CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team claimed its fourth consecutive Southern Conference win Saturday afternoon over Mercer 3-1, pushing its league record to 4-2. It is the first time since 2012 the Mocs have won four matches in a row. The win comes on the heels of a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Wofford the night before.
“It was a tough win,” Head Coach Travis Filar said. “We even ran out of subs in the fourth set, but the team gutted it out and came away winners. I am extremely proud of how hard we played today.”
Chattanooga took the first set 25-20 before falling by the same score in the second. A 25-23 win in the third put UTC back on top, and a marathon fourth eventually saw the Mocs prevail 30-28 in extra points.
Sophomore Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) followed up her 12-kill performance at Wofford with a team-high 17 against the Bears. The outside hit .300, while freshman Eden Murray (Hoschton, Ga.) paced the team with a .667 hitting percentage on nine attacks.
The Mocs defense out-blocked Mercer 11.0-6.0 led by junior Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.). The middle blocker totaled six block assists with two solos. Sophomore Nicole Sumida (Hixson, Tenn.) followed up with four solos and three assisted blocks. Davenport and Catherine Chason (Alpharetta, Ga.) each recorded double-digit digs at 13 and 16, respectively.
Chattanooga hitters dominated the first set, hitting a match-best .464 in the frame. Davenport and Julimar Alvarado (San Juan, Puerto Rico) each recorded five kills while three more Mocs tallied at least one. Sophomore Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) matched the set-leaders with five kills of her own in the second. Five kills from Sumida in the third steered Chattanooga to a two-point victory in the stanza, but a set-best six kills in the fourth from Davenport proved to be key to claiming the extra-point contest.
It looked as though the Mocs were in trouble in the late minutes of the fourth, running out of substitutions near the 20-point mark, but the six-person rotation of Davenport, Murray, Gainer, Chason, Anne Bachmann (Lincoln, Neb.) and Brianna Guzinski (Jacksonville, Fla.) pulled together and hung on for the win. Tied 28-28, Davenport's sixth kill of the set and a service ace from Bachmann sealed the deal.
Chattanooga is back on the road next weekend as it travels to Furman and The Citadel to continue the SoCon schedule. It will be the season's first meeting against Furman, while UTC is 1-0 this year against the Bulldogs.
