CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Mocs hosted UAB on Saturday night in the de-facto second-place match of the Chattanooga Classic. UTC dropped the first two sets before winning the third set, however a strong fourth set for the away side decided the match. UAB's strong offensive attack that outhit Chattanooga 52-39 was a key statistic in the match.
Final Score
UAB 3, Chattanooga 1 (25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17)
Records
UAB (2-1)
Chattanooga (1-2)
Series Notes
The Mocs dropped to 2-8 all-time against UAB and 1-4 at home versus the Blazers... The loss ended a two-match winning streak for UTC against UAB... Tonight's match was the first meeting since 2015.
How it Happened
In the first set, Chattanooga was on the attack with three early kills from
Kynli Kirkendoll,
Jordin Glass, and
Gracie Rose as the score read five all. UAB then rattled off six consecutive points to take control of the set. The Mocs wouldn't get any closer than four points the rest of the way with UAB pulling away later in the set to a 25-15 win. The Blazers hit .444 with 14 kills in the opening frame.
Chattanooga was more competitive in the second set as it found itself ahead 11-9 after a kill from
Addison Walker. The Mocs kept pushing on as a 5-0 run started by a kill from Rose put them up 15-10. Moments later, a 9-1 UAB run flipped the script putting it ahead 20-17. In the final moments, an attack error followed by a service ace for UAB clinched the set at 25-22 and put it up 2-0.
In the early goings of the third set, UTC had its biggest lead of the night at 9-3, with the attack finding some rhythm. Later on it was UAB's turn to get back on the front end, scoring five in a row, two coming from service aces to go in front 14-13. The two sides were neck-and-neck at 22 when
Caroline Peterson entered the match to serve for UTC. The freshman rattled off a pair of aces with a Blazers attack error mixed in the middle to give her side a 25-22 win to stay alive.
Whatever momentum UTC garnered in the third set, UAB took it all away to start the fourth set, scoring the first six points leading to a Chattanooga timeout. The timeout settled things down for the Mocs as it quickly came back to make it 8-7, thanks to some errors from UAB. The 6-0 run though at the start of the set proved to be a preview of what was to come as UAB scored nine in a row later in the set to push its lead to 18-8. Chattanooga fought off three match points at the end, but it was too little too late as UAB won the set 25-17 to clinch the match.
Individual and Team Stats
- Ashley Reynolds recorded her first double-double of the season with 26 assists and 10 digs.
- The leading attackers for UTC were Kirkendoll with nine kills, to go along with Glass and Rose who each had eight kills.
- UAB had three players in double figures in kills: Kennedy Vaughn (15), Mia Reese (13), and Rachel McCollum (10).
- The Blazers had a .271 hitting percentage while the Mocs hit at a rate of .123.
- Both teams found success with service aces as UAB tallied 11 to UTC's eight.
Earlier in the day, Valpo defeated Tennessee State to finish off a perfect 3-0 weekend to be named Chattanooga Classic Champions. UAB finished second, UTC placed third, and Tennessee State finished fourth. After the conclusion of the final match the following players were named to the All-Tournament Team:
MVP: Jordyn Gove (Valpo)
Ava Helming (Valpo)
Maggie Uhwat (Valpo)
Kennedy Vaughn (UAB)
Rachel McCollum (UAB)
Jordin Glass (UTC)
Postgame Quotes
Julie Torbett Thomas Head Coach
On what the difference was tonight and what she thinks the team needs to clean up before their next match
"We need to control our unforced errors, so that's when the other team is not making you make an error. We hit it out, we hit into the net, we miss our serve. I think we had way too many of those. So that's something we can control. We're going to work on that. I think also a little bit more communication on the court, Calling out our plays and defending the other team, like knowing what they're going to do. Opening weekend's always hard because you don't know the other teams. So you're really scouting on the fly. Next weekend, we'll be a little more prepared for what our opponent did this weekend and practice that all week."
On what she learned the most about this team this weekend
"That we're going to be good in spots, you know? We are really good in spots, and I feel like if you can do something once, you can do it twice, you can do it 10 times, you can make it permanent. So that's my belief. And so I thought, I saw a lot of good things out there. We just need more consistency. We need those longer stretches to be more successful."
Up Next: Chattanooga travels to Florence, Alabama for the Noona Kennard Invitational Sep. 4-5. The Mocs are scheduled to play UT Martin, North Alabama, and Jackson State throughout the weekend.
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