CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team will head to Macon, Ga., and Birmingham, Ala., on Friday and Saturday, respectively, to face the Mercer Bears and Samford Bulldogs in Southern Conference play.
 
Chattanooga and Mercer will meet on Friday in Hawkins Arena at 6 p.m. before the Mocs and Bulldogs square off on Saturday inside the Pete Hanna Center also at 6 p.m.
 
UTC split last weekend's pair of home matches and moved to 13-13 overall with a 6-6 mark in SoCon play. The Mocs currently sit as the No. 6 seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Championship (Nov. 17-19), but has room down the stretch to improve their seeding.
 
Chattanooga fell to then un-beaten Furman last Friday, 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 25-15), before downing The Citadel, 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 22-25, 15-11), on Saturday during Senior Day. It marked the Mocs first five set win of the season as they entered Saturday winless in their previous five such matches.
 
Dani Szczepanski posted a big weekend with a combined 26 kills at an impressive .325 hitting percentage for both matches. She also added 6.0 blocks and an ace. Ally Ford added 31 kills over the weekend including 19 in the win over The Citadel, notching the seventh time this season she has recorded 19 kills or more in a match.
 
Defensively, Megan Kaufman finished with 39 digs in the eight sets played over the weekend. Kaufman registered 27 digs in just four sets during Friday's loss to Furman. Emily Plumlee provided the defense at the net all weekend as she totaled 9.0 blocks including 7.0 in the win over The Citadel.
 
Chattanooga will begin to wrap up regular season play next week with a Wednesday road match at ETSU before returning home in the season finale on Saturday against Wofford. Both matches will begin at 6 p.m. and will be streamed LIVE. For links, head to the schedule page.
 
Full opponent scouting previews, match coverage information and more can be found below. Chattanooga match notes can be found at the link above or HERE.
 
Scouting – Mercer (8-17, 2-10 SoCon)
Series Record: 17-9, Chattanooga
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (Oct. 7, 2017) – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Match Time: Friday, 6:00 p.m.
Live Stats: MercerBears.com
 
Mercer enters Friday's match on a current eight-match skid in SoCon play and a 2-8 overall record in their last ten matches (two non-conference wins over Savannah State). The Bears last SoCon win this season was at Western Carolina, 3-0, back on September 30.

Mercer is led by junior Paige Alsten as she ranks second in the SoCon with a .344 hitting percentage and fifth with a 3.67 kills per set average.
 
Scouting – Samford (11-15, 6-6 SoCon)* - Entering 11/3
Series Record: 27-14, Samford
Last Meeting: W, 3-1 (Oct. 6, 2017) – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Match Time: Saturday, 6:00 p.m.
Watch Live: SoCon Digital Network
Live Stats: SamfordSports.com
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a 3-1 win over Western Carolina last Saturday after falling in a tough five set match to UNCG the previous day. Samford hosts second-place ETSU on Friday before hosting UTC on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Shayla Phillip sits fifth in the SoCon with a .309 hitting percentage while junior Krista Boesing ranks second with a 4.16 kills per set average. Junior Taylor Anderton directs the offense with 9.00 assists per set, seventh-best in the conference.