JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell behind 2-0 and completed the three-set comeback in dramatic fashion, downing in-state rival ETSU 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 28-26, 15-11) inside Brooks Gym in Johnson City, Tenn., on Wednesday night during Southern Conference action.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 4-3 inside SoCon play and ups its overall record to 9-12. The win marked the first for the Mocs in Johnson City since 2015 and the first time defeating the Bucs in back-to-back meeting since 2015-16. ETSU dropped its first league match of the year and falls to 6-1 in the conference and 12-7 overall.
"We are really happy right now," said head coach
Julie Torbett. "It was a great match. I felt the difference in the end was serving and passing.
"It was just very good volleyball."
ETSU opened the match with a 25-19 convincing win in the opening set and fought off a UTC set point in the second to eventually win 26-24 and pull ahead 2-0. Entering Wednesday, the Bucs had dropped just two sets in the six league matches this season and carried a perfect 5-0 home record into the contest.
Chattanooga claimed the third set by a 25-21 count behind a blistering .306 attacking percentage to extend the match to the fourth. It was a back-and-forth affair down the stretch in the fourth as both teams fended off multiple set points, but UTC ultimately came away with a 28-26 winner to force a fifth.
It was all Mocs in the deciding set as they took the match 3-2 after a 15-11 win in the fifth. Five different Mocs ended the match with seven or more kills while four Mocs concluded with 13 or more digs.
Halle Olson provided a huge offensive day for Chattanooga as she led the team with 50 total attacks that led to a team-high 16 kills at a .200 hitting percentage. She also added four assists, eight digs and two blocks to amass 17.5 points scored in total.
Natalie Tyson followed Olson in the kill category with 11 while completing yet another kill-dig, double-double after finishing the match with 13.
Chloe Bryan was highly efficient for the visitors and ended the contest with nine kills at a .643 clip, committing zero errors in 14 total attacks, while also adding two total blocks.
Aleya Kennedy was strong at the net on Wednesday and led the team with five total blocks (two solo, three assists) in addition to registering eight kills on 20 swings.
Sydney Hall entered the block party with two (two assists) and chipped in with seven kills at a .286 percentage to aid the scoring barrage.
Sophia Bossong stuffed the stat sheet and completed another assist-dig, double-double after dishing out a season-high 47 assists and recording 13 digs. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native also added three kills, three aces and a block assist to showcase the versatility.
Paige Gallentine controlled the floor and led the match with 23 digs, her second-straight match with 20 or more digs and ninth match this season.
Makenzie Jordan recorded 15 digs, two service aces and an assist to complement the backrow play.
Cassidy Couch was aggressive at the service line and posted a career-high and team-high this season with five aces to go along with two digs.
UP NEXT
Chattanooga returns home for the first time in nearly three weeks as the team hosts The Citadel in SoCon action on Friday night inside Maclellan Gymnasium. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. ET. Match coverage links will be made available on the schedule page leading up to first serve.
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