CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team recorded 11 service aces and 31 kills during a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20) sweep over Southern Conference-foe Mercer on Saturday evening inside Maclellan Gymnasium.
 
Chattanooga raises its SoCon record to an even 3-3 while improving its overall record to 7-12. Mercer falls to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in league action. UTC moves into a tie for fourth place in the current SoCon standings.
 
The Mocs 11 service aces are the most in a three-set match since recording 12 on Aug. 25, 2016 (SCSU) and the second most in the last 15 seasons. UTC recorded 13 service aces in three sets against Elon on Nov. 15, 2003.
 
Full match recap, stats and quotes can be found below.
 
Match Recap
Chattanooga 3, Mercer 0
Chattanooga led the opening set 8-7 before opening things up with a 12-5 run to lead 20-12, eventually capturing the set 25-17 and taking a 1-0 lead. The home team kept its foot on the gas in sets two and three, earning 25-19 and 25-20 set wins, respectively, to take the match in straight-sets.
 
The Mocs service game was strong as they totaled 11 service aces to only four service errors. UTC also possessed a strong passing game by limiting Mercer to only four aces.
 
Chattanooga's offense controlled much of the match after attacking at an impressive .400 percentage in the first set before finishing with a .205 total. The Bears were held to a .053 percentage for the match including a -.030 mark in the second set.
 
Middle blockers Dani Szczepanski and Emily Plumlee were the difference makers, leading the Mocs with eight and seven kills, respectively, at a combined .485 percentage. The duo also totaled three block assists apiece.
 
Ally Ford and Gylian Finch finished with five kills each while Mikaela Gauthreaux followed with four. All three also recorded block assists. Miranda Elpers added two kills, six digs and tied a career-high three aces in the win.
 
Jaquelyn Langhaim showed off her versatility after directing the offense with 25 assists while posting four aces, three digs and three block assists. The four aces from the service line ties her rookie season-high which was set two weekends ago against Furman.
 
Megan Kaufman and Bailey Bennett solidified the defense for the second-straight night, leading the team with eight and seven digs during the three sets. Bennett tied her career mark with a pair of aces.

Sound Off
"We really challenged our team to trust their preparation and to be honest. I felt like we had good weeks of practice going into these last two weekends. We felt very prepared on the road last weekend and at home yesterday. We struggled last weekend and we came out flat last night, which was disappointing. The challenge was to respond and to just play our game tonight.
 
"For the first time since the first SoCon weekend, we were just us. We were clean in our game, we played well, our first contact and serve and pass game was good. Finally, tonight we held a team to a low hitting percentage and had some good blocks. Hopefully we can take this consistent win from start to finish with us next week as we prepare for Samford."
- Head Coach, Travis Filar

Up Next
Chattanooga closes out its three-match SoCon home stand on Wednesday evening by hosting Samford (9-10, 4-1 SoCon) in its annual 'White-Out' match at 6 p.m. inside Maclellan Gymnasium. Free 'White-Out' t-shirts will be handed out to fans in attendance. Match coverage links are posted on the volleyball schedule page on GoMocs.com.