CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team claimed a 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20) win over Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon in the Chattanooga Classic to move to 2-0 during tournament play this weekend. The Mocs improved to 3-2 overall on the season.
 
Chattanooga claimed wins in the first two sets by decisive 25-12 and 25-19 scores before dropping the third set 25-21. UTC would close things out in the fourth set by a 25-20 count to win the match 3-1.
 
Mikaela Gauthreaux led the team with 12 kills at a .229 percentage while Miranda Elpers, Dani Szczepanski and Jaquelyn Langhaim each totaled eight kills. Langhaim led the team with 22 assists while Maddie Halsey added 15 to help the offense.
 
Megan Kaufman anchored the defense with a team-high 24 digs while Elpers chipped in with 17. Halsey and Langhaim added double-digit digs with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Up Next
Chattanooga will face North Alabama at 7 p.m. tonight in the Chattanooga Classic championship match as both teams will enter with a 2-0 record on the weekend. Live stats and live video will be available on GoMocs.com.
 
Chattanooga 3, Tennessee State 1
1^st Set | UTC 25, TSU 12
Chattanooga avoided a slow start to the opening set by beginning the match on a quick 8-3 run before extending the lead to an insurmountable 15-6 advantage.
 
The Mocs would push their lead to as much as 13 points at 23-10 before eventually closing the set out on a TSU error at 25-12.
 
UTC attacked at a .433 percentage and recorded 16 kills while limiting TSU to just five kills and a .071 hitting percentage. Jaquelyn Langhaim led the team with five kills while Mikaela Gauthreaux added four.
 
2^nd Set | UTC 25, TSU 19
Another quick start proved to be the difference for the Mocs. They built a 9-4 lead out of the gate before extending their lead to 14-8 ahead of a TSU timeout.
 
The Tigers would charge back to cut the deficit to just two points at 20-18 after five-straight points. Chattanooga would stop the comeback effort with a 5-1 run to close the set at 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
3^rd Set | TSU 25, UTC 21
Facing a straight-set sweep, Tennessee State responded out of the break with a 6-1 run to open the set, forcing UTC into an early timeout. Chattanooga would fight back with a 7-3 run to pull within one at 9-8 before TSU countered with a 6-1 spurt to extend their advantage to 15-9.
 
The Mocs would once again try to storm back, rolling on a 5-1 run after trailing 23-16, but an attacking error allowed TSU to force a fourth set in the match.
 
Chattanooga was limited to just nine kills at an .020 attacking percentage during the set while being out-blocked 2.0 to 0.0.
 
4^th Set | UTC 25, TSU 20
Looking to clinch the match for the second-straight set, Chattanooga used a fast start to build a five-point lead at 11-6 to create breathing room.
 
Scoring six of the next ten points gave the Mocs a 17-10 lead ahead of an 8-4 TSU run that cut the Tigers deficit to just three at 21-18. Kills from Dani Szczepanski, Gauthreaux and Gylian Finch with the addition of an ace from Maddie Halsey helped UTC claim a 25-20 set win and a 3-1 final in the match.


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