CHATTANOOGA --- Junior middle blocker Dani Szczepanski picked up where she left off last weekend, tying and recording new career highs in numerous statistical categories during a 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-16) win over UNC Asheville on the opening day of the Chattanooga Classic.
 
Chattanooga improves to 2-2 overall following the win while UNC Asheville drops to an even 2-2 after the loss.
 
Chattanooga dominated the match after dropping the opening set. They out-totaled their opponents in kills (56-36), hitting percentage (.288-.205), assists (53-32), aces (12-3) and digs (57-49). Six different Mocs recorded at least six kills during the victory.
 
Szczepanski finished the match with 16 kills on a blistering .714 hitting percentage while recording five service aces and scoring a total of 22.5 points. She tied her career-high in kills (16) while setting new career marks in aces (5) and points scored (22.5). The .714 hitting percentage is the second highest with at least ten kills during her career in a UTC uniform. (.734, 14 kills in SoCon Championship, 2016.)
 
Miranda Elpers finished with 12 kills on a .263 attacking percentage while adding seven digs and a solo block on defense. Mikaela Gauthreaux totaled seven kills on a .368 percentage while Emily Plumlee, Jaquelyn Langhaim and Ally Ford all concluded the match with six kills each. Ford tied a career-high with three service aces.
 
Langhaim and Maddie Halsey directed the offensive attack with 30 and 20 assists, respectively. Megan Kaufman anchored the defense with a team-high 14 digs while Langhaim and Brenna Everingham chipped in with six each.
 
Up Next
UTC will continue play in the Chattanooga Classic with a pair of matches tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (Tennessee State) and 7 p.m. (North Alabama) in Maclellan Gym. Both matches will be streamed LIVE on the SoCon Digital Network. Links can be found on the schedule page.
 
Chattanooga 3, UNC Asheville 1
1^st Set | AVL 25, UTC 16
A slow start for the Mocs would be an understatement as they allowed a 7-0 Asheville run to begin the match, forcing a timeout from the bench to stop the bleeding.
 
Chattanooga would claw back to pull within four at 14-10 before the Bulldogs responded with six of the next nine points to build a 20-13 advantage. The visitors would close the set out, 25-16, to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
 
For the set, UTC committed five service and nine attacking errors while hitting at an .000 percentage. UNC Asheville totaled only six kills during the set.
 
2^nd Set | UTC 25, AVL 14
After a tough opening set, Chattanooga responded aggressively and set the tone for the rest of the match. After leading 8-4 in the opening 12 points, the Bulldogs charged back, tying the set at 9-9 before UTC used a heavy attack to pull away.
 
From that point, the Mocs closed on a 16-5 spurt that featured seven kills, three service aces and three blocks. The finally tally stood at 25-14 in favor of UTC and tied the match at 1-1.
 
Chattanooga totaled 11 kills at a .207 percentage during the set while limiting the opposition to five kills at a -.080 clip. Four different Mocs registered multiple kills during the set.
 
3^rd Set | UTC 25, AVL 22
Coming out of the short intermission, both teams traded points early on and found themselves tied ten different times during the entirety of the set.
 
Tied 10-10, UTC scored nine of the next 14 points to build a 19-15 lead and forced UNC Asheville into a timeout. The Bulldogs came out of the timeout in a frenzy, rolling on a 7-3 run that tied the set at 22-22. Three-straight kills, one from Szczepanski and back-to-back from Elpers, clinched the set 25-22 and gave UTC a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
 
Of the 25 points scored, Chattanooga laid down 21 kills at a .462 hitting percentage. Elpers (.545) and Szczepanski (.857) both finished with six kills in the set alone while Kaufman totaled six digs on defense.

4^th Set | UTC 25, AVL 16
Momentum was on Chattanooga's side as they refused to let the tides turn by starting the fourth set on a 9-3 run. They would keep pace to lead by six at 12-6 ahead of a 7-3 surge from their opponents to bring the score to 15-13.
 
Chattanooga would pull away, 22-15, after a 7-2 run ensued following a timeout from coach Travis Filar. Maia Rackel registered her first career kill to set up match point at 24-16 before Ford walked-off the match, 25-16 and 3-1, with her third service ace of the night.


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