CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs' indoor volleyball team continued its late success with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-20) sweep over the visiting Wofford Terriers on Saturday evening inside Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs concluded the regular season tied for fifth in the Southern Conference, their best finish since 2016. Prior to the match, UTC honored its senior class –
Gylian Finch and
Maia Rackel.
MATCH RECAP
SET 1 ∙ UTC 25, WOF 18
SET 2 ∙ UTC 25, WOF 23
SET 3 ∙ UTC 25, WOF 20
After being recognized before the match, Rackel came out swinging, recording the match's first kill. Wofford led early, 7-4, but UTC capitalized on errors and an ace from
Paige Gallentine to tie the first frame at seven. After Wofford regained the lead, UTC took its first lead since 1-0 with back to back blocks. The Mocs extended their lead to four, up 20-16 after a
Sophia Bossong ace and Wofford called timeout. The Terriers were never able to tie the set as the Blue and Gold ended the opening frame, 25-13 on a 3-0 run with a solo block from
Gylian Finch and a kill from
Marcelle Baez-Carlo. UTC posted five blocks in the opening frame and hit .265.
Wofford led 8-6 in the second set before Gallentine stepped behind the service line and served seven straight points to give UTC a 14-8 advantage. After a timeout, the Terriers scored five straight, cutting their deficit to one. Wofford got out to a 22-20 lead as Chattanooga called its final timeout of the set. Two kills from Rackel and an ace from Bossong tied the set at 23 as Wofford called its final stoppage of the frame. The Blue and Gold ended the set with a kill from Rackel and a block from Rackel and Baez Carlo to take the frame, 25-23. Rackel dominated the second set with six kills.
The Mocs got out front early and only gave it up once, at 3-2. They were the first to 20, holding a 20-16 advantage. Wofford got within three, but never came close as kills from Kate Neil, Finch and Rackel sealed the sweep for the Mocs. For the second-straight set, Rackel posted six kills, this time on seven swings hitting .857. Finch concluded her final regular-season with three kills on four swings as the Mocs hit .586 in the frame.
Rackel led the match with 16 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Baez-Carlo was the other Moc with double-digit kills. She had 10 and led the team with five blocks.
Finch hit .412 with eight kills and registered three solo blocks, a career-high. Neill joined Finch with eight kills, she added two blocks.
Quarterbacking the offense once again was Bossong. She totaled 39 assists, 11 digs and three aces. Gallentine slotted three aces and finished with seven digs.
The match featured 24 ties and 13 lead changes. UTC outblocked Wofford 10-3 and outhit the Terriers .340 - .215.
Notes
- The match is the second time this season the team hit over .300 and the first since the second match of the season. The .340 attack clip is the highest for the team in SoCon action since they hit .411 at Mercer on Oct. 1, 2016.
- Bossong registered her 21st career and second straight double-double.
- Finch entered the match without multiple solo blocks in any match throughout her four-year career. She posted three today in just three sets.
- Rackel has recorded 10+ kills in each of the last seven matches.
- Three players (Rackel, Finch and Baez-Carlo) all hit above .400 in the match.
- Rackel's clip is the best in SoCon action for her and the second best hitting percentage this season.
- Baez-Carlo's 10 kills are a career high.
Series history
Chattanooga leads the all-time series 31-13 and ended a three-match losing skid to the Terriers.
Records – CHATTANOOGA (11-18, 7-9 SoCon) | WOFFORD (15-13, 9-7 SoCon)
Up next
The Mocs conclude the regular season 11-18 overall and 7-9 in SoCon action. UTC finished the season tied for fifth in the league, but due to tiebreak scenarios, the Blue and Gold are the No. 8 seed in the SoCon tournament and will play Furman in the play-in game on Monday at 6 p.m. inside Maclellan Gym.
MORE ABOUT CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
Watch "Mission First, Family Always" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mOmxbzHk4&t=2s
Read "Mission First, Family Always" here:
https://gomocs.com/news/2019/9/27/general-chatt-chats-mission-first-family-always.aspx?path=general
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
Follow @GoMocsVB on Twitter & @GoMocsVolleyball on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga volleyball.
