After falling in back-to-back matches at home for the first time since 2014, the Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team rebounded with a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-18) sweep over UNCG in Maclellan Gymnasium on Saturday night.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 8-8 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon this season while UNCG falls to 8-6, 1-1 in the conference. The Mocs rebounded almost perfectly after suffering a tough five-set loss to the hands of Western Carolina just a night ago.
“Our conference is probably as strong as it’s ever been and that’s a credit to the coaches,” said head coach Travis Filar.
“Every match is going to come down to the team that comes out the most prepared and we didn’t do that last night.
“We challenged our kids and I’m really proud of their response. It was a great win against a really good UNCG team.”
Chattanooga grinded out a first set win after totaling 18 kills on a .130 percentage while collecting 22 digs and a block. The trend continued in the second set as the Mocs held UNCG to a .067 attacking percentage and out-blocked the Spartans 3.0 to 1.0. The third and final set saw the Mocs hit at an impressive .286 percentage and convert a side-out percentage of 72%.
Ally Ford led the way with a match-high 13 kills on a .194 percentage while Emily Plumlee finished with 11 kills at an efficient .478 clip and totaled 3.0 blocks. Eden Murray chipped in with seven kills and 3.0 blocks while Miranda Elpers added six kills with four coming in the opening set. Lauren Greenspoon directed the offense with 37 of the team’s 41 assists.
Defensively, Megan Kaufman once again paced the Mocs in digs with 23 in just three sets as Greenspoon completed a double-double by adding 12 digs to her assists total. Bailey Clemons totaled nine digs in the win.
“It’s going to be a dog fight all conference season. We’re excited to be 1-1 after the weekend,” added Filar.
The Mocs continue Southern Conference action beginning Friday in Charleston, S.C., against The Citadel at 6 p.m. before traveling to Charleston, S.C., on Saturday for a 7 p.m. matchup at Furman. Friday’s match will be broadcasted LIVE on ESPN3 while Saturday’s LIVE broadcast will be courtesy of Furman Athletics and the SoCon Digital Network.