BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The No. 3 seed Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-14, 25-22) win over No. 6 Mercer in the quarter-final round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Saturday evening and will advance to the semi-finals tomorrow.
The Mocs improve to 18-12 overall on the season and will face No. 2 seed UNCG (18-12) tomorrow at the Pete Hanna Center at 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT. UNCG captured a 3-2 comeback win over No. 7 seed Western Carolina on Saturday.
"Mercer is a very tough team and very well coached," said coach
Travis Filar. "I thought that we really controlled and focused on our side of the net.
"When we do that and not let anything on the outside distract us from our mentality, that's a big part of our success."
As Chattanooga out-hit Mercer .272-.174,
Allie Davenport and
Miranda Elpers led the way with 16 kills each as Davenport hit at a .343 percentage and Elpers at .312. The 16 kills for Elpers tied a career-high. Davenport posted her seventh kill-dig double-double of the season as she added a team-high 15 digs while Elpers nearly completed her tenth with eight digs.
Kristy Wieser followed behind with seven kills and
Dani Szczepanski and
Emily Plumlee each chipped in with five at a combined .325 clip.
The junior setting duo of
Madison Bergren and
Lauren Greenspoon directed the offense as Bergren dished out a match-high 31 assists and Greenspoon added 16. Plumlee posted six block assists while Szczepanski added two block solos and three assists. The Mocs out-blocked the Bears 13.0-11.0 for the match.
1st SET | The Mocs trailed early by scores of 4-2, 8-6 and 10-8, but used a key run to open up a sizeable lead. After trailed 10-8, UTC went on an 11-3 run capped off by forcing a Mercer timeout after two straight service errors. The 19-13 lead was cut into as Mercer countered with a 7-1 run of their own to pull within one at 21-20. The Mocs scored three of the next four points and closed the set 25-22 on a Davenport kill. (UTC 1-0)
2nd SET | UTC opened up the set with a 3-1 lead and eventually pushed it to 9-8. The one point advantage would be their last of the set as Mercer went on a 10-3 run from then on to force a Chattanooga timeout with the score 18-12. The Mocs answered with an 8-3 run of their own to make the set 21-20, but wasn't enough as the Bears captured four of the final five points. (Tied 1-1)
3rd SET | Chattanooga jumped out of the break with an 8-1 run and forced Mercer into both of their timeouts in the first nine points. The Mocs continued to build on the lead as they pushed the set to 18-7 on a Davenport kill. The Bears didn't have an answer as consecutive attack errors ended the set 25-14 in advantage of UTC. (2-1 UTC)
4th SET | The fourth set went back-and-forth in the first twenty points as the set was deadlocked at 10-10. The Mocs found themselves trailing 14-11 but answered with a 6-1 run to take a 17-15 lead on a Davenport kill. The Bears tied the set up at 18-18 before a service error and a pair of attack errors allowed a 21-18 UTC advantage. An Elpers kill made the set 23-21 and a kill by Plumlee before a Mercer attack error gave Chattanooga a 25-22 set win and the match. (3-1 UTC)
"It's about our side. Greensboro is another talented and well-coached team.
"I'm really proud and excited for this group."
Media links to follow tomorrow's match with UNCG are under the schedules tab.
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