The UTC volleyball team suffered its most difficult defeat of the season Friday as the Lady Mocs (17-16, 12-6 SoCon) dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Furman (19-13, 11-7 SoCon) in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament.
The Paladins were able to close the curtain on Chattanooga’s season 26-24, 23-25, 16-25, 25-17, and 15-10 as Furman advances to play either Samford or Davidson on Saturday.
Overshadowed in the loss were stellar efforts from the Lady Mocs’ three outgoing seniors: Michaela Huff, Laura Nethery and Lara Newberry.
Nethery put together one of the finest performances of her four-year career in Chattanooga with a team-leading and season-high tying 12 kills. The senior also turned in a team-high .526 hitting percentage as well as two blocking assists.
Huff finished one dig shy of her fourth double-double of the season as she finished with 39 assists and nine digs. The Dallas, Texas native also contributed to the team’s offensive cause with five kills.
Newberry closed out the contest in usual Lara Newberry fashion, leading the match in digs with 39. That brings the final tally of her career to 3,176 digs, which is now the official NCAA record for digs in a career.
Courtney Barnes and Aurore Kullak were also key components to the UTC offense as both posted double-digit kill totals in 11 and 10, respectively. Ashley Yeager finished with eight kills and four aces, while Jessica Scott had seven kills in the match.
Following the Paladins’ opening set 26-24 win, the Lady Mocs were able to take the following two frames 25-23 and 25-16. In the third set, Chattanooga played some of its best offense as the Lady Mocs hit an astounding .680 and had only one error.
Furman would lie down, however, as the Paladins stymied the UTC offense in the fourth set, holding the Lady Mocs to only .059 in the 25-17 win, which forced a fifth and deciding set.
In the final set, Furman was able to take the match 15-10, thanks to three of Nicole Palazzo’s 14 kills.