CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga volleyball mowed through its competition Thursday night at Maclellan Gymnasium, as the Mocs got their brooms out to hand a 3-0 sweep to in-state rival ETSU, giving UTC its second consecutive SoCon win.
After handing the Bucs a 25-21 result in set one, the Mocs were able to battle back from eight points down in the second set to help secure a 2-0 lead over ETSU. Chattanooga then ran after with the match in the third frame, bullying the Buccaneers to a 25-11 set win to seal the match and the sweep in favor of the Mocs.
"It was super exciting and a great atmosphere tonight," head coach Julie Torbett Thomas said. "I feel like our middles were error-free, we dug back from a hole in the second and just took it to them in the third. Really nice for us to finish this one in three."
The Mocs set the tone early in the match by jumping out to a 5-0 lead right off the opening serve of the match. The Buccaneers responded, but it was never enough to recover from the early hole UTC put them in as the Mocs ultimately came away with a 25-21 set win.
In set two, it was the Bucs that came out swinging early with ETSU building up an early 12-4 lead on the Mocs, UTC's largest deficit of the match. Slowly but surely, the Mocs would chip away at the lead that ETSU had amassed but still found themselves down for a majority of the frame. It wasn't until the scoreboard read 23-22 in favor of East Tennessee State that the Mocs slammed the door shut, stringing together three unanswered points to stun the Bucs with a 25-23 comeback set victory.
Deflated by their collapse in the set prior, the Bucs still had one last gasp to throw at the Mocs. That was until Erin Wyatt put that idea to bed real quick. Wyatt would stuff the Bucs at the net for a solo block, one of Wyatt's two blocks off the bench for UTC on the night, helping to spark what was ultimately an 8-0 scoring run for Chattanooga.
"My goal when I went in there, and I told my teammates this, my goal was if I'm not gonna go and get kills I was gonna go shut that girl (Brianna Cantrell) down," Wyatt said when asked about her crucial block. "She was a big momentum switch for them, so if we took her away that was gonna be a big momentum shift for us."
From that point on, it was all Chattanooga to close out the match. With a spattering of ETSU points here and there throughout the remainder of the set, the Mocs steamrolled their way to a 25-11 result, closing out the match and sealing the 3-0 sweep over UTC's rival.
Two key performers for the Mocs were setter Elaine Redman, who ended her night with a 32-assist, 17-dig double-double in the result, as well as true freshman Kynli Kirkendoll, who wrapped up the evening with a team-high five blocks alongside recording seven kills on a scorching .875 hitting percentage.
"I think we all just came out ready to play today," Kirkendoll said. "We had a couple switches like bringing Erin in the front row and everyone who got brought in was just ready to play."
Breanah Rives and Paige Gallentine would also log double-digit digs in the match with each finishing at 13. Rives also wrapped up the night tied with Chard'e Vanzandt for the team-high in kills (8).
UP NEXT
The Mocs continue their run of home matches tomorrow night when Western Carolina comes to town. UTC and WCU will square off at 6 p.m. ET at Maclellan Gymnasium, with the match being broadcast on ESPN+.
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