BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell in the Southern Conference Championship match for the second-straight season with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 22-25) loss to Samford on the Bulldogs home court inside the Pete Hanna Center.
The loss will conclude the Mocs season as they finish with a 19-13 overall record. Samford improves to 21-13 and earns the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
A well-played match on both sides, the Bulldogs out-hit the Mocs .278-.242 and collected 19 more kills at a 70-51 margin. UTC out-blocked Samford 10.0-9.0 but only picked up 4.0 total blocks after the opening set as they finished the first set with 6.0 total blocks. Samford's Erin Bognar finished the match with 28 kills on a .333 attack percentage, in route to being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Chattanooga was lead on offense by
Dani Szczepanski and
Kristy Wieser as they notched 14 and 13 kills respectively. Wieser hit at a .212 percentage while Szczepanski hit at an outstanding .737, the highest percentage with a minimum of 12 kills since 1989. Sophomores
Miranda Elpers and
Eden Murray followed behind with nine kills each as Murray hit at a .389 clip. Both sophomores were named to the Southern Conference All-Tournament team.
Madison Bergren and
Lauren Greenspoon once again provided the direction to the offense as the main setters, dishing out 29 and 20 assists, respectively. The duo has collected double-digit assists together in all but two matches this season.
Defensively,
Lindsey Farrell led the team with 20 digs as Davenport followed with 16 and Bergren with 14. Greenspoon added 11 digs as both setters notched an assist-dig double-double. Szczepanski picked up a team-high 5.0 blocks as
Emily Plumlee and Elpers trailed with 4.0.
1st SET | The tournament-host used the home crowd energy to jump out to a 5-0 lead forcing UTC to call for a timeout. The Mocs battled back to tie the set at 14-14 on a Szczepanski kill. UTC gained momentum by scoring the next two points to take a 16-14 advantage. Samford answered with a 10-2 run and capped off the 25-19 set win with a Bognar kill.
2nd SET | Both teams went back-and-forth early on knotted up 10-10 in the first twenty points of the set. Over the next ten points, both teams traded point-for-point and was in a 15-15 deadlock. The Mocs took six of the next ten points to take a 21-18 lead and from that point scored four of the final six to earn a 25-20 set win and tie the match 1-1 at the break.
3rd SET | Similar to the second set, both teams traded the first twenty points for a 10-10 tie. The Bulldogs went on a 6-1 run to open up a 16-11 lead. Samford didn't let up and went point-for-point with the Mocs down the stretch to earn a 25-20 set victory and took a 2-1 match lead.
4th SET | With their backs against the wall, UTC needed to win the fourth set to extend their season. Samford jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first ten points forcing a Chattanooga timeout. The Mocs found themselves down 15-10 before rallying to tie the set at 17-17 by taking seven of the next nine points. UTC took a 21-19 lead just to have Samford respond with six of the final seven points to capture a 25-22 set win and the 2016 Southern Conference Championship.
| All-Tournament Team |
| Rylee Milhorn, ETSU |
| Jasmine Jones, UNCG |
| Miranda Elpers, Chattanooga |
| Eden Murray, Chattanooga |
| Erin Bognar, Samford |
| Gabbi Greenwald, Samford |
| Kate Neisler, Samford |
| Most Outstanding Player |
| Erin Bognar, Samford |
| Pinnacle Award Recipient |
| Krista Boesing, Samford |
