OXFORD, MISS. ---- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team earned a split on after dropping a three-set contest to North Dakota and downing Florida A&M in four sets during the opening weekend of play at the Ole Miss Invitational in Oxford, Miss.

UND, the defending Big Sky Champions, handled the Mocs 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) in the season opener for both squads. After other matches in the Invitational ran past originally scheduled times, it wasn't until 10:37 p.m. (11:37 p.m. ET) that UTC and Florida A&M began the final match of the day. Chattanooga brushed off the adversity and captured a 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 25-19) win over the Rattlers to earn their first win of the season and even their record at 1-1. The match ended at nearly 1:00 a.m. local time.

Find full match recaps, stats & notes below from Friday's action. UTC will square off against tournament-host Ole Miss at 2:00 p.m. ET and then wrap things up with a 6:30 p.m. ET match against Louisiana Tech.

North Dakota 3, Chattanooga 0
Set 1 - UND 25, UTC 20
The Mocs came out of the gate scoring four of the first six points in the match on kills from Ally Ford and Sarah Root as well as a pair of attacking errors from the Fighting Hawks. Both teams fought to shake off the rust as they went back and forth into a 13-13 tie with a combined ten errors during that span. UND fired off a quick 4-0 run to build a 17-13 lead on a pair of Sydney Griffin kills as well as an ace and a kill from Faith Dooley. The Mocs would cut it to 22-20, but committing two errors and allowing a kill down the stretch ended the set with a 25-20 advantage for UND.

Set 2 - UND 25, UTC 22
The Mocs and the Fighting Hawks traded the first eight points of the set, knotting the set at 4-4, before UND went on a 9-4 run to build a 13-9 lead. Kills from Emily Plumlee, Dani Szczepanski and Ally Ford sparked UTC and cut the UND lead to 20-19. UND closed the set out, 25-22, after they scored five of the final seven points on four kills and an attacking error from the Mocs, taking a 2-0 lead in the match at the break.

Set 3 - UND 25, UTC 15
North Dakota wasted no time in building a lead as they captured ten of the first 15 points in the third set to amass a 10-5 lead. Szczepanski and Root notched kills while the Fighting Hawks committed a pair of errors as the deficit was cut to 12-10. UND fired off an 11-3 run and eventually closed out the match with a 25-15 set win in the third.

Chattanooga Match Stats & Notes vs. UND (Box Score)
- Four different Mocs made their first career starts against UND ... Sarah Root (R-Fr.), Ally Ford (R-So.), Mikaela Gauthreax (So.) & Megan Kaufman (Fr.)
- Ally Ford finished with 14 kills on a .196 hitting percentage.
- Lauren Greenspoon dished out 30 assists ... 34th time in her career with 30 assists.
- Megan Kaufman paced the Mocs with 19 digs.

Chattanooga 3, Florida A&M 1
Set 1 - UTC 25, FAMU 17
The match began nearly two and a half hours later than originally scheduled (11:35 p.m. ET), but that didn't slow the Mocs in the opening set. Chattanooga jumped out to a 10-4 lead on the help of three Emily Plumlee blocks and kills from Ally Ford, Miranda Elpers and Dani Szczepanski. The momentum carried over for UTC as they built a 16-11 advantage which later turned into a 20-13 lead as Ford, Elpers and Greenspoon all registered kills. The Mocs put away the Rattlers, 25-17, and took a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set 2 - UTC 25, FAMU 21
The Mocs raced out to a quick 7-1 lead to open the second set up as Ford notched four kills during the eight-point span. Both teams traded points as Chattanooga hung on to a 14-8 lead. The Rattlers wouldn't go down easy as they brought the set to within three points at 21-18 and 23-20, but the Mocs finished off FAMU with a pair of kills from Ford and Plumlee to move the match to a 2-0 UTC advantage.

Set 3 - FAMU 25, UTC 21
Much like the first two sets, the Mocs started hot as they accumulated nine of the first 14 points, taking an early 9-5 lead. Florida A&M responded in a big way by going on a 9-1 run to lead the set 14-10, forcing Chattanooga into a timeout. The Rattlers continued their stellar play in the third set and extended out to a 22-14 edge. The Mocs wouldn't go down without a fight as they rattled off an enormous 10-2 run to tie things up at 24-24, but FAMU finished off the set after a kill and a Mocs attacking error to take the match to a fourth set.

Set 4 - UTC 25, FAMU 19
The trend continued into the fourth set as Chattanooga amassed a 10-4 lead over Florida A&M in the early going. FAMU answered over the next stretch of points as they cut the set to a two-point Mocs advantage at 17-15. After a Florida A&M attacking error and a kill from Elpers, the Rattlers were forced into a timeout. With the 19-15 UTC edge, the Mocs would close things out by scoring six of the next ten points, ultimately earning a 25-19 win in the set and a 3-1 win in the match.

Chattanooga Match Stats & Notes vs. FAMU (Box Score)
- Freshman Megan Kaufman recorded 31 digs in the four set victory ... most digs in a four-set match since Catherine Chason on September 25, 2015.
- Miranda Elpers registered 18 kills on a .211 hitting percentage ... one shy of career-high.
- Ally Ford laid down 17 kills on a .140 percentage.
- Emily Plumlee totaled 7.0 blocks in the victory ... now has 8.0 through two matches ... Sarah Root totaled 6.0 blocks in the win.
- Lauren Greenspoon dished out 48 assists ... most for her since November 5, 2015 against The Citadel.

Upcoming (Ole Miss Invitational)
Saturday, August 26 - at Ole Miss - 2:00 p.m. ET (SEC NETWORK )
Saturday, August 26 - vs. Louisiana Tech - 6:30 p.m. ET