The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team is off to a rocky start at the Kennesaw State Owls Classic in Kennesaw, Ga. UTC dropped back-to-back 3-1 losses to Troy and Tennessee State on the first day of the tournament.
The Mocs fell to 4-4 on the season against Troy with the first match of the day. The Trojans took a 3-1 victory over Chattanooga after losing the first set of the match. Senior Christina Teter (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and freshman Julimar Alvarado (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Mocs offensive attack with 10 kills, assisted by junior Bridget Camacho (Cumming, Ga.) who set up 41 of UTC's 47 total kills.
Chattanooga's record dropped below the .500 mark to 4-5 with its loss to Tennessee State Friday evening. The 3-1 loss to the Tigers saw three of the four sets played decided by three points or less. Alvarado again reached double digits with 12 kills followed up by fellow freshman Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.) who dropped 10 kills on TSU.
UTC was off to a good start against Troy with a 25-22 set win to begin the first match of the day, but things went downhill in the match for the Mocs with the next three sets. Chattanooga was outscored 25-19 in the second set, despite recording one more kills than the Trojans in the set loss. Chattanooga's downfall in the second frame came on eight errors.
The Mocs pulled closer in the third set, keeping the score neck-and-neck until the set reached a 21-21 score. UTC took a one-point lead to go ahead 22-20, but four straight scoring volleys, though interrupted by a Chattanooga timeout, gave the Trojans a 25-22 set win.
The fourth and final set went to Troy with a 25-20 score. The Mocs led the set by a one-point margin three times during the frame, but the Trojans took a 16-15 lead midway through and never looked back, taking the match with a 3-1 final.
Chattanooga looked to get back on track against Tennessee State in the Friday evening match, but a 3-1 victory for the Tigers handed the Mocs their first loss to the Nashville, Tenn., school.
TSU tool a 1-0 match lead with a 25-19 win in the first set. The Tigers recorded 16 kills while the Mocs only managed 9 in the first frame.
UTC came back in the second set to battle the Tigers to extra points. Chattanooga eventually took a 30-28 set win. Tennessee State led the Mocs 28-27 at the end of the match, but a timeout called by head coach Travis Filar settled the Chattanooga offense down and allowed the team to pick up three straight points to take the set.
Despite the Chattanooga rally to win the second frame, Tennessee State went on to win the next two sets. The Tigers topped the Mocs 25-22 in the second after pulling away from a 22-22 tie, and the final set was decided by only two points as TSU took the final set 25-23 for a 3-1 match win.
The Mocs are back in action Saturday at noon with a matchup with the hosting Kennesaw State Owls. This match can be watched live and followed on live stats via the link above.
Chattanooga wraps up the Kennesaw State Owls Classic tomorrow evening against North Carolina Central at 5 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two programs. The match can be followed with live stats provided by Kennesaw State.