25-14, 28-26, 26-24). Senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) led the Lady Mocs with 10 kills and a .741 attacking percentage. The Lady Mocs fell to 9-6, 1-2 in the Southern Conference, while the Bulldogs improved to 9-7, 3-0.
Early on the squad cycled thru outside hitters to find some consistency as freshmen Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas), Megan Ernd (Munster, Ind.) and Heather Parman (Ooltewah, ten.) and sophomore Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) saw action in the first two sets. In the end, Parman ended up with seven kills and Brock with six.
The squad's defense has been a bright spot so far in conference play gaining additional opportunities for the offence. Tonight, the Lady Mocs had a hard time slowing down the Samford offense that hit .263 for the match. Freshman libero Paula Passmore (Merrit Island, Fla.) dug up 16 attacks as the team posted 46 digs.
Junior Bailee Chastain (Signal Moutain, Tenn.) was the primary setter for Chattanooga as she registered 23 assists.
After a first set that Chattanooga needs to forget, the squad came out in the second and started slow again putting themselves into a 11-6 hole. They fought their way back to tie the match at 17, then the teams traded rallies until the Lady Mocs found themselves up 24-23. The teams traded point until the Bulldogs recorded a kill followed by a service ace giving them the set, 28-26.
The Lady Mocs went into the locker room to regroup and came out in the third set to grad a 5-2 advantage. Samford tied it up at six-all, before the teams proceeded to trade points until a Barnes kill made it 21-20 lead for Chattanooga. Again the rallies went back and forth, but this time Chattanooga had Barnes on the service line for match point, 24-23. The Bulldogs once again responded scoring on the next three rallies to take the match 26-24.
Sheridan Stangohr and Allie Bettinger paced Samford with 15 and 13 kills respecitively. The Bulldogs hit above .210 in each set only committing 18 total errors. The team's setter Hillary Fountain was subperb registering 40 assists on the night. One item that the Bulldogs will need to improve upon is the eleven service errors that they made.
This Saturday, Chattanooga hosts Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. in Maclellan Gym before hitting the road for two games the following weekend against Appalachian State and Western Carolina.
Samford def. Chattanooga 25-14,28-26,26-24
Chattanooga (9-6, 1-2 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BARNES, Courtney
10-0-2; PARMAN, Heather 7-0-2; BROCK, Laura 6-1-0; KUHN, Ellie 3-0-4;
HARVILLE, Stephanie 2-1-2; ERND, Meagan 1-0-1; CHASTAIN, Bailee 1-0-1;
Totals 30-2-7.0. (Assists) - CHASTAIN, Bailee 23. (Dig leaders) -
PASSMORE, Paula 16; CHASTAIN, Bailee 7
Samford (9-7, 3-0 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sheriden Stangohr
15-0-4; Allie Bettinger 13-1-1; Elizabeth Neisler 8-0-1; Rachel
Gadberry 7-0-2; Shelby Brandon 3-0-3; Hillary Fountain 2-4-1; Samantha
Bland 1-1-0; Casey Garvey 0-1-0; Totals 49-7-6.0. (Assists) - Hillary
Fountain 40. (Dig leaders) - Alexis Bauer 12; Allie Bettinger 10;
Samantha Bland 9; Hillary Fountain 8
Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Pete Hanna Center)
Date: Sep 30, 2009 Attend: 359 Time: 1:26
Referees: Apple Kridakorn, Patsy Burke
