CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Chattanooga volleyball team ended the opening day of play at the CSU Tournament in Charleston with a 1-1 record on Friday, after the team picked up a 3-0 win over Charleston Southern and a 3-2 loss to Southern Illinois.
The Mocs (4-1) started their day off strong by battling through a difficult Charleston Southern (3-2) team that was playing on their own home court. After claiming a win over the Bucs, UTC then came up just short in their comeback attempt to undefeated Southern Illinois (4-0), falling 3-2 to the Salukis to notch the team's first loss of the season.
The Mocs would have to start their tournament by playing against Charleston Southern, who are serving as the host school at Buccaneer Fieldhouse. Looking for their fourth win of the season, the Mocs got to work.
While the final score read a 3-0 sweep for the Mocs, it was by no means a blowout as all three sets would finish either 25-22 or 25-23 in favor of a narrow UTC victory. Despite the hostile environment and tight margins for errors, the experienced Chattanooga team navigated their way to earning their third sweep of the season.
Set one featured a well-balanced UTC attack put on by Morgan Romano, Chard'e Vanzandt and Gylian Finch that had the Mocs control nearly the entire length of the set. Moving into sets two and three, however, the Mocs found themselves more on the backfoot.
In both of the remaining two sets, Chattanooga found itself down by multiple points (10-14 deficit in set two; 10-15 deficit in set three). Even when trailing, the Mocs put together amazing scoring runs that not only erased their deficits but helped them jump ahead and maintain leads for the remainder of each set to secure the sweep victory.
Once again it was the offensive performance of Morgan Romano that led the charge in match one, with her 13 kills leading the team for the fourth consecutive match. Junior Elaine Redman's 28 assists also played a big part in the UTC offense.
Defensively it was Paige Gallentine that headlined the team's performance, with Gallentine putting up double-digit digs (13). Gallentine has now officially surpassed the 1,500 career dig mark in her time at UTC, becoming just the seventh Moc in program history to do so.
The front row pairing of Marcelle Baez-Carlo and Chard'e Vanzandt also made a big impact defensively, chalking up five and four blocks, respectively, to help shut down any chance for a Buccaneer comeback.
Moving into match two of the day, the Mocs were set to clash with another undefeated team in Southern Illinois, who had completed a five-set reverse sweep earlier in the day against North Carolina A&T to move to 3-0 on the year. It was a battle of the undefeated squads in Charleston, with only one being able to emerge victorious.
To open the match, the Salukis' unrelenting attack saw the Mocs drop the opening frame, 16-25, and despite a hard-fought second set SIU would once again come out on top, 28-26. The Mocs were facing yet another 0-2 deficit, but this was familiar territory for a team that completed a reverse sweep win over Georgia State just a week ago.
With their backs against the wall, UTC punched it into high gear by pulling ahead by as much as 18-8 to start off the third. Even with a late surge from SIU, the Mocs were able to get on the board by taking set three to trail the Salukis only by one set.
Heading into the fourth, the Mocs were starting to click offensively on the backs of Morgan Romano, Chard'e Vanzandt and Gylian Finch. After a flurry of kills by the trio, the Mocs were able to take and maintain a lead that lasted until Chattanooga claimed the fourth set by a score of 25-23.
The Mocs once again found themselves in a reverse sweep situation, but that would require winning the all-important fifth set. After a slow start from the Mocs, Southern Illinois had found itself up 12-8 and looking to deal a knockout blow to UTC.
The Mocs made their push, getting as close as a one-point deficit at 13-14, but the Salukis ultimately held on to hand Chattanooga volleyball its first loss of 2023.
While UTC came out on the losing end, there were still plenty of positives to take away from the match. For starters, three Mocs were able to end the day in double-digit kills in Romano (15), Vanzandt (10) and Finch (10), with Finch also tallying double-digit digs with 11.
Paige Gallentine would ultimately finish with a team-best 12 digs, while Elaine Redman led the Mocs in assists with 21. Both Marcelle Baez-Carlo and Chard'e Vanzandt finished with three blocks each.
UP NEXT
While the Mocs have now been ruled out of being able to take home the CSU Tournament title, the Mocs will still be aiming to bounce back from Friday's loss in the team's final match in Charleston against North Carolina A&T. The Mocs will meet the Aggies at 11 a.m. ET at Buccaneer Fieldhouse on Saturday, with UTC looking to end the tournament on a high note.
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA VOLLEYBALL
Follow @GoMocsVB on Twitter and @GoMocsVolleyball on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga volleyball.
Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the UTC Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here. Check out the Mocs on the Mic podcast here.
