The Chattanooga Mocs (3-1) volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday evening at the hands of the East Tennessee Bucs (5-1) in three sets at the Clemson Classic.
ETSU reached 25 points in three straight matches as UTC was only allowed 10, 18 and 21 points, respectively. Despite having 11 spikes blocked, Chattanooga was able to down 27 attacks while East Tennessee had only 12 more kills.
Freshman Sarah Batterton (Colbert, Wash.) led the Mocs offense with eight kills for the match. Batterton averaged a team-best .250 attacking percentage while freshman Julimar Alvarado (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) followed up with seven kills. Senior Heather Parman (Ooltewah, Tenn.) managed five kills along with a .222 percentage.
Junior Bridget Camacho was UTC's assists leader with 25 and senior Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.) finished with 19 digs to lead the team on defense.
The Mocs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first set on a Christina Teter (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) kill, but that would be the only time Chattanooga commanded a lead in the first. ETSU pulled away to take the set 25-10.
UTC battled back from a four-point deficit to begin the second set, and battled back-and-fourth with the Bucs throughout the frame. The Mocs stalled late in the set, down just 16-19, when East Tennessee's offense picked up six quick points to take it 25-18.
The deciding set came down to a 22-21 match in favor of the Bucs as UTC looked to force a fourth frame. Back-to-back kills from Parman and Batterton brought the Mocs within one point of the lead, but ETSU's offense was able to capitalize on an attacking error late in the set to claim the match.
Chattanooga continues the Clemson Classic Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. as they take on the host Tigers. The Mocs will then face Charlotte at 6 p.m. later that evening.