CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Mocs came up short in their Southern Conference bout against The Citadel on Saturday, with Chattanooga volleyball dropping a 3-1 result to the Bulldogs in Charleston.
Despite out-hitting (.182 to .179) and out-blocking (6 to 1) The Citadel on their home floor, a determined Bulldog side led by Ali Ruffin forced its way past the Mocs in a narrow result. A highlight from the evening for UTC came from senior setter Elaine Redman, whose 31-assist and 16-dig double-double helped the Chattanooga native officially surpass 4,000 assists over her college career.
To open the match, set one proved to be a slugfest as both teams traded blows back-and-forth with neither team really mustering up much of an advantage over the other. The score would stay tight all the way to a 23-23 deadlock, making each and every points that followed even more pivotal. Unfortunately for the Mocs, fate would be in favor of the Bulldogs to open the match as a 26-24 result saw UTC in an early 1-0 hole.
The Mocs bounced back in set two, however, barreling past The Citadel's defense in what ended up being a 25-15 Chattanooga victory. Now back to level ground, the match was anyone's to win.
Flipping the script on Chattanooga, the third set was The Citadel's opportunity to build up an impressive lead as the Bulldogs eventually gained a 25-16 set win to once again put UTC on its backfoot. Now needing just one more set to take the match, The Citadel was moving in for the kill.
In the fourth set, the Mocs left it all out there with veterans and freshmen alike doing their part to keep the Mocs' hopes of victory alive. Even so, it wouldn't be enough as the Bulldogs ended up claiming the final frame 25-20, sealing the 3-1 victory for The Citadel in the process.
Outside of Redman's double-double and milestone-filled evening, the Mocs also saw a solid performance out of Sydney Jackwin, who notched a double-double of her own by leading the team with 12 kills paired alongside her 15 digs.
Libero Paige Gallentine was seemingly everywhere on the court for the Mocs, putting up a match-leading 29 digs in the match. Other UTC standouts included Chard'e Vanzandt, who finished with 11 kills as well as a team-high three blocks, as well as Kynli Kirkendoll, who ended her match with 10 kills and a pair of blocks of her own.
UP NEXT
It'll now be a busy week for Chattanooga volleyball with the Mocs closing out their final week of the regular season with three matches over the course of five days. The Mocs will open their week on Tuesday, with UTC traveling to Greenville, South Carolina, for a makeup match against Furman. That match is slated for a 6 p.m. ET start time. Chattanooga then travels to Cullowhee, where Western Carolina will be waiting to host the Mocs on Friday, November 15 at 6 p.m. ET. UTC's regular season finale will then be the following day, with the Mocs heading to Johnson City to close out the conference play with their in-state rival, ETSU, on Saturday, November 16 at 6 p.m. ET. All three of this week's matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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