NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 25-18) loss to in-state foe Tennessee State on Tuesday night inside Johnson Gym on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.
 
Due to electrical issues across the TSU campus, the match had to relocate to Fisk's Johnson Gym rather the originally scheduled location of Keane Hall.
 
Chattanooga falls to 2-2 on the season while Tennessee State improves to a likewise 2-2 mark. The Tigers other victory of the 2019 season came last weekend in five sets at SEC-member Auburn.
 
BOX SCORE » Tenn. St. 3, Chattanooga 1
S1 | TSU 25, UTC 16
TSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead before UTC rattled off six-straight points to pull ahead 7-6. The Tigers shook off the Mocs rally and answered with 10 of the next 14 points for a sizeable 16-11 advantage ahead of a timeout from the visitors.
 
Chattanooga failed to find its way to level group, pulling within three at 19-16 before six-straight points from TSU clinched a 25-16 set victory. The Tigers out-killed the Mocs 15-10 and were more efficient, .438% to .206%.
 
S2 | UTC 26, TSU 24
Back-and-forth action saw a few ties and lead changes in the early stretch before the Mocs stretched out to a four-point lead at 14-10. TSU climbed within one at 16-15, but allowed UTC to build its lead to four at 19-15 after a pair of errors and a Sarah Root kill.
 
Chattanooga surrendered an 8-2 run and found themselves trailing 23-21. Another Root kill and TSU attacking error tied things at 23-23 before a Gylian Finch kill and ace helped solidify a 26-24 set decision in favor of the Mocs to tie the match 1-1.
 
S3 | TSU 25, UTC 21
TSU wasted no time in creating an edge, scoring eight of the first 11 points after the break and forcing an early UTC timeout. The Mocs battled back to creep within two on a few separate occasions, 15-13, 17-15, 19-17 and 20-18, but couldn't climb all the way back.
 
Back-to-back Tiger kills ended the set, 25-21, and propelled the team to a 2-1 lead in the match. UTC was limited to a .071% attacking percentage in the set while committing seven errors on 28 attempts.
 
S4 | TSU 25, UTC 18
Much like the third set, TSU jumped on UTC early and grabbed an 11-3 lead out of the gate. The Mocs tried to fight its way back, but could only reach a deficit of five points, 19-14, before the Tigers put the match away for good.
 
TSU out-scored UTC 6-5 down the stretch to earn itself a 25-18 set win and a 3-1 win in the match, picking up its second win over the Scenic City program in the past three seasons.
 
Notable Match Performances: Dani Szczepanski (16 kills, .444%, 4.0 blocks); Sarah Root (10 kills, .188%); Maia Rackel (6 kills, .385%, 4.0 blocks); Brianna Anderson (6 kills, 6 digs, 2.0 blocks); Megan Kaufman (17 digs); Maddie Halsey (30 assists, 4 digs)
 
UP NEXT
Chattanooga will head to Troy, Ala., for the Troy Invitational this coming Friday and Saturday (Sept. 6-7). UTC will face the tournament-hosts in addition to Murray State and Jacksonville. Match links are located on the schedule page.

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