CLEVELAND, Tenn. --- Even after a campus-wide water outage forced the home-opening Chattanooga Classic to re-locate to Cleveland High School's Raider Arena, the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team powered its way to a 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 25-19) win over Tennessee Tech on Friday evening.
 
Chattanooga snapped a four-match skid to improve to 3-5 on the season while Tennessee Tech dropped to 0-7 in 2019. UTC built its Classic record to a combined 13-3 since 2014 following the four-set victory.
 
Saturday's slate of matches will once again return to Cleveland HS due to ongoing water issues across campus. The initial two matches will be held in the school's auxiliary gym before the final two matches head back to Raider Arena.
 
For the most-up-to-date information regarding the Chattanooga Classic, visit our Tournament Central page, HERE.
 
BOX SCORE » Chattanooga 3, Tennessee Tech 1
S1 | UTC 25, TTU 23
Maia Rackel produced a pair of points via a kill and a block to help Chattanooga jump out to a quick 4-1 lead in the opening set. TTU responded with nine of the next 11 points on the help of a trio of blocks to pull ahead 10-6 in the early going.
 
The Golden Eagles would stretch its lead to as much as six, 14-8, before the Mocs flocked back with an energetic attack. Rackel and Sarah Root combined for four kills in addition to kills from Dani Szczepanski and Gylian Finch to climb the team back to a one-point deficit, 19-18.
 
TTU scored consecutive points to pad its lead, 21-18, before UTC's response of three-straight points tied things at 21-21. The teams exchanged points on the next four rallies before back-to-back attacking errors from the Tech offense clinched a 25-23 set victory for Chattanooga.
 
S2 | UTC 25, TTU 22
Chattanooga laid down six kills, served up an ace and forced a trio of Tech errors to build a 10-6 lead to begin the second set. The four-point advantage dwindled to one, 12-11, after a quick 5-2 run from the Golden Eagles.
 
The Mocs answered with five of the next seven behind two kills from Finch and another from Szczepanski to add some breathing room, 17-13. UTC saw its lead build to five, 23-18, before TTU closed the gap to two, 24-22, in the final stretch.
 
Root closed things out with her sixth kill of the match, earning UTC a 25-22 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match. The offense attacked at a .270% clip during the set and held the kill advantage, 15-11.
 
S3 | TTU 25, UTC 19
Trying to claim its third straight-set sweep of the season, Chattanooga fell behind 6-3 in the first nine points before firing back with four-straight to take a 7-6 lead. TTU rallied with an 8-2 run to build a five-point edge at 14-9.
 
The Golden Eagles extended its lead to six, 17-11, and forced UTC into calling for a timeout. The Mocs would get within three, 22-19, but failed to fully complete its comeback effort after three-straight TTU points forced a fourth set.  
 
S4 | UTC 25, TTU 19
The two teams battled in the early going, trading the set's first ten points to lock in a 5-5 tie. Kills from Brianna Anderson, Finch and Rackel helped spark a 5-2 run, giving UTC a 10-7 lead. Finch recorded back-to-back aces to force Tech into a timeout, capping off three-straight Chattanooga points for a 14-11 lead.
 
The advantage would build to as much as six, 18-12, making the road team whistle for its final timeout of the set. TTU responded out of the break with five-straight points to pull within one, 18-17.
 
An Anderson kill stopped the run and kicked off a 7-2 finishing run for the Mocs. UTC clinched the match, 3-1, with a 25-19 set decision.

Notable Match Performances: Dani Szczepanski (16 kills, .323%, 2 aces); Gylian Finch (12 kills, 12 digs, 5 aces); Maia Rackel (9 kills, .500%, 2.0 blocks); Maddie Halsey (47 assists – career-high, 9 digs); Megan Kaufman (14 digs); Bailey Bennett (12 digs); Brenna Everingham (11 digs)

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