UTC volleyball nearly pulled off an upset of the second-place Furman Paladins at Maclellan Gym Saturday afternoon. UTC led the match 2-1 going into the fourth set of the match before Furman was able to string together back-to-back frames to take the match 3-2 in the deciding set.
Sophomore Briana Reid (Houston, Texas) returned to the Chattanooga lineup with a bang after being out with an injury, scoring a team season-high 24 kills.
The total was the most recorded by the Mocs since freshman Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) totaled 21 against Charlotte Sept. 6 during the Country Inns & Suites Invitational tournament in Chattanooga.
The Mocs forced Furman to extra points and eventually took the first set 27-25 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Reid established her offensive presence in the set with nine kills on 17 attacks. UTC took 46 total swings in the set and downed a match-best 20 kills to register a team-high .370 percentage.
Junior Kasey Talley (Boiling Springs, S.C.) totaled five kills in the first set behind Reid and ended the night with 15 against the Paladins. Four total Mocs finished the night in double-figure kills, including sophomore Sarah Batterton (Colbert, Wash.) with 14 and Davenport with 13.
Furman claimed the second set 25-16 to even the score going into the locker room. Despite falling in the set, Chattanooga claimed 12 kills and held the Paladins to a .257 hitting percentage. Furman had previously hit .304 and downed 18 attacks in the first set.
Chattanooga took a slim 25-22 victory in the third set to push back in front 2-1. Batterton and Davenport led the offense with five kills each with both taking 11 swings. Junior Briana Guzinski (Jacksonville, Fla.) was UTC’s defensive leader in the frame with eight digs off the bench. Freshman Anne Bachmann (Lincoln, Neb.) and Talley each contributed two assisted blocks. Bachmann was also strong on the set with a season and career-best 57 assists, also sneaking in four kills on the Furman offense for a .444 hitting percentage.
The Mocs’ luck would run out in the fourth and fifth sets, however, falling 26-24 in a heartbreaking fourth-set defeat and dropping the deciding set 15-9.
For more stats from Saturday’s match, click here.