The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team completed their fourth 3-0 sweep of the weekend on Sunday afternoon against California State at Fullerton as part of the Chattanooga Classic – presented by Hampton Inn & Suites - held in Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs came out swinging by winning the first set 25-11 and then went on to win 25-18 and 25-17 in sets two and three, respectively. With the win, UTC improves to 4-0 on the season and earned their 11
th straight non-conference win dating back to last season. After the loss, Cal St. Fullerton drops to 2-1 overall.
"It was a great opening weekend," said coach
Travis Filar. "I'm extremely proud of our kids for how they came out and competed. I think this match today was big for us as we knew it would be a tough test against a very different style of team."
The Mocs continued to showcase a strong defense as they forced the Titans into a .016 hitting percentage and now have forced opponents to a combined -.045 hitting percentage this season.
The senior duo of
Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) and
Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.), both were named to the Classic all-tournament team, paced Chattanooga by each registering ten kills while swinging at a combined .263 clip. In addition, sophomore
Miranda Elpers (Louisville, Ky.), who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Classic, collected eight kills and freshman
Dani Szczepanski (Cincinnati, Ohio) added six kills to help the Mocs offense during the win.
Junior
Lauren Greenspoon (Houston, Texas) dished out a team-high 28 assists while collecting nine digs on the day. Starting libero, sophomore
Rachel Petkosh (Meritt Island, Fla.), recorded a match-high 29 digs and also registered two service aces in the win.
"I think in all phases of the game – serving, passing, setting, attacking, blocking and defense – we were very sharp, disciplined and connected. I think that speaks volumes of how strong and together a group of student-athletes we have," added Filar.
Chattanooga prepares for a six match road trip beginning this weekend with a trip to Dayton, Ohio as part of the University of Dayton Invitational. The four-team tournament consists of UTC, Dayton, a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Xavier, who represents the Big East and Northwestern who competes in the Big Ten Conference.
"We are very excited for the next opportunity to get into the gym to practice and improve," added Filar. "We will be prepared for an outstanding weekend of competition at Dayton."
The Mocs (4-0) return to action Friday, Sept. 2 at 3:30pm against Northwestern as part of the Dayton Invitational. The tournament will be held Friday-Saturday at UD's Frericks Center. Coverage details will be released later this week.
CHATTANOOGA CLASSIC – ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Madeline Schneider              SO        OH              Cal St. Fullerton
Rachel Hall                            FR          S                Cal St. Fullerton
Brianna Dafney                     SO        RS              South Carolina State
Mikayla Register                    SR        DS              Presbyterian College
Sydney Robinson                  FR          L               Miss. Valley State
Allie Davenport                      SR        OH              Chattanooga
Kristy Wieser                        SR        MB             Chattanooga
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MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Miranda Elpers                     SO        OH              Chattanooga
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