The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell to Tennessee State in the Scenic City Showdown - presented by Hampton Inn & Suites (Downtown Chattanooga) - by a 3-1 score in the first leg of a Saturday double-header.
UTC claimed the first set 25-15 but dropped the following three sets by a 25-16, 25-16 and 26-24 count.
The loss snapped an 18-match home winning streak in Maclellan Gym and dropped the Mocs record to 6-6 on the season. The Tigers improved to 6-6 on the year after claiming their first win of the tournament.
In the second match of the day for the Mocs, they squared off against Southeastern Conference member Ole Miss, who entered the contest with an 11-1 record.
UTC claimed an exhilarating 3-2 win after trailing 2-1 in the match (25-20, 21-25, 19-25) and facing an 18-13 deficit in the fourth set.
The Mocs fought back to take the fourth set 25-23 to force a deciding fifth set. After trailing 12-8, UTC took seven of the final eight points in the match to earn the win.
The win pushed Chattanooga to a 7-6 overall record on the year as the Rebels lost for only the second time this season and now hold an 11-2 record.
In the TSU match, the Mocs were out-hit by Tennessee State .241 to .150 in the hitting percentage category while being out-killed 59-42.
"This match was a little disappointing, I thought we took the confidence from last night's win (3-2 over Appalachian State) into the first set and then we kind of lost it," said coach Travis Filar.
"The resilience and toughness of Tennessee State was excellent and they really got us out of our game."
Senior Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) collected her 1,000 career kill as a Moc, making her the ninth student-athlete in program history to reach the milestone. She collected a team-high 11 kills on a .250 hitting percentage while only playing three sets due to an injury.
Adding to the offense was sophomore Miranda Elpers (Louisville, Ky.) and freshman Brianna Anderson (Austin, Texas) who registered seven kills each in the loss. Senior Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) and sophomore Emily Plumlee (Chesapeake, Va.) posted six kills each.
Directing the offense was junior setter Madison Bergren (Muncie, Ind.) who collected 37 of Chattanooga's 39 assists.
On the defensive side, three different Mocs totaled double-digit digs including starting libero Rachel Petkosh (Merritt Island, Fla.) with a team-high 13, freshman Bailey Clemons (Nashville, Tenn.) with 10 and Elpers also finished with 10.
In the win over Ole Miss, three Mocs recorded double-digit kills. Davenport finished with a season-high 20 kills as Elpers (14) and Wieser (10) added to the offense. The trio collected 44 of the team's 58 kills in the win and hit at a combined .161 percentage.
UTC was out-killed 61-58, out-hit .197-.151 and out-blocked 14.0-8.0 but came away with the hard fought win.
"I challenged the team in the locker room after that tough loss earlier against TSU to learn from it and take the opportunity to build from it and stay strong. We had a great opportunity to showcase that with Ole Miss coming up," said Filar.
Bergren performed the direction of the offense in this match as well, posting a season-high 45 assists while also picking up five kills on a .333 hitting clip.
Petkosh led the Chattanooga defense with 25 digs as Elpers (14) and Bergren (13) chipped in to provide a sturdy defense that out-numbered Ole Miss in digs 76-70 when all said and done.
"We came out and set the tone by playing one of our best sets of volleyball and again kind of got off our game. We were down multiple times late in the match. I think this win speaks volumes for the toughness of our team and something we can really build on," added Filar.
The Mocs finished the Scenic City Showdown with a 2-1 record, tying Ole Miss and Tennessee State for first. The tournament winner was decided through a set-by-set head-to-head record. The final tournament standings and All-Tournament team can be found in the chart BELOW.
"I think we'll take this momentum and belief that we gained over the weekend, and especially our tough schedule the last couple weeks, into conference play as we train and practice building up to it."
Chattanooga opens up Southern conference play on the road in Birmingham, Ala., against Samford (9-6) on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the Southern Conference Digital Network and LIVE STATS will be available on GoMocs.com