chattanooga MOCS

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - UTC Volleyball opened its 2026 season today, defeating Tennessee State and falling to Valparaiso on day one of the Chattanooga Classic. The Mocs swept the Tigers in the afternoon game before the Beacons won the night cap in four. 

Scores
Chattanooga 3, Tennessee State 1: (25-12, 25-13, 28-26)
Valparaiso 3, Chattanooga 1: (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22)

Records
Chattanooga (1-1)
Tennessee State (0-1)
Valparaiso (2-0)

Series Notes

Chattanooga moves to 11-3 all-time against Tennessee State and have won three in a row in the series… The Mocs are 7-1 on their home court against the Tigers.  UTC drops to 0-3 all-time against Valparaiso… Tonight's meeting was the first since 2015.

Chattanooga 3, Tennessee State 1

Early on in the first set, Tennessee State jumped out to a 5-2 lead. However, the Mocs responded by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to move ahead 12-7. UTC did not look back as it took set one 25-12. Two kills from Elena Vukmanov and one from Ashley Reynolds capped off the set. 

The key moment in the second set for Chattanooga was a 9-0 run on Caiti Barthel's service rotation. This put the home side ahead 16-5. The Mocs went on to win 25-14 behind a .519 hitting percentage in the set. 

The third and final set was much closer, as Chattanooga led 24-21 before TSU rattled off four points in a row to have its first set point of the day. The Mocs held off that point with a kill from Jordin Glass before holding off another one thanks to a kill from Kynli Kirkendoll. A pair of attack errors by the Tigers ended the set at 28-26 and the match. 

Individual and Team Stats

• Glass tallied a career high 16 kills with a steady .682 hitting percentage. 

• Reynolds started her season with 27 assists at the setter position. 

• Chattanooga had a .347 hitting percentage while holding TSU to a .107 hitting percentage. 

• The Mocs had a 44-31 advantage in kills.

Chattanooga 1, Valparaiso 3

The first set was back and forth, as neither side could move up more than two points until Valpo led 18-15. The Beacons owned the closing moments of the set, scoring five in a row to win 25-18 and take a 1-0 lead. 

Valpo continued its run into the second set, scoring the first four points. Chattanooga responded with the help of three service aces to eventually move ahead 9-8. As the set moved on it was Chattanooga's turn to be clutch at the end. Trailing by one at 21-20, UTC scored four straight points, three of which were kills. Rose had the clinching kill to end the set at 25-23 and get the crowd in Maclellan on their feet. 

Set three seemed to be another tight one before things flipped starting at 11-11. The Beacons rattled off seven straight points and did not look back, taking it 25-17. 

The Mocs did not back down in set four going point-for-point with Valpo in the early goings before the away side extended its lead to 17-12. Behind the attack of Glass and Rose, UTC stuck around and trailed just 23-22, looking to send the match to a fifth set. However, consecutive kills by Valpo ended the set at 25-22 and gave it the 3-1 win. 

Individual and Team Stats

• Rose and Glass each had 11 kills to lead the way offensively for the Mocs.

• Addison Walker also contributed a career-high seven kills. 

• Jordyn Gove led all attackers with 20 kills for Valpo. 

• In defense, Barthel collected a game-high 25 digs. 

• Reynolds also had a game-high 35 assists. 

• Valpo had a .252 hitting percentage while UTC hit at a rate of .169. 

• The Beacons had eight service aces to the Mocs' four. 

Postgame Quotes

Julie Torbett Thomas, Head Coach
On the performance against Tennessee State

"The first game, I thought Jordan Glass was spectacular. Just an amazing athlete. So, I loved watching her play. Really felt like the middle's, Kynli (Kirkendoll), as well, did a great job of just kind of setting the tone for us in our opener. And so that was fun. It was nice to have a little battle in the third set, actually, to have to work for it a little bit. So that was good and let us try a few other things."

On the performance against Valpo

"Valpo's a really good team. They're a very experienced team, and I thought Caiti (Barthel) played really well with 28 digs. We were up and down in passing, which is always gonna make our team look up and down. But Gracie (Rose) did a good job of being a go-to outside hitter for us. We're going to figure it out. It's very early in the season, two matches in, and I'm looking for answers in the lineup. We have players though that want to get out there and get after it, and they'll get their chances, and I'm excited."

Up Next: Chattanooga rounds out the Classic with a match against UAB tomorrow at 6 p.m. Admission is free and the match will be streamed on ESPN+. 

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