The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team ended its first home tournament of the season, the Chattanooga Classic, with a 2-1 record Saturday. Chattanooga scored a 3-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State early Saturday morning before falling 3-2 in a hard-fought five-set match to undefeated Murray State.
Sophomores Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) and Nicole Sumida (Hixson, Tenn.) were each named to the all-tournament team for their performances over the weekend. Wieser led the Mocs with 33 kills, hitting a team-best 2.45 over the three-match tourney. She also totaled 49 digs and three blocks. Sumida was a brick wall at the net, recording a team-best 12 blocks while also collecting 24 kills.
“It was a great weekend for us,” Head Coach Travis Filar said. “We picked up a couple of wins, and our team played great. Wieser and Sumida were outstanding for us. Can’t be disappointed with this tournament.”
The Mocs scored their second win of the weekend with a sweep of Mississippi Valley (25-9, 25-14, 25-8). As a team, Chattanooga hit .489 with their best-hitting set coming first (.621). UTC only allowed the Devilettes to hit above .000 once, coming in the second set with a .135 percentage.
Outscoring MVS 75-31, junior Briana Reid (Houston, Texas) led the attack with 10 kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Freshman Lauren Greenspoon (Houston, Texas) and Anne Bachmann (Lincoln, Neb.) each totaled double-digit assists (23 and 18, respectively), while liberos Catherine Chason (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Melissa Green (Boca Raton, Fla.) totaled 14 and 11 digs for the defense.
Chattanooga’s only loss of the tournament came in a nail-biting five-frame contest with Murray State to close out the Chattanooga Classic. The Mocs took the first and third sets, 25-23 and 29-27, while the Racers took the second and fourth 25-19 and 25-14.
The deciding set was pushed to extra points with both teams tied at 15, but Murray State was able to nab a couple of quick points to walk away with the victory.
Among the highlights of the melee, three Mocs totaled double-digit kills – Wieser with 12, Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) with 11 and Sumida with 10. Wieser’s effort was a double-double, also totaling 20 digs, and Sumida put up seven blocks. The Mocs out-blocked the Racers 13.0-8.0 during the match, but Murray was able to out-dig UTC 117-88.
In other action, Murray State won 3-0 over Wright State to go undefeated in the Scenic City. However, Wright State managed to pick up a 3-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. The Devillettes were winless in Chattanooga, going 0-3.
Racers’ outside hitter Taylor Olden was named tournament MVP, while team mates Alyssa Lelm and Sam Bedard were each named all-tournament. Mississippi Valley’s Hallee Gayten and Wright State’s Marisa Aiello joined Lelm, Bedard, Sumida and Wieser on the all-tournament team.
The Mocs are back at home next weekend to host the Scenic City Showdown – Presented by Hampton Inn & Suites. Featuring the same format as the Chattanooga Classic, UTC welcomes South Carolina State, UT Martin and Stetson to campus for two days of volleyball.