CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team returned to Maclellan Gymnasium for the first time in nearly three weeks on Friday night and knocked off The Citadel 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 34-32, 25-23) to win its third-straight Southern Conference match.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 5-3 in SoCon play and 10-12 overall. The Citadel drops to 2-5 in league action and 9-11 overall following the defeat. UTC's three-match win streak is its second such stretch of the season, marking the first time since 2016 with two, three-match or better win streaks.
Chattanooga dominated the opening set, 25-17, behind an attacking effort of 15 kills on 31 attempts with no errors (.484) to help build a 1-0 lead. The Citadel tied the match 1-1 after claiming a 25-22 victory in the second, out-hitting UTC by a wide .351 - .139 margin.
The third set was the longest set of the season for Chattanooga and featured 17 ties, seven lead changes and eight set points belonging to The Citadel. The Mocs fought off all eight set points and claimed a wild 34-32 victory, clinched on a
Sydney Hall kill, to take a 2-1 lead. UTC fought off a late Bulldogs rally and closed out the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth.
Natalie Tyson posted her fourth 20+ kill performance of the season after finishing with 21 kills on 53 swings, finishing at an efficient .340 clip. She also completed her 14th kill-dig, double-double of the season behind a 10 dig effort on defense.
The trio of
Sydney Hall,
Halle Olson and
Chloe Bryan each finished with 10 kills apiece and combined for eight blocks to help lead the Chattanooga attack. Hall finished with 10 kills at a .240 percentage while adding a team-high five blocks (one solo, four assists). Bryan ended with 10 kills at .429 and posted three blocks (three assists) in addition to Olson who concluded the match with 10 at a .250 number.
Sophia Bossong directed the offense with 44 assists and registered her fifth assist-dig, double-double of the year with 11 digs. She also stuffed the stat sheet with two kills, two aces, a block solo and three block assists. Bossong has now recorded at least one block in the last four matches.
Paige Gallentine once again led the defensive effort for the Mocs and recorded 19 digs while adding in five assists and a pair of service aces.
Makenzie Jordan reached double digits in digs for the second-straight match after finishing with 11 while also posting a team-high three service aces.
UP NEXT
Chattanooga returns to action on Sunday for its final non-conference match of the year when it hosts Alabama A&M inside Maclellan Gymnasium. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available and can be found on the schedule page.
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