SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team wrapped up non-conference play against Washington State, falling 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-18), at the Dr. Wynn Invitational hosted by Missouri State on Saturday afternoon.
 
Following the loss, the Mocs drop their fourth-straight match and fall to 7-7 overall. The Cougars improved to 11-1 and are winners of their last eight.
 
With the last three matches (Missouri State, Illinois and Washington State) coming against top 30 programs, it allowed the Mocs to gain valuable tough match experience heading into Southern Conference play.
 
"This weekend's competition was exactly what we were expecting and hoping it would be for our team," said head coach Travis Filar.
 
"For our program to continue to improve we have to schedule tournaments like this one, and I was really excited that we improved each match against three NCAA Tournament teams come December."
 
Washington State, the top blocking team in the country, out-blocked the Mocs 8.0 to 4.0 for the match. Chattanooga limited the Cougars attack in the first set to .196 but WSU responded with a combined .286 percentage in sets two and three.
 
For the weekend, the Mocs were out-blocked 29.0 to 14.0, out-attacked 140 kills to 113 and also fell behind in the attacking percentage category .301 to .124.
 
The tough matchups on the other side of the net will only help the Mocs improve as a group heading into SoCon play.
 
"We challenged our kids to fight hard and focus on competing the right way on our side, and for much of the weekend we did that," added Filar. "There are definitely areas to sharpen heading into conference play, but I couldn't be more excited with where our team is right now and I still feel like we will get better throughout the season."
 
After falling the previous two seasons in the Southern Conference tournament finals, the Mocs are ready to take the next step and secure its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998.
 
"This group is hungry to learn and grow, and I think that will be our driving force as we work hard to position ourselves to fight for another conference championship."
 
Chattanooga kicks-off Southern Conference play on Friday at 6 p.m. against Western Carolina at Maclellan Gymnasium. The match will be streamed LIVE on GoMocs.com as part of the SoCon Digital Network.
 
Match Stats & Notes
- Ally Ford led the team with 17 kills on a .245 percentage … tied a career-high 17 digs in one less set.
- Maddie Halsey made her first career start … registered new career-high of 31 assists … added another career mark of four kills on a .437 percentage in seven total attacks … posted a service ace.
- Dani Szczepanski totaled eight kills at a .261 clip … notched 2.0 blocks … served an ace.
- Megan Kaufman finished with 15 digs and three assists … totaled eight digs in the first set.
 
Washington State 3, Chattanooga 0
1^st Set | WSU 28, UTC 26
The Mocs and Cougars went back-and-forth in the extended first set, tying 16 different times and changing the lead seven times. The largest lead of the set for either team was only three points, a 5-2 Mocs lead early on. Washington State built a 17-15 lead before Chattanooga scored three-straight to take an 18-17 lead and forcing the Cougars into a timeout. The Mocs earned a set point after a Brianna Anderson kill gave UTC a 24-23 lead, but WSU fought off the set with a kill from Taylor Mims. Washington State would end the set on their third set point chance, winning 28-26.
 
2^nd Set | WSU 25, UTC 20
The Cougars would jump out to an early 8-4 lead before the Mocs battled with an 8-4 run of their own to tie things up 12-12. A pair of blocks from WSU forced Chattanooga into a timeout with the score 14-12. The Mocs rallied out of the timeout, scoring five-straight off three kills from Ally Ford, a kill from Maddie Halsey and an attack error from WSU. They would continue their lead at 20-19, but Washington State ended the set on a 6-0 run, marking a 25-20 set win and taking a 2-0 lead into the break.
 
3^rd Set | WSU 25, UTC 18
The Cougars came out of the break on a 10-4 run and forced Chattanooga into calling a timeout early on. They would continue the trend as they built a 17-6 advantage before the Mocs rallied for the next nine of 13 points to push the score to 21-15 and making the Cougars call for a timeout. WSU finished the set and match by scoring four of the next seven to earn a 25-18 set win and a 3-0 sweep in the match.