CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team held off a strong Citadel rally to claim their first five set (25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 22-25, 15-11) victory of the season during Senior Day in Maclellan Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Mocs improve to 13-13 overall and 6-6 in the SoCon following the win. The Citadel falls to 8-22, 2-11 in conference action.
 
Chattanooga seemed to be in control after earning set wins in the first and second sets to take a 2-0 lead into the break, and also holding two match point opportunities in the third. The Citadel fought off both points and notched set wins in the third and fourth to push it to a fifth.
 
UTC trailed 8-4 in the fifth at the switch and ended the match on an 11-3 run to take a 15-11 set win and a 3-2 match win. The Mocs were 0-5 entering the match in decisive set matches this season.
 
Chattanooga attacked at a .268 percentage as a team, the second-highest mark all season (Oct. 7 vs. Mercer). Four different Mocs finished with double-digit kills. Ally Ford led the way with 19 (.295) while Dani Szczepanski followed with 14 (.333) and Emily Plumlee and Miranda Elpers finished with 13 (.357) and 12 (.151), respectively.
 
The pair of veteran setters in Lauren Greenspoon and Madison Bergren shined on their 'Senior Day'. Greenspoon finished with a match-high 30 assists while Bergren followed with 29.
 
Defensively, the Mocs won the dig battle 77 to 72 and out-blocked the opposition 11.0 to 9.0. Elpers paced the defense with 18 digs to complete a double-double while Greenspoon and Megan Kaufman added 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Plumlee totaled a match-high 7.0 blocks, doing so on her birthday.
 
Chattanooga heads to Macon, Ga., and Birmingham, Ala., next weekend for matches against Mercer and Samford. Friday's match against Mercer and Saturday's match at Samford are slated for 6 p.m.
 
Chattanooga 3, The Citadel 2
1^st Set | UTC 25, CIT 21
Chattanooga came out of the gates fast and built a 5-2 lead, later extending it to a 9-3. The Citadel responded and pulled within three at 13-10 before the Mocs went on a 5-2 run to make it 18-12. The Bulldogs once again pulled within three at 23-20, but Dani Szczepanski laid down a kill and a service error allowed UTC to claim a 25-21 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
2^nd Set | UTC 25, CIT 22
Much like the first set, Chattanooga jumped out to an early lead at 9-4. Down 10-6, The Citadel fired off five-straight points to take an 11-10 lead and force the Mocs into a timeout. UTC found themselves down 15-12 before firing off seven-straight points to amass a 19-15 lead. The Bulldogs would tie the set up at 21-21 but Chattanooga closed on a 4-1 run to take a 25-22 set win and push the match lead to 2-0.
 
3^rd Set | CIT 28, UTC 26
Both teams exchanged the first ten points of the set to play to a 5-5 tie before Chattanooga scored six unanswered to take an 11-5 lead. The Bulldogs would respond by scoring ten of the next 13 points to take a one point lead at 15-14. Chattanooga would regain the lead at 24-22 and would have a pair of match point opportunities. The Citadel fought both off to force extra points, ultimately earning a 28-26 set win and forcing a fourth set in the match.
 
4^th Set | CIT 25, UTC 22
With the set tied 7-7, Citadel used a quick 5-2 run to jump out in front 12-9. Chattanooga would chip away and eventually tie the set at 16-16. Back-and-forth action left the set tied at 19 before The Citadel rattled off four-straight to take a late 23-19 lead and eventually closed off the set 25-22 to force a deciding fifth set.
 
5^th Set | UTC 15, CIT 11
The Mocs entered the match 0-5 in five set matches this season and fell behind 8-4 at the switch. With the chance to back down, Chattanooga responded to the adversity in dominant fashion. The Mocs rattled off seven-straight points to take an 11-8 lead and finished off the set by scoring four of the final five points to earn their first five set win of the season, 15-11.