ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- A pair of transfer student-athletes in Natalie Tyson and Halle Olson combined for 42 kills, 21 each, to help lead the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team to a thrilling 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-9) victory on the road at UNC Asheville inside the Justice Center on Wednesday evening.
 
Chattanooga has now won two of its last three matches and improves to 2-5 on the season following the victory. Asheville moves to 3-6 after the five-set decision.
 
The performance from Tyson and Olson earned a search to the record books as the duo became just the third tandem since 2006 to record 20 or more kills in the same match. While recognizing the effort towards the pair, head coach Julie Torbett also saw sparks from both Marcelle Baez-Carlo and Lauren Baker, who returned tonight from injury.
 
"Gutsy performance from our team," said Torbett. "Marcelle came in and gave us a spark that we needed, and it was good to have Lauren back.
 
"Halle and Natalie took a lot of swings while Paige [Gallentine] and Kate [Neill] were steady. That is a tough gym for any opponent to play in."

CHATTANOOGA 3, ASHEVILLE 2 | BOX SCORE
SET ONE | UTC 25, AVL 15
Asheville opened the match with a brief 7-5 lead following a stretch that saw three of four points fall the Bulldogs way before UTC responded with 14 of the next 18 points to extend out to a commanding 19-11 advantage.
 
Chattanooga closed out the opening set 25-15 on back-to-back kills from Kate Neill and Halle Olson, giving the road team a 1-0 lead. The Mocs defense held Asheville to a single set season-low of five kills and a -.171 hitting percentage while the offense accumulated 13 kills at a .135 clip.
 
SET TWO | AVL 25, UTC 21
The Bulldogs once again saw an early lead in the set, this time building a 9-5 lead out of the gate following three-straight kills and a ball handling error from UTC. The AVL lead continued at four, 15-11, before the Mocs answered with three-straight to pull within one, 15-14, and forcing the home squad to call timeout.
 
After UTC tied things up 17-17, Asheville scored three in-a-row following two points from the service line and a point off a Mocs attacking error to take a 20-17 lead ahead of a timeout. Chattanooga took the timeout and made it effective, tying the match at 20-20 with three consecutive points, however, Asheville finished the set scoring five of the final six points to claim a 25-21 set win and tied the match 1-1.
 
SET THREE | UTC 25, AVL 22
Chattanooga came out with a heavy offensive attack and built a sizable 8-2 lead behind six-straight points. They would hold the lead over the next few points before back-to-back Asheville points make it 13-8.
 
The Mocs continued to hold the edge down the stretch, 21-15, before the Bulldogs rallied for five-straight points to pull within one, 21-20. After kills from Neill and Olson made it 23-22, Natalie Tyson finished off the set with consecutive kills to give UTC a 25-22 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
SET FOUR | AVL 25, UTC 20
In a must-win set, Asheville opened the fourth up with seven points in the first ten rallies to claim a 7-3 lead in the early going. Chattanooga battled back with the offensive attack of Tyson, Neill, Olson and Marcelle Baez-Carlo to tie the set 11-11.
 
The Bulldogs built a four-point lead at 16-12 before the Mocs fired back with four of the next five to cut the deficit to one, 17-16. Asheville created separation, 23-18, behind a 6-2 run and eventually forced a fifth set after notching a 25-20 set win.
 
SET FIVE | UTC 15, AVL 9
It was a back-and-forth affair in the fifth and final set as the two teams traded the first 10 rallies, playing to an even 5-5 tie. Chattanooga reached the coveted eighth point first after breaking a 7-7 tie on a Neill kill, however, Asheville would tie things up at 8-8 and 9-9.
 
UTC clinched the set and the match with six-straight points down the stretch, forcing the Bulldogs into errors on all six points, behind a 15-9 final tally. The Mocs limited the Bulldogs to an -.057 attack percentage in the set.
 
UP NEXT
Chattanooga (2-5) gets set to host the Chattanooga Classic this weekend on Friday and Saturday inside Maclellan Gymnasium. The Mocs will greet the likes of Duquesne, Southern Indiana and Miami (OH) to the Scenic City. All three UTC matches will be LIVE on ESPN+. For full tournament information, please visit the tournament central page here.

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