GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
volleyball team played better as the match progressed and had a 25-24 lead in
the third set, but UNCG would not be denied in a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 27-25) loss
at Flemming Gym. Freshman outside hitter
Jennifer Kuroski (Acworth, Ga.) paced the Lady Mocs with nine kills.
“Jennifer did a good job
for us in coming off the bench and giving us a lift in the second and third
sets,” said associate head coach James Onikeku. “She was really efficient in
hitting close to .600 and had nine kills without an error.”
Distributing the ball to the hitters was senior setter Bailee
Chastain (Chattanooga, Tenn.) with 24 assists on the night, while freshman Tess
Kosycarz (Temecula, Calif.) added seven more.
Offensively, junior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio,
Texas) registered seven kills. A duo of hitters in senior Courtney Barnes
(Franklin, Tenn.) and sophomore Christina Teter (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) recorded
five kills each.
Sophomore libero Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.) led
the match with 14 digs. Chastain added eight, but each of the 12 Lady Mocs, who
saw action in the match, registered at least one dig.
Both teams totaled 38 kills during the match, UNCG (14-3,
2-0 SoCon) would block eight attacks contributing to the mistakes made by the
Lady Mocs. Chattanooga (4-12, 0-1 SoCon) recorded two blocks, both solo, from Barnes and
Chastain.
In the first set, the Spartans took four of the first six
rallies before a kill by Teter and block from Chastain tied the set at four.
UNCG pushed its lead to three, 7-10, and kept an advantage throughout the set.
With the Spartans serving for set point at 24-19, the Lady
Mocs used a Teter kill and two mistakes to cut the deficit to two, but the
effort was not enough as UNCG took the set, 25-22. Chattanooga recorded two
more kills, 12, than the Spartans as Teter led the attack with four. UNCG was
more effective in posting a higher attack pct. at .156 with two fewer mistakes.
The Spartans jumped out to a 7-2 lead forcing a Chattanooga
timeout to start the second set. The Lady Mocs would cut the advantage to
three, 9-6, on a kill by Barnes.
Another kill from Barnes brought the Lady Mocs to three
again at 15-12, but UNCG would go on a six-point run to stretch its lead and take
a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, 25-15. Both teams posted 10 kills, but nine
mistakes for Chattanooga was the difference in the set.
To start the third set, UNCG took a 10-5 advantage, but kills by
Chastain and Kuroski brought the deficit to two at 12-10.Chattanooga continued to
battle as an ace by Passmore and mistake by the Spartans tied the set at
17-all. The Lady Mocs took their first lead of the match at 20-19. Consecutive
kills by Kuroski provided Chattanooga with a two-point advantage, 22-20,
causing UNCG to call time.
“I think that the switch to the 6-2 aided our comeback in
the third set,” said Onikeku. “It was really effective for us in taking the
lead, but they are a good team that battled back to finish it off.”
The Spartans tied the set up at 23-all, but the Lady Mocs continued
to battle and took a 25-24 advantage on kills by Chastain and Kuroski. UNCG
scored the next three points to take the match, 27-25.
Ariel Newman and Kayren Finney paced the Spartan offense with 11 and nine kills, respecitively. On the defensive end, Redden and Orewiler each hit double-digits in digs, while Newman added nine.
Chattanooga returns to the court looking for its first
conference victory on Sunday at Elon with the first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Lady Mocs next home match is Oct. 6 against Samford inside Maclellan Gym at
7 p.m.
