Samford at Chattanooga Oct. 6, 2010 Chattanooga, Tenn. (Maclellan Gym) Team 1 2 3 Score Samford 25 25 25 3 Chattanooga 22 14 23 0

Samford (7-14, 1-3 SOCON) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Elizabeth Neisler 14-0-3; Katie Murphy 10-0-5; Lauren Hutchinson 7-0-10; Hillary Fountain 2-2-4; Allie Bettinger 2-0-1; Samantha Bland 2-0-0; Shelby Brandon 1-0-6; Alicia Roth 0-1-0; Casey Garvey 0-1-1; Totals 38-4-16.0. (Assists) - Hillary Fountain 33. (Dig leaders) - Alexis Bauer 15; Samantha Bland 10 Chattanooga (4-15, 0-4 SOCON) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kirsten Beasley 8-0-0; Jennifer Kuroski 6-0-0; Courtney Barnes 4-0-3; Bailee Chastain 4-0-1; Jessica Scott 3-0-1; Ellie Kuhn 3-0-4; Heather Parman 2-0-1; Meagan Ernd 1-0-1; Christina Teter 1-0-0; Paula Passmore 0-1-0; Totals 32-1-7.0. (Assists) - Bailee Chastain 20. (Dig leaders) - Paula Passmore 14; Bailee Chastain 8

Match Notes - The attendance of 687 was a new volleyball record at Maclellan Gym. It smashed the previous record of 672 against Wofford on Nov. 12, 2006. - Senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes recorded her 700th career kill against the Bulldogs and added four in the match. She is third-all-time in hitting percentage at .305 and has totaled 702 kills in her four-year career. - For the second-straight match, sophomore Kirsten Beasley led the Lady Mocs offense. She recorded eight kills tonight, while notched nine at Savannah St. on Oct. 3.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – In front a record shattering crowd of 687, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball used the momentum they created in jumping out 20-17 advantage in the first set and almost complete an amazing comeback in the final frame, but dropped its match against Samford, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-23).

“Before the game we talked about playing for something bigger than us,” said senior setter Bailee Chastain (Chattanooga, Tenn.).  “It was great to see 30 minutes before the match started the stands were full. The cause is really great and I hope that the fans continue their support, and they will come back to see more matches.”

Throughout the contest, fans swayed to the music played by the band during timeouts and between sets on Dig Pink night promoting breast cancer awareness inside a pink-themed Maclellan Gym. The volleyball squad signed autographs for the young Lady Mocs fans as apart of youth night. Previously, the attendance record for a volleyball match at Maclellan Gym was 372 against Wofford on Nov. 12, 2006.

“Coming out here tonight we were ready to go,” said sophomore outside Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas). “The fans created a lot energy and it was nice to come out see that kind of support.”

Pacing the Lady Mocs offense was sophomore outside Kirsten Beasley (San Antonio, Texas) with eight kills and freshman outside Jennifer Kuroski (Acworth, Ga.) added six. Senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) registered her 700th career kill and contributed four during the match, while junior Ellie Kuhn and senior Jessica Scott each totaled three.

“Over the past couple of weeks, coach [James Onikeku] has had us working on personal goals,” said Beasley. “I think that has helped me focus as I have worked hard on smarter swings, harder serves and better defense. I especially want to make sure that I am in the right position defensively.”

Senior setter Bailee Chastain (Chattanooga, Tenn.) ran the offense for Chattanooga compiling 20 assists and adding eight digs.

On the defensive end, sophomore libero Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.) dug up 14 attacks. The Lady Mocs out-dug Samford with 46 digs thanks to the efforts from Kursoki with six, Barnes with four and Beasley with four.

Chattanooga (5-15, 0-4 SoCon) registered seven blocks with Barnes and Kuhn leading the way with three each.

“We just have to swing smarter,” said Onikeku. “ We were swinging hard all match, but just not taking what they gave us. We were not putting our hitters in good situations.”

Even though Samford (7-11, 1-3 SoCon) blocked 16 attacks, the Lady Mocs continued to swing hard throughout the contest as the home team posted atleast 12 kills in two sets. The Lady Mocs only committed six more hitting mistakes during the contest showing their accuracy.

In the first set, three kills by Beasley allowed the Lady Mocs to open with an early 4-0 advantage. A solo block by Barnes stretched the lead to 13-8. At 17-20, Samford rallied to tie the set up with three-straight points. Chattanooga would tie the match at 22-all on a Beasley kill, but the Bulldogs took the next three points in closing out the set, 25-22.

“We were all ready to play, came out and played well,” said Chastain. “I'm not sure at what point we lost control of the game, but they started to play their tempo. I don't think that we let up, but we let them take control of the pace of the match.”

Following a tough ending to the first frame, Samford took control of the match cruising to a 10-3 lead before the Lady Mocs scored the next three points capped by a block from sophomore outside Meagan Ernd (Munster, Ind.) and Kuhn. The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 19-8 following blocks on three of four rallies and went on to a 25-14 victory.

The third set saw 10-tie scores through the first 22 points, but not a single lead change as the Bulldogs stretched their lead to four at 16-12 and eventually held a 21-17 lead. Two kills by Beasley and one by Kuhn brought the deficit to two at 22-20. The Lady Mocs continued to battle down three, 24-21, scoring two-straight points on a by Barnes, but Samford closed out the match on the next rally.

“Lets not give up, lets keep fighting,” said Onikeku on what he told his team during the intermission. “We competed during the beginning of the set, but gave up a couple easy points that could have picked it up in the middle of the set. Then, you have to give Samford credit for capitalizing on our mistakes”

For Samford, Katie Murphy and Elizabeth Neisler each recorded atleast 10 kills, shile Lauren Hutchinson had a career days with 10 blocks with one being solo.

Chattanooga continues its three-match homestand on Saturday night at 7 p.m. hosting Western Carolina. The following day Appalachian State comes to Maclellan Gym for a 5 p.m. match.