The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell to Samford in a 3-1 decision at Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday. UTC is 20-5 and 9-3 in Southern Conference play.
"We have a confident veteran group," head coach Travis Filar stated. "We really got away from what has made us tick this year, and that's really aggressive attacking. We were tentative at times throughout the match."
In the first set, the two squads went back and forth with the score tying on seven occasions. The Bulldogs came away with it 25-21, in addition to the second 25-23.
Following the intermission, the Mocs came out fighting.
UTC saved a match point to win the third 29-27 after a kill by junior Kristy Wieser (Lincoln, Neb.) and a service ace from freshman Rachel Petkosh (Merritt Island, Fla.). Chattanooga then dropped a nerve-racking fourth set 25-22 after Samford went on a seven-point run.
"Samford has gotten better since the couple weeks we saw them last," Filar said. "They played very confidently. It was disappointing that we looked like the team that was struggling and not confident."
Throughout the match, the score tied 21 times and the lead changed on 12 instances.
Wieser posted a team-best 17 kills and a .448 attack percentage. Junior Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) recorded 11 kills, while sophomore Lauren Greenspoon (Houston, Texas) tallied 34 assists.
Freshman Miranda Elpers (Louisville, Ky.) led Chattanooga's backcourt efforts with 15 digs. Seniors Briana Reid (Houston, Texas) and Catherine Chason (Alpharetta, Ga.) followed with 13 and 11 respectively.
The Mocs return home for Senior Night Friday at 6:00 p.m. against The Citadel. UTC's last home match is Saturday at 6:00 p.m. versus Furman.