The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team defeated Wofford 3-2 Saturday night in a thrilling five-set match in Spartanburg, S.C., to claim its first Southern Conference win of the season. The match saw the score tied 35 times and the lead change on 15 occasions. The Mocs are now 1-1 in the SoCon with their only loss coming against Furman Friday afternoon.
"It is a great win for us," Head Coach Travis Filar said. "We showed a lot of toughness by getting a win on the road. We were very sharp and consistent in the first two sets and we responded well in the fifth."
Sophomore Julimar Alvarado (San Juan, Puerto Rico) excelled against the Terriers, collecting 10 kills and recording a .200 attacking percentage. The middle blocker also recorded four assisted blocks en route to the 3-2 win. Overall, Chattanooga totaled 49 kills with its most coming in the first set.
Freshman Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) led with 14.0 points, including nine kills and two blocks. Sophomore Sarah Batterton (Colbert, Wash.) also recorded nine kills and recorded one block.
Chattanooga’s 15 kills in the first frame gave the Mocs the extra momentum needed to claim a 26-24 victory over Wofford. While the Terriers also totaled 15 kills in the set, eight Wofford errors cost the home team the loss. A seven-point Chattanooga rally with Wofford leading the Mocs 21-17 jumped UTC into the lead and led to the 1-0 advantage.
The Mocs took the second set as well, downing Wofford 25-20. The Terriers rolled over as UTC again pieced together multiple scoring drives. Seven multi-point rallies gave Chattanooga its early advantage and the Mocs took a 2-0 match-lead into the intermission.
Wofford returned from the locker room to claim back-to-back sets over UTC, taking the third 26-24 and the fourth 25-16 to even the match 2-2 to force a deciding set. Chattanooga downed only 13 points in the two sets while Wofford was on fire with 38 kills through the two sets.
The Mocs and Terriers didn’t spare on the dramatics in the fifth set. Much like the previous four frames of the match, a tug-of-war between the two teams sent the set into extra points. Again, errors cost the loss for the home team. Chattanooga was nearly flawless with just three errors and nine kills. Wofford had nine kills but seven errors gave the Terriers a .069 hitting percentage.
UTC took the set 16-14 and the match 3-2 on scoring five of the last six points in the match. Back-to-back points from the Terriers forced a timeout as the Mocs pulled together to put a “W” in the column.
Chattanooga returns to Chattanooga next weekend as Maclellan Gym hosts Appalachian State Friday at 6 p.m. and Western Carolina Saturday at 3 p.m. Samford visits the Scenic City Wednesday for a midweek matchup beginning at 7 p.m.