ATLANTA, GA. – The Chattanooga Mocs' indoor volleyball team concluded its opening weekend of the 2021 season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) setback to the California Baptist Lancers on Saturday morning at the Georgia State Invitational.  
 
MATCH BASICS  
SET 1 ∙ CBU 25, UTC 18
SET 2 ∙ CBU 25, UTC 23
SET 3 ∙ CBU 25, UTC 18

The Mocs held a 12-9 lead in the opening set before the Lancers went on their first run of the match. Six consecutive points built by three Mocs errors and three CBU kills gave the Lancers a three-point edge. From there, CBU held a lead throughout the remainder of the frame. They won the last three points of the set to take the opener, 25-18. Maia Rackel led the way for the Mocs with four kills in the set. CBU's Sherine Dahoue led the match a third of the way through, hitting .600 with six kills on 10 swings.

The second set started the other way, in favor of the Lancers. Down 16-12, UTC went on a 6-1 run, capped off by three aces by Marcelle Baez-Carlo to take the lead, 18-17. The two teams alternated points throughout the rest of the set and with the set locked at 23, CBU used a kill and an UTC attack error to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. The set featured 10 ties and five lead changes.

With the third set locked at seven, CBU went on a 4-0 run to take control early. Down 18-10 the Mocs went on a run of their own to cut into the Lancers lead, cutting their deficit to four at 20-16. The Lancers allowed the Mocs to get to 18, but no further as they took the match in three with back-to-back kills to end it. The Mocs hit .250 in the third, but were unable to shut down the Lancers offense as CBU hit .472 in the final frame.  

Finch finished tied for a match-high 12 kills; she was two digs away from a second-straight double-double. Coniah Davis and Rackel combined for 13 kills with Davis posting seven and four blocks. Rackel added six digs and a block.  

With three straight aces in the second and another in the third set, Baez-Carlo led the match with four. Sophia Bossong completed her second double-double of the season with 23 assists and 11 digs; the setter for the Blue and Gold netted four kills on five swings.

In the back row, the Mocs recorded 52 digs compared to CBU's 45. Paige Gallentine led the way with 12.

CBU had three hitters with 10+ kills led by Dahoue with 12 and a .345 clip. The Lancers outhit the Blue and Gold .322-.183.

Notes

-         Rackel is now four kills away from the 500-career mark.

-         Finch's three assists marked a career high for the senior.

Series update
This was the first match between the two teams in program history.

Up next
The Mocs are back in action on Tuesday at Jacksonville State. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. EST.

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

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