The UTC volleyball team (9-14, 3-5 SoCon) volleyball team picked up a 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 14-25, 15-13) Southern Conference win over The Citadel (4-20, 0-8 SoCon) Sunday afternoon.
Freshman Julimar Alvarado (San Juan, Puerto Rico) was unstoppable on the attack, recording a career-best 27 kills and a .300 hitting percentage in the Mocs win over the Bulldogs. Freshmen Sarah Batterton (Colbert, Wash.) and Briana Reid (Houston, Texas) each finished with double-digit kills, as well, collecting 11 and 10, respectively.
Junior Bridget Camacho (Cumming, Ga.) set up a season-best 58 assists, and Batterton was tough on defense with a block solo and two block assists. Five different Mocs-Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.), Melissa Green (Boca Raton, Fla.), Catherine Chason (Alpharetta, Ga.), Camacho and Reid-each finished with double-digits in the digs column.
Chattanooga hit a match-best .300 while The Citadel was held to a .070 hitting percentage in the first set, taking the contest 25-20. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and stayed the course until the Mocs put a halt to the scoring. Down by two at, Alvarado downed an attack in Bulldog territory to begin a six-point scoring spree. Sophomore Kasey Talley (Boiling Springs, S.C.) contributed with one kill, Alvarado spiked three more kills and a Citadel ball handling error led to an 11-7 Chattanooga lead. After gaining control, UTC cruised to the victory.
The Bulldogs battled back in the second set to take a 25-20 win, despite a .133 UTC hitting percentage, but Chattanooga would regain control of the match with a 25-21 win in the third frame on six Alvarado kills to take a 2-1 lead to the locker room at the intermission.
The Bulldogs came back with a bite in the fourth set, shutting the Chattanooga offense down with a 25-14 win. UTC was dealt a match-low .070 hitting percentage while The Citadel hit a match-best .333 percentage. The Mocs were allowed to score multiple times just twice, scoring on two three-point runs.
Forced to go to a fifth set, Chattanooga capitalized on a 14-11 lead near the end of the stanza. The Citadel nearly topped the Mocs, pulling within one point of UTC, 14-13, but a timeout called by Head Coach Travis Filar settled the team down in order to score the final point. Freshman Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.) muzzled the Bulldogs with a kill to score the Mocs the match.
The Mocs return to Maclellan Gym next weekend as Davidson and Georgia Southern come to Chattanooga. UTC entertains the Wildcats Saturday at 2 p.m. and the Eagles Sunday at 3 p.m.