MACON, Ga. --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team showed incredible fight during a tightly-contested 3-0 (25-22, 29-27, 25-20) loss on the road at Mercer on Wednesday night inside Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.
 
Chattanooga drops to 5-12 overall this season and 0-4 in the first quarter of SoCon play. Mercer improves its overall mark to 9-10 and SoCon record to 2-4 following the win.

BOX SCORE » Mercer 3, Chattanooga 0
» S1 | 25-22, Mercer
» S2 | 29-27, Mercer
» S3 | 25-20, Mercer

After falling behind 3-1 early in the first, Chattanooga responded with four-straight points to grab a 5-3 edge before the set headed into a back-and-forth rhythm. UTC held a lead a lead as much as three, 11-8, but the teams battled to multiple ties and lead changes after that point, settling at 20-20. From that point, Mercer ended the set on a 5-2 run to claim a 25-22 decision and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Mercer took the second set's first point and held the lead for majority of the way, extending out to an 11-6 lead early on before Chattanooga stormed back to tie things at 14-14. UTC would grab a brief lead on three occasions, 16-15, 17-16 and 18-17, but allowed a deep Bears run that put the home team ahead 24-20. Fighting off numerous set points, the Mocs battled back with five-straight to take a 25-24 advantage and push the set point to its opposition. Each team traded points until Mercer recorded back-to-back kills after a 27-27 deadlock to clinch a 29-27 set decision and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Bears raced out to a 5-2 lead in the set's first seven rallies before keeping the three-point lead at 11-8, forcing a Chattanooga timeout. UTC clawed its way back to pull within one point, six different times, with the latest coming at 21-20. The Mocs couldn't find the spark to pull ahead, ultimately falling 25-20 in the set and 3-0 in the match.

MATCH NOTABLES
- Chattanooga drops to 5-12 overall and 0-4 in league play… current losing skid extends to seven matches after three-match winning streak in September.
- Dani Szczepanski led all Chattanooga attackers with nine kills at a .400% attack percentage… career-high 10+ kill match streak snapped at nine… just the fifth match this season with less than 10+ kills.
- Megan Kaufman led all UTC defenders with 11 digs during the three-set match… all but two matches this season with less than 10+ digs… 10+ digs in 10 of last 11 matches played this year.

UP NEXT
Chattanooga (5-12, 0-4 SoCon) returns home this weekend for a pair of Southern Conference matchups against UNCG on Friday and Furman on Saturday, both carrying 6 p.m. ET start times.
 
Promotions this weekend include: FRIDAY – Scout Night (Local area boy and girl scouts are invited to be recognized during the match!) SATURDAY – YMCA & Camper Reunion Night, Hometown Heroes (Local YMCA & campers are invited to be recognized during the match as well as all local police, first responders & military service men and women!)

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